After the epic breakup of Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), and the alien symbiote in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, part of the symbiote leaps into serial killer Cletus Kasady moments before his execution. Kasady becomes host for Carnage, an even-larger, even-deadlier, and much-more-malevolent spawn of the alien, ruthless and pure evil.
The dual role of Cletus Kasady and Carnage is played by Academy Award-nominated actor Woody Harrelson who director Andy Serkis says “is exceptional in everything he does.”
“Carnage is who the fans have been waiting for, finally making his big screen debut,” says producer Avi Arad. “He’s Venom’s ultimate adversary, stronger and more violent in every way. It doesn’t help that serial killer Cletus Kasady is Carnage’s host, enhancing his maniacal worldview into something incredibly sinister. In the comics, Carnage is Venom’s offspring – his ‘son,’ if you will – which makes the conflict between them far greater.”
Kasady – a killer even before gaining Carnage’s powers – doesn’t feel Eddie’s need to try to restrain the symbiote. To stop Carnage, Eddie and Venom will have to find a way to make their relationship work.
“Cletus is twisted, devious, manipulative, and damaged as anything, but in Woody’s portrayal, you can’t help but love him,” says Serkis. “He could have been just quips and arch, but Woody sits him on a tightrope – a child in one moment, and a deep, dark killer in the next, a real vulnerability underneath it all.”
“He’s a psychotic killer,” says Harrelson. “He had a nasty upbringing, and now feels compelled to take revenge on the people he felt were responsible for the state he was in.”
Which means there’s a method of sorts to Cletus’ madness, a driving force that makes him so dangerous. “Even before he meets Eddie, Cletus has a sense that Eddie is going to be a friend – a lifeline, a guy who believes in him,” says Harrelson. Of course, the feeling is all in the mind of the deranged murderer – and when he finds Eddie might not be the friend he’s looking for, Eddie (and Venom) will be on a collision course with Cletus (and Carnage).
“Woody is one of the coolest people I have ever met,” says Tom Hardy. “As a human being and as an actor, he is just formidable. There is nothing that you can present him with that will shock him; he has an answer, a solution to everything and he has a story to tell. As an artist, he is just wonderful, with such a brilliant, talented playful creative mind, that it’s an absolute joy to work with him.”
