While
Venom got mixed reviews across the board, it's no question that it accomplished a successful run in the box office. So much so, that a sequel will be dropping next year and it's going to start filming this November. Although, sequels can be known for being worse than their original; and
Venom 2 can't afford to be any worse than the first
Venom. So here we go...
Have A Better Script
Something like this should go without saying, but it's nevertheless still important. The first
Venom got by with a great lead actor, impressive CGI, and an upbeat but campy tone. While I enjoyed
Venom, I wondered to myself, "Just imagine if this thing had a better script?"
Well, that's where
Venom 2 comes in. Andy Serkis will be taking over the sequel when it comes to directing, but his input will only go so far. The writing must make Eddie Brock a more relatable character, and develop his relationship with Venom himself. Also dig into his heroic side a bit more, rather than just making him a monster who eats bad people for the heck of it.
The characters around Eddie have to pick up the slack as well, giving the audience a reason to care or have interest in them. One character in particular they must get right, and that's the Red Slayer himself.
Make Carnage Frightening... And Funny
Carnage is about as nasty and disturbing as they come. Cletus Kasady is a mass murderer who is literally obsessed with taking someone's life. So when he bonds with a symbiote offspring from Venom, the only thing he wants to do is cause carnage (hence his name).
The biggest problem with the first
Venom was the villain. Carlton Drake was portrayed as this forgettable, non-threatening rich guy who was a walking cliche. However, now that
Venom 2 is supposed to have Carnage as their main villain, with Woody Harrelson rightfully playing him, this could work so much better.
Their goal should be to make Carnage as scary as possible, with a mixture of
IT's Pennywise and
The Blob. Since
Venom 2 will most likely be PG-13, his graphic violence will probably be off-screen shots or something similar. Which is fine, because that only ignites your imagination with nightmare fuel.
Horror aside, Cletus is not a stoic person. He quips just like Spider-Man, only with a lot more darkness and grit added to his. So they have to make him funny, giving us uncomfortable laughs more than anything else. Do all of that, and we have ourselves a main villain. However, Venom can't take a force of nature like Carnage by himself.
He's going to need some help.
Bring In Our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
We just got news that Tom Holland's Spider-Man will be returning to the MCU after the whole Disney-Sony war. That's awesome, but that doesn't change Sony's plans for him. At the end of the day, they still own him. Feige recently stated that he's going to be the only hero to "cross universes", so what else do you think that means? Exactly, he's going to partner up with Venom at some point, so you might as well do it in
Venom 2.
Having him only has a cameo or recurring character would be a waste however, so put him front and center of the film. As long as he doesn't overtake Tom Hardy's Venom, it could be the perfect superhero buddy-cop film. The narrative could be that Eddie Brock returns to New York City, maybe to work for the Daily Bugle. And since Peter Parker has always been linked to the Daily Bugle as a photographer, while Brock is a reporter, these two meeting up is a lot easier than it seems.
Also, from a marketing standpoint, this is going to assure fans will check this out. With Spider-Man in posters and the trailers, that alone could make this movie a one billion dollar hit. Of course, it needs to actually be good too.
Venom got lucky with its last box office performance, so with Spider-Man, they won't just have to rely on international support and Tom Hardy's name to get people in those theater seats.
Overall
Venom 2 has a lot of potential, simply put. It just has to do a few main things to reach that potential, and the rest could be history.
Venom didn't set some really high bar, so passing it with this sequel shouldn't be too hard.
Still, there's still work to be done in terms of improving, so hopefully we get all of that and more for the symbiote's return.