Report: Venom 2 plans for Shriek to join Carnage as villain

The Venom-verse (Sony MCU?) just added a new baddie to the fray, finally giving Tom Hardy a Spider-Man villain to battle who isn’t just another symbiote. Yes, there’s a new character coming to director Andy Serkis’ Venom sequel.

Deadline reports that when Venom returns to face Woody Harrelson’s Carnage (teased in the first film’s mid-credits scene), it won’t be an even fight. That’s because Sony is looking to add Marvel character Shriek to the mix as a co-villain with Carnage. The pair have a long history together, as Shriek debuted in the Maximum Carnage saga of 1993’s Spider-Man Unlimited.

Serving as accomplice, love interest, and all-around Harley Quinn to Cletus Kasaday’s Carnage, Shriek is a sound-powered mutant who meets Kasaday when the pair escape the Ravencroft mental institution (definitely not Arkham). Oh, and she can manipulate emotions. Cool.

Frances Barrison in another life, Shriek is the latest Marvel baddie to make her way to the Sony side of things. Morbius, Kraven the Hunter, and more have been bandied about while Sony holds tight to the superhero screen rights it’s still got. Hopefully Venom 2’s plans for expansion don’t go the way of the canned Silver Sable and Black Cat film.

But there’s no face to put to the character of Shriek — at least not yet. According to Deadline’s source, the casting process is still ongoing and probably not going to follow suit with the recent Zoe Kravitz/Catwoman news, as the team is “looking mostly at unknowns right now.”

The Venom sequel will hit theaters on Oct. 2, 2020.