Venom 2's cinematographer confirms Woody Harrelson returning as Carnage for sequel

Aside from Tom Hardy and Michelle Williams, Venom 2 will feature another familiar face in the form of Woody Harrelson's Cletus Kasady/Carnage, who briefly appeared in the first movie's post-credits scene. The film's cinematographer, Robert Richardson (Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood), confirmed the character's involvement with the potential-filled sequel during a recent chat with Collider.

"I think it’s unexplored yet, and it’s going to explode, and this film, I think, will help it explode, because you have a remarkable central character with Venom, but now you’ve got Woody Harrelson, who’s going to obviously make his own little entrance here, and we’ll see what else comes in with the Sony-Marvel collaboration," he said. "I look forward to it. It’s a massive change for me, but I’m excited. I think Hardy is one of our best. He never misses. I so look forward to sitting with him and watching him perform."

In the comics, Kasady (created by David Michelinie Erik Larsen) is a red-haired sociopathic killer, whose depraved proclivities only get more brutal when he bonds with an alien Symbiote, becoming the villain known as "Carnage." As such, he makes for the perfect foil to Eddie Brock/Venom, both of whom decided to only kill and eat really bad guys in the last movie. Kasady's cameo in Venom takes place at San Quentin State Prison in California, where the incarcerated felon has requested a one-on-one interview with Brock, who has returned to the world of investigative journalism. Peering at Eddie from his cell, Cletus gives the camera an evil leer, promising that he will get out and when that happens, "there's gonna be carnage."

Harrelson perfectly embodies the antagonist and had previously worked with director Ruben Fleischer on 2009's Zombieland.

While Richardson seems to be well aware of the sequel's plot, he hasn't begun to map out the cinematography with director, Andy Serkis.

"I haven’t yet sat with Andy in London," he added. "He’s over there now. I don’t go until the beginning of September. I’m in the process of getting my visa, and then when I go over that will become my life — with VFX, with storyboards, with, we get more into, 'Well, how do we think we’re going to make this look?'"

Venom 2 is slated to hit theaters Oct. 2, 2020. Confirmation of Harrelson's return comes just days after news broke that Disney would no longer be involved with Sony's Spider-Man films. This means that Peter Parker almost certainly won't be allowed to appear in any further MCU productions.