If the ridiculously titled Venom: Let There Be Carnage turns out to be twice as bonkers as the first, we only have Tom Hardy to thank for it. Why? Because this time he’s actually getting a writing credit, the first of his career.
The hit 2018 film, which went on to earn $856M worldwide, was written by a trio of writers including Kelly Marcel. Marcel goes it solo for the sequel, but shares a story credit with Hardy. It’s a partnership that goes way back, according to her comments to Empire…
“This is new for him, to get credit, but it’s not new for him to be this involved. He’s absolutely 100 per cent committed to everything that he does…He’s married to Venom. He loves this character. He’s very involved in what he thinks should happen.”
A “story by” credit doesn’t mean Hardy actually wrote out the screenplay, but he was a heavy contributor in shaping the plot and direction of the characters.
“He doesn’t get a pen and write. We spent months breaking the story together on FaceTime, riffing on ideas, seeing what worked, seeing what didn’t. Then I took everything we spoke about and holed up somewhere for three months quietly, knocking out a script.”
The way Marcel describes it, Hardy must’ve had a lot to do with the first film as well. Their working relationship extends back to Hardy’s breakout role in Bronson back in 2008. Marcel was a script editor back then.
I’m curious to see what Hardy’s influence was on Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Will more heads be eaten as a result? Let’s hope so. The film hits theaters on September 24th.