How Venom 2 Changes Carnage’s Origin Story

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Venom: Let There Be Carnage. 

Carnage’s origin story received many tweaks of varied scope for Venom 2 designed to level the playing field between Cletus Kasady and Eddie Brock’s respective symbiotes. Venom 2′s box office has whet the appetite of cinemagoers ahead of a busy MCU release schedule, raking in a whopping $90 million across its initial 3-day launch. Widespread interest in Venom 2 has undoubtedly been helped by the film’s seismic post-credits scene officially heralding Venom into the MCU proper while also dolling out gratuitous fanservice and setting up an inevitable clash between Tom Hardy’s Venom and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage reintroduces deranged serial killer Cletus Kasady to the fray after teasing Woody Harrelson’s character at the end of Venom 2018. Kasady inevitably bonds with an offshoot of Venom’s symbiote known as Carnage before eponymously becoming the primary antagonist of Venom 2.

Carnage’s origin story is, understandably, heavily condensed to align with Venom 2‘s svelte 97-minute runtime, owing most of Kasady’s character setup to a brief introductory scene. Venom 2′s cast of characters is part of a significant alteration to Carnage’s legendary relationship with his chosen host, opting to omit much of Marvel comics’ pre-established Carnage canon to accommodate Brock and Venom’s burgeoning bond. Here’s how Venom 2 changes Carnage’s origin story, as well as what the future holds for the iconic red symbiote in the MCU.

Carnage’s Origin Story In The Comics

Carnage’s Marvel Comics origin story begins following a climactic battle between Venom and the cancerous villain Styx, with Venom defeated and presumed dead after detaching from his host Eddie Brock. Eddie, dejected and powerless, is incarcerated at the infamous Ryker’s Island following the battle and placed alongside the deranged Cletus Kasady, a serial killer serving eleven consecutive life sentences. From the offset, Brock’s burgeoning heroism clashes with Kasady’s cruel and vindictive nature, leading the two to fight in their confines constantly. The Lethal Protector Venom, however, is revealed to be very much alive, returning to Brock following a period of rejuvenation and bonding with his primary host before escaping the prison island. In the furor of Brock’s escape, a piece of Venom’s symbiote spawn is left behind in the cell, latching onto the willing Kasady and entering into his body through a cut on his hand. As with Venom and Brock’s origin story, Kasady is immediately transformed into a crimson monster dubbed as “Carnage,” going on a subsequent murder-spree in an attempt to satiate both symbiote and hosts’ irrepressible bloodlust before turning their attention on a common enemy: Venom.

Carnage’s Comics Powers Explained

Carnage is an immensely powerful symbiote, even by the Klyntar race’s high standards due to his accidental inception on Earth. The coexisting bond between the symbiote and Kasady is iron-clad in Marvel Comics due to the pair’s shared propensity for brutality, making them stronger than their Brock and Venom counterparts. Cletus Kasady’s prior history of insanity as a serial killer also allows Carnage to change form with greater ease than his Klyntar brethren, making Carnage far more violent, powerful, and deadly than any of his kin. Even when separated from his manic host, Carnage’s powers are considerable, with the symbiote manifesting abilities such as psychic control of other life forms and aggressive cell regeneration, the latter of which makes Carnage nigh-invincible.

How Venom 2 Changes Carnage

Venom 2 makes a number of changes to Marvel Comics’ iteration of Carnage, mostly in the service of grating additional plot armor to Eddie Brock/Venom. Carnage’s origin story is tweaked in Venom 2, with the film introducing Brock and Kasady in a more organic setting bereft of Marvel entities such as Styx and Galactus. Whereas in Carnage’s origin story, the symbiote bonds with Kasady on pure instinct, Venom: Let There Be Carnage shows Kasady actively pursuing infection by the symbiote, and Carnage subsequently acknowledging this desire by saving Kasady from death. In this way, Carnage’s origins are portrayed less as survival instincts and more as a grab for power by the darkly scheming Kasady.

Yet, the biggest change made by Venom 2 to Carnage’s character is the deep bond shared by Kasady and Carnage. In the Marvel comics, the two are inseparable to the point of death, whereas, in the movie Venom: Let There Be Carnage, several factors conspire to come between Kasady and Carnage. While Kasady’s affection for Shriek is a narrative component in many Marvel storylines, his love for Carnage is far stronger to the point where he disregards all others in service of powering the symbiote. In Venom: Let There Be Carnage, this passion is reversed, with Venom able to use Kasady’s love for Shriek against him, separating Carnage from his host. This simply would not happen to the original Carnage, who is vastly underpowered in S0ny’s Venom universe. Carnage has previously defeated Venom and Spider-Man simultaneously, as well as various other Marvel superheroes, making his apparent death at the hands of Venom in Let There Be Carnage wholly owed to the short length of his narrative arc and the need to set up Venom’s subsequent MCU entrance.

Carnage’s MCU Future Explained: Could He Return?

Carnage’s inclusion into the Spider-Man-aligned MCU is entirely plausible given the universe’s current phase 4 multiverse plans. Carnage’s Klyntar heritage ensures his survival on different planes of reality throughout the multiverse, meaning numerous reachable incarnations of Carnage still exist for the MCU to explore. Carnage’s symbiotic powers also come into play when considering his MCU future, with Toxin’s creation a key indicator of Carnage’s durability as a character. Mulligan transforms into Toxin at the end of Venom: Let There Be Carnage using just a shred of the symbiote’s total mass, with the implication here that other strands of Carnage may have survived the penultimate Venom 2 church scene. While Kasady is almost certainly dead by the post-credits scene of Venom 2, Carnage’s rich Marvel canon indicates he will see many more MCU hosts across the duration of his storyline. Although any surviving shreds of Carnage are currently housed within the increasingly defunct-looking Sony Venom universe, Venom’s teleportation into the MCU at the end of Venom 2 proves that Carnage can still have a rich MCU future ahead of him.

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