Venom: Let There Be Carnage trailer brings the action, hints at possible release date change

Everyone’s favorite lethal protector is expected to return to theaters this year in Venom: Let There Be Carnage. The film, directed by Andy Serkis, continues Eddie Brock’s journey as a vigilante and his never-ending struggle to get along with his human-eating, alien partner, Venom. This time around, the mismatched duo will face Cletus Kasady and his symbiote alter ego, Carnage.

Earlier this year, Sony released the first trailer for the film. It showed off the comedic tone present in the first movie and gave us a first look at the live-action version of Carnage. With Let There Be Carnage‘s release date fast approaching, the studio has released a brand new trailer for the movie. Take a look:

Venom: Let There Be Carnage trailer

While, as mentioned, the first trailer gave off a relatively comedic vibe, this new look at the movie takes things in a more serious direction. Of course, that doesn’t mean the trailer is devoid of comedy, as evidenced by Venom head-butting Eddie (twice) and Eddie slapping Reid Scott’s Dan Lewis in his car.

There’s something interesting to note about the violence in the film. The movie is not yet rated, but given that its predecessor (and all previous Spidey films) received a PG-13 rating, it’s not unreasonable to assume that Let There Be Carnage will be rated PG-13 as well. Having said that, there are some particularly gory moments in the trailer. Firstly, we see Cletus biting Eddie’s hand (yep, if it wasn’t clear by now, Cletus is apparently a cannibal as well). As a side note, so far, we had little idea of how the serial killer would come into possession of his own symbiote, but it looks like it will be through, well, consuming part of Venom after biting Eddie.

Shortly after that, the trailer showcases a scene of Carnage attacking police officers. The villain throws one of them against a wall and then sticks his tongue into the officer’s head. Going by these two moments — assuming the movie is actually rated PG-13— it seems Andy Serkis will be pushing the rating quite a bit. We saw how much violence and (relatively) explicit sequences a PG-13 superhero film could get away with in The Dark Knight, so it appears Let There Be Carnage will be taking a similar route to Christopher Nolan’s beloved sequel.

Will Venom: Let There Be Carnage be delayed again?

There has been an unfortunate rise in cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant. As cases surge, so has the uncertainty around the return to the theatrical experience. Recently, Paramount pulled its upcoming film, Clifford the Big Red Dog, from its September 17 release date due to the rising Delta variant. With one studio already willing to delay a film, the question became whether more movies would follow suit.

Keep in mind this is pure speculation, but it looks like a delay could be in the cards for Let There Be Carnage.  At the end of the trailer,  a caption was shown that read “In Cinemas, Coming Soon.” Furthermore, the official Venom Twitter account shared this latest trailer with the caption “Venom: Let There Be Carnage, exclusively in movie theaters this fall.”

The lack of a release date in both the trailer and the Twitter post wouldn’t necessarily be significant if the film were still months away, but Let There Be Carnage is scheduled to arrive on September 24. After watching the trailer, we went back and watched the original trailers for 2018’s Venom and Spider-Man: Far From Home. All of them featured a release date or month, which makes this new trailer’s release-date-window vagueness all the more suspicious.

Now, if a delay is indeed being planned, it may not be a significant one, as the Twitter post marks the film as being scheduled to be released this fall.

Of course, as mentioned, this is speculation, and the lack of a release date in the trailer could be nothing of importance. For instance, the first Let There Be Carnage trailer also forwent a release date and featured the same “Coming Soon” caption at the end, which could indicate an overly (and understandable) cautious approach by Sony when it came to giving the film a firm release date for the entire marketing campaign. This is especially likely given the pandemic-related delays Let There Be Carnage faced in 2020, and the date shifts it encountered just this year.

Furthermore, Sony just released a variety of Venom-themed Twitter emojis, which is a sign of the film’s marketing ramping up as its release date approaches.

Still, all we can do to know for sure whether or not Let There Be Carnage will be delayed is wait and see. For now, Venom’s second solo outing is scheduled to arrive on Sept. 24, 2021.

What did you think about this latest Let There Be Carnage trailer? Let us know in the comments below!