Venom 2 Reportedly Adds Second Villain

Sony's Venom sequel is getting a second villain according to a new report. Deadline reports that the symbiote villain Shriek is adding into the plot of Venom 2. Deadline reports that the new comes from two sources close to the project. Sony Pictures declined to comment, noting that the film is still in its early phases and so details are subject to change. The film is scheduled for an October 2020 release and won't begin filming until early next year. Shriek is a supervillain with sonic abilities that allied herself with the Venom's archnemesis, the serial killer Carnage, played by Woody Harrelson in the film, during the events of the classic Spider-Man and Venom comic book crossover event "Maximum Carnage."

Created by the "Maximum Carnage" team of Tom DeFalco, Mike W. Barr, Terry Kavanagh, Ron Lim, Jerry Bingham, and Mark Bagley, Shriek first appeared in Spider-Man Unlimited #1 in May 1993. Born Frances Barrison, she was a drug dealer whose latent mutant powers emerged after she suffered severe trauma. Her powers allow her to manifest sonic energy in combat, as blasts, and to manipulate the emotions of others. Shriek is a particular problem for Venom since the symbiote has a weakness to sonic weapons.

The first Venom movie was directed by Ruben Fleischer. In a recent interview, Fleischer said that Sony's Venom series is headed in the direction of a crossover with Spider-Man.

"That's where it's all going to lead," Fleischer said. "And that's the exciting thing, because we changed the origin of Venom … in the comics, he evolved from Spider-Man but because of the Marvel-Sony thing we weren't able to that. And so the thing I think it's building towards, and will be exciting to see, is when they actually do confront each other."

Fleischer also remains proud of the film, despite it receiving a mixed critical reception. "If anything, I would have changed the critics' reaction to it. I was really bummed that people didn't like it because it's a crowd-pleasing movie and I'm not sure if there was just blowback against Sony or people just worship Marvel," Fleischer said. "But I was really surprised that the critics [were gunning for it] because audiences really enjoyed the movie. And so many people who've seen it just appreciated that it was a fun superhero movie. So I was a little surprised. I don't know what they were expecting."

Andy Serkis will direct the sequel. Tom Hardy returns as the lead antihero, Eddie Brock. Michelle Williams plays his estranged wife, Anne Weying. Harrelson returns as Cletus Kasady, the serial killer who bonds to the Carnage symbiote, after debuting in the role in the mid-credits scene in Venom.

Are you excited about Shriek being in Venom 2? Let us know in the comments.