Could ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ have ties to Sam Raimi’s ‘Spider-Man’?
The brand-new first trailer for Venom: Let There Be Carnage just dropped, and it didn’t take long for the internet to come ablaze with excitement, opinions and – best of all – speculation. This is what we live for: overanalyzing every frame of new content as soon as it’s released, and making sure there aren’t any surprises when the film comes out. Being caught off guard while watching a movie is for suckers!
Hey, if filmmakers didn’t want us to talk about these things, they wouldn’t include them in the marketing. They tease us fully knowing we’ll take the bait and flood social media with fan theories that may or may not come true. For example: could Venom: Let There Be Carnage take place in the same universe as the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy? Ummmm . . . maybe?
Tantalizing clues
Okay, let’s put aside the fact that the Raimi-verse already had a Venom, played to smarmy perfection by That 70s Show star Topher Grace. Let’s also put aside the fact that Grace’s Eddie Brock died at the end of Raimi’s Spider-Man 3. We’ll deal with that later. For now, let’s focus on the breadcrumbs fans have spotted in the Venom: Let There Be Carnage trailer.
First & foremost, we gotta talk about that Daily Bugle logo, which is the exact same design as the logo from Raimi’s movies. Don’t know what we’re talking about? Fire up that trailer again and pay attention to the shot of that mustached cop reading a newspaper. Yup, he’s reading a Raimi-style Daily Bugle. And, thanks to Spider-Man: Far From Home, we know the Bugle is an online publication in the MCU.
Now, is this a throwaway homage of a hint of bigger things to come? Well, the trailer also features a shot of Cletus Kasady squishing a spider with his hand. There’s nothing really spidery in Tom Hardy’s Venom, so it has to be a reference to Spider-Man. And then there’s the unmistakable appearance of comic book villain Shriek halfway through the trailer. That has to be the character Naomie Harris is playing.
In the comics, Shriek is infamously known for being Carnage’s sort-of girlfriend. The two psychopaths met and joined forces in the classic Spider-Man story “Maximum Carnage”, where Spider-Man teamed-up with . . . wait for it . . . Venom. Do you see where we’re going here? The trailer for Venom: Let There Be Carnage is giving off serious Maximum Carnage prequel vibes.
Raimi-verse though?
Granted, the aforementioned Topher Grace Venom would seem to be the biggest obstacle in the way of a “Maximum Carnage” themed sequel set in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man universe. Grace’s Eddie Brock was definitely a completely different character, so even if he hadn’t already been killed off, it’d be pretty much impossible to reconcile that version of Brock with Tom Hardy’s.
Then again . . . we’re entering the multiverse era, boys & girls. Not much has been confirmed about Spider-Man: No Way Home, but we do know that Alfred Molina is definitely reprising his role as an older Dr. Octopus – a character he played in the second Sam Raimi Spider-Man movie, and who also died by the end of it. So there’s an alternate universe where Raimi’s Doc Ock didn’t die.
If that’s the case, why can’t there be an alternate universe where Raimi’s Spider-Man hasn’t met Eddie Brock yet? An alternate universe where Spider-Man’s world is as envisioned by Sam Raimi, except Eddie Brock would be the Tom Hardy version? Once you start messing with alternate timelines, you can go anywhere. You know as well as we do that we’re one successful pitch from a live-action Spider-Ham movie.
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Do you think the Venom: Let There Be Carnage trailer is planting the seeds for an eventual “Maximum Carnage” movie? Would you like this to lead into a crossover with Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, or would you prefer it if Sony kept the universes separate? Let us know in the comments!
