Venom: Let There Be Carnage vastly exceeded expectations at the North American box office this past weekend, and chances are the sequel's 90-minute runtime was actually beneficial in that respect (particularly as it would have increased the number of showings in multiplexes).
Director Andy Serkis has previously explained the thought process behind trimming any fat from the movie, and during a recent interview with Discussing Film, screenwriter Kelly Marcel shared her take.
"Tom and I, right from the get, knew we just wanted this to be an epic ride from beginning to end. We wanted to leave you breathless at the end of it as if you had literally just been on a roller coaster and came thinking that was the most insane batshit ride you’ve ever been on. This movie goes like a freight train and I don’t know that you could sustain much more of that ride if you went longer."
"We didn’t want to push [Carnage's] arrival too late into the movie in order to have a longer runtime, and so we just told the story that we wanted to tell, in the amount of pages that we wanted to tell it in," Marcel continued. "I think when you see it, you’ll think actually this is the perfect amount of time for something that is this energetic."
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The post-credits scene confirmed that Sony Pictures really is "expanding the universe" with Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and we know characters like Morbius and Kraven the Hunter will soon make their big screen debuts. Asked what the future could hold for Eddie Brock and his symbiote, the writer chose her words carefully, but is clearly excited about where things could go from here.
"For me, they have such a great canon. I just could talk about these characters all day long. They’re so fun! We don’t know if there will be another Venom movie after this one, but should they move forward with another one, obviously, I would love to see him interacting with all kinds of villains within the Marvel Universe. I know Tom would like to do some crossover too. So who knows!"
"There hasn’t really been any talk about that and it’s really a studio decision and not one that we make. But I think it would be really fun if the studio here decided to start mixing up a bit."
A clash with Spider-Man does appear to be on the horizon for Venom, but there are still plenty of places Eddie's story could go before and after that face-off. We'll have to wait and see, but the future is definitely looking bright for the Lethal Protector following his return to the big screen this month.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage is now playing in theaters.