Is Riz Ahmed Playing Carnage In The Venom Movie?

After the success of Sony’s Spider-Man: Homecoming venture with Marvel, the studio is once again attempting to expand the Spider-Man brand into a whole franchise universe, starting with a Venom movie starring Tom Hardy in October 2018. And there just might be another classic symbiote in store for that film.

A long-rumored villain for the Venom spin-off film has been Carnage, an evil spawn of the Venom symbiote which becomes attached to a notorious serial killer. Now, we might know who could be playing Carnage.

According to reports, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story star Riz Ahmed is in talks to play Venom‘s Carnage, but there is an asterisk to those reports, which leave room for doubt.

Here’s how the situation currently stands:

The Carnage Pool

Reports of Ahmed joining Venom started with THR yesterday, which claimed the actor was already in talks. However, Variety‘s Justin Kroll later stated that there was an entire shortlist of actors for the role Ahmed was circling, including the following names: 

• Doctor Who’s Matt Smith
• Narcos and Kingsman 2 star Pedro Pascal 
• Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts (Rust and Bone) 

Kroll also stated that there were conflicting reports about what the role actually was, with some of his sources claiming it was not Carnage. THR had noted the same in its initial report, which made fans waver in their reception of the headline.

The Tracking Board‘s Jeff Sneider then came out saying that while his own sources were also giving conflicting reports, the ones he trusted most were confirming that this was all part of the search for a live-action version of Carnage, which Sony has been said to be intent on.

No matter which way this shakes out, it seems that we will get an official announcement about some sort of Venom casting news, soon. The rumored shortlist of actors includes a the notable variety of white and brown-skinned actors, which will lead to the usual fan debate about changing established characters like Carnage – who is traditionally a ginger-haired white man named Cletus Kasady.

Venom will release in theaters on October 5, 2018. Let us know how excited you are for the Spider-Man spin-off by rating your anticipation below!