Tom Hardy Helped Write Venom Sequel According to Director Andy Serkis

Andy Serkis hasn’t been attached to Venom 2 for more than 24 hours, but that’s not stopping him from jumping into the project headfirst. Serkis was on-hand at FX’s summer TCA press stop to help promote A Christmas Carol and naturally, reporters had plenty of questions for the upcoming Tom Hardy-starring sequel. Not only did Serkis reveal what he wants to do with the film, he also mentioned Hardy himself had a pretty big hand in coming up with the story for the second go-around with his symbiotic character.

“I’m right in the beginning stages, so I’ve got some very clear ideas about the journey, [and what] I’d like to see visually, and how we can take the characters into another direction,” he explained (via Gamespot).

“I’m excited to work with all the great actors who are involved. It’s a fantastic franchise,” he said. “I’m really honored to have been asked to direct it. And it feels like it’s a very, again, very contemporary story. And it’s I think it’s going to be, hopefully, a story piece of cinema.”

Kelly Marcel (Fifty Shades of Grey) was asked to return to write the script for the sequel, and Hardy has apparently been helping her out.

“Tom was very involved with the writing–with [screenwriter] Kelly Marcel–of the new story,” Serkis mentioned. “So it’s very much centered around their take.”

Though little is known about the follow-up, it’s expected Woody Harrelson will return to play Cletus Kasaday/Carnage as the main antagonist of the film. Despite featuring both Venom and Carnage, a serial killer stuck inside an alien virus, Venom producer Avi Arad previously said it’s likely the movie still might not go R-rated.

“You know what? When you hear Venom…forget Venom. When you hear, Carnage, the only thing you can think of is R. But, if you know his story, if you really know the comic, there’s no R here,”Arad told Collider. “He’s a tortured soul. It’s not about what he does, because we never have to show the knife going from here to there, and the blood is pouring. What you have to show is, what is the motivation? Was he born like that, or it’s someone we should feel for, because if you are succeeding to make a villain someone you can feel for, jackpot.”

What do you hope to see in the Venom sequel? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or by tweeting me at @AdamBarnhardt!

Venom 2 will likely land October 2, 2020.