Venom: Let There Be Carnage director Andy Serkis says he'd like Venom to meet more villains before he meets Spider-Man. Venom: Let There Be Carnage is the follow-up to 2018's Venom, which became a surprise hit for Sony, making a sequel inevitable. Actor/director Andy Serkis directs the film, which once again stars Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock/Venom, with Woody Harrelson in an expanded role as Cletus Kasady/Carnage, who was teased in the post-credits scene of the first film.

In addition to Carnage, Naomie Harris will star as Shriek, another villainous symbiote character from Marvel's Spider-Man comics line, who is one of many criminals locked up in the Ravencroft Institute in the film. Ravencroft is similar to DC's Arkham Asylum, in that it houses and experiments on super-powered villains who can't be contained in a normal prison. The area in New York where the fictional institute is built has a rich and dark history, which is documented in the journals of its founder, Jonas Ravencroft. Since its inception in the comics, Ravencroft has housed everyone from Carnage to Doctor Octopus to Juggernaut to Vulture and beyond.

In an interview with ****, director Andy Serkis was asked what a post-credits scene may look like for the film and his ideal scenario for what happens next in the Venom-verse. Serkis was quick to reply that he knows "everyone is desperate for Venom to meet Spider-Man" but that there are better avenues to explore before that, namely with the villainous population at Ravencroft. Serkis goes on to explain that he's most interested in exploring that "sandbox" before introducing Eddie Brock to Peter Parker. Here's his full quote:

"But I think there's real mileage in some of the other supervillains that reside in Ravencroft. I think there's so much... There's such fertile ground to be uncovered there. That would be the sandbox I'd be really interested in playing. Who's lurking in there that could break out?"

Serkis has had an interesting career since his mo-cap days as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings films and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes reboot. He directed the Andrew Garfield film Breathe in 2017 and made a much darker spin on Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book" with Netflix's Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle in 2018. As an actor, he's continued to work steadily, but is making big strides in the comic-book genre, initially starring as Ulysses Klaue in the MCU and now directing Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which is part of Sony's Spider-verse. However, the actor hasn't left out DC, as he'll be the next actor to portray Alfred Pennyworth in next year's The Batman.

There has been a multitude of rumors surrounding the Spider-Verse between Sony and Marvel in recent years and with Venom: Let There Be Carnage set to be released On October 1, there will surely be more to fan those flames. While denials have come from both camps, it does appear that the films are tying together in some way or another. In the most recent trailer for Spider-Man spinoff Morbius, we see Michael Keaton's Vulture appear, which would insinuate that the MCU and Spider-Verse are connected. With the multiverse now in effect and soon to ripple through the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, the possibilities seem endless, and regardless of business dealings, copyright, or anything in-between, it seems inevitable that Venom and Spider-Man will meet at some point, which will no doubt be a massive event for fans and moviegoers when it finally goes down.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)
Release Date: Oct 01, 2021

Morbius (2022)
Release Date: Jan 21, 2022

Kraven The Hunter (2023)
Release Date: Jan 13, 2023