VENOM: Let There Be Carnage

*CUT TO THE CHASE*

NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Jeremy

California, 1996 – At the St. Estes Reform School, Cletus Kasady (Jack Bandeira) is talking to his girlfriend, Frances Barrison (Olumide Olurunfime) through a wall. She is set to be transferred, which devastates them both. She describes her powers getting stronger, and she is worried she cannot control them. Frances is taken away by guards and placed into a truck while Cletus yells for her in vain. In the truck, Frances utilizes her powers against a guard, Mulligan (Sean Delaney). Her screams produce a supersonic force that incapacitates those around her, and she causes the truck to overturn, but Mulligan fires a shot at her face. Frances wakes up at the Ravencroft Institute, where she is tested by Dr. Pazzo (Sian Webber).

Jump to the present day at San Quentin Prison where Cletus (now played by Woody Harrelson) is insisting that Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) come to interview him so he can get his story out to the public. Eddie gets called by Mulligan (now played by Stephen Graham), who is now a detective. Venom (also Tom Hardy) wants to eat Mulligan because he’s a jerk but Eddie continues to rein in Venom’s hunger for flesh. Eddie meets with Cletus, where he asks Eddie to print a haiku in the paper for him as a message to Frances. Before leaving, Venom tells Eddie to take a closer look into Cletus’s cell.

Back at the apartment, Venom memorizes the drawings and carvings on the walls in Cletus’s cell, which he determines is a clue to where the bodies of his victims are buried. It leads them to a beach, which Eddie reports to the authorities, and sure enough, bodies are recovered from that area. This influences the judge and governor to reinstate capital punishment, so Cletus is officially sentenced to death.

Venom hasn’t been happy lately because Eddie has only been letting him eat live chickens and chocolate. They even have two pet chickens that Venom named Sonny and Cher, which he can’t bring himself to eat. He thinks that they should be out there taking out bad guys as the “Lethal Protector”. They go to the bodega where Mrs. Chen (Peggy Lu) works, now that she knows about Venom’s existence, but she informs them that her chocolate shipment is late. While roaming across the city, the two spot a mugger attacking a woman, so Venom pops out to attempt to snack on the guy, but Eddie manages to talk him out of doing that, to the symbiote’s dismay. As they are running across rooftops, they get a call from Anne (Michelle Williams), asking Eddie to meet with her.

Eddie goes to a restaurant to meet Anne, where Venom is really hoping that Anne will take Eddie (or, both of them) back. She actually reveals that she and Dan (Reid Scott) have gotten engaged. Based on Eddie’s bodily reactions, Anne knows that Venom is with Eddie, despite him telling her that Venom died a while back, so she tells Venom to take care of Eddie because he can’t take care of himself, and also because he drives other people away. Eddie rides his motorcycle back in dismay, not caring if he gets hurt, but Venom steers him away (literally) from danger.

Eddie receives a postcard from Cletus, which invites him for one last visit before he is executed. The card also details his past exploits, which include the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father, which led him to killing his grandmother by pushing her down the stairs in her wheelchair, and also electrocuting his mother in the bathtub. Eddie reluctantly visits Cletus, but the madman provokes Eddie by reminding him how he not only drove Anne away but how his father blamed him for causing the death of his own mother during childbirth. This causes Venom to push Cletus against the wall, but when he pulls him closer to Eddie, Cletus bites Eddie’s hand and draws blood, although Cletus recognizes that what he is tasting is not ordinary blood. Cletus sees the blood on his finger come alive before ingesting it. Venom notes that he probably just made a HUGE mistake.

Eddie and Venom return home where they have a big argument over Eddie not being able to live his life because of Venom, while the symbiote still complains about his hunger. The two then have a physical fight that includes Venom destroying Eddie’s TV before they finally “break up”, and Venom goes on to possess other unwitting victims. Eddie then proceeds to clean up his apartment.

Cletus is set to be executed via lethal injection. However, the symbiote in his blood takes over and sabotages the execution, overtaking Cletus’s body and transforming him into CARNAGE. He proceeds to slaughter the guards gruesomely before busting out of San Quentin. He kills another man on the outside and steals his clothes before taking a car to go look for Frances. Carnage tells Cletus that he wants his help in killing Venom so that he will be the strongest symbiote, and Cletus agrees on the condition that he helps him find Frances. They go to a gas station where Cletus kills the clerk and hacks the internet with Carnage’s help to learn that Frances is at the Ravencroft Institute.

Eddie sees the news about Cletus escaping, and he is immediately visited by Mulligan. Knowing that Cletus took a particular interest in him, Mulligan orders Eddie to keep him updated if he finds out anything about Cletus. Eddie goes to do some investigating based on what Venom picked up and is drawn to St. Estes, where he sees the carving of “CK + FB” on a tree. He calls Mulligan, who knows it’s about Frances, but he believes he killed Frances when he shot her all those years ago.

Venom continues going through bodies, but none of them are able to fully contain him before they end up dying. He winds up at a nightclub where people think he is just wearing a really good costume. He delivers an impassioned speech to the people in attendance, who all love him, but he is clearly still missing Eddie. With the current body about to give out, Venom manages to take himself to Mrs. Chen’s shop and get her help as he is weakening.

Cletus arrives at Ravencroft where Dr. Pazzo is trying to taunt Frances. Soon, Cletus emerges and uses Carnage’s tentacles to kill Dr. Pazzo and break Frances from her cell. He renames her Shriek for her powers. They then proceed to kill off the guards and then head to St. Estes to burn it to the ground. As authorities and armed personnel approach, Carnage utilizes his abilities once again while Shriek uses her powerful screams against them, but Carnage doesn’t like this since the noise weakens symbiotes. He orders Cletus to keep her under control.

Eddie is taken into custody by Mulligan for the hope that he can bring Cletus to them. Eddie uses his phone call to contact Anne to get help. Dan drives her to the station where Eddie explains that he needs Venom to fight back. Anne and Dan go to Mrs. Chen’s shop, where Anne quickly realizes that Venom is using Mrs. Chen as a compatible host. Anne manages to convince Venom to go back with her. They return to the station where Anne (as She-Venom once again) breaks Eddie out. Venom demands a sincere apology from him before returning to his body, and Eddie relents and apologizes to Venom for sending him out of his body. Venom then returns to Eddie.

Cletus and Shriek plan to have a “wedding” with the three villains planning to kill their respective targets – Shriek wants Mulligan, Cletus wants Eddie, and Carnage wants Venom. They ambush Mulligan and capture him before going to Anne and Dan’s apartment, where Shriek knocks Dan out and then goes to capture Anne, leaving a note behind for Dan to find. He calls Eddie to let him and Venom know that Anne is in danger, and that the villains want to meet at a cathedral.

Eddie, Venom, and Dan arrive at the cathedral for the final showdown. Venom comes in but panics when he sees how big Carnage is. It takes Eddie promising him to allow Venom to eat anybody he wants. Thus begins the epic symbiote battle, with Venom fighting Carnage against his many powerful attacks. Shriek tries to help, but Carnage makes her stay out, despite Cletus’s protests. Dan manages to hold Carnage down by throwing fire at him. Mulligan attempts to flee, but Shriek goes after him. She corners him and appears to knock him off a ledge with a chain wrapped around his neck. Carnage causes part of the ceiling to fall onto Venom, weakening him just as Carnage grabs Anne and makes his way to the roof to kill her. Venom feels that he and Eddie aren’t strong enough to bring them down, but Dan points out that Cletus and Carnage aren’t bonded the way Eddie and Venom are, since Carnage keeps trying to hold Cletus down as he fights Carnage’s treatment of Shriek. This inspires Venom to rise up and fight back, and he stops Carnage from eating Anne, and then saves her from falling. The bell rings and causes the symbiotes to weaken, leaving Eddie and Cletus to fight as men. Just as Carnage and Shriek have them cornered, Venom knocks Shriek off a ledge and sends her plummeting to her demise, causing her screams to bring Venom and Carnage down, and she is crushed by a bell. Eddie and Cletus fall, but while Venom manages to use Anne and Dan to catch Eddie, Cletus and Carnage are separated. Carnage tries crawling back to Cletus, but Venom stops him and devours him first. He grabs Cletus, who tells Eddie that all he wanted was for Eddie to be his friend. Venom declared, “FUCK this guy!” and chomps Cletus’s head off. Eddie and Venom part ways with Anne and Dan before the police arrive. Meanwhile, Mulligan appears to still be alive, and his eyes glow blue just like Shriek’s.

Later on, Eddie tries to figure out what to do with Venom. Although they initially think about separating for good, Eddie decides to retreat to a tropical island, which Venom appreciates.

During the credits, Venom tells Eddie that there are other corners of the multiverse that symbiotes can see. Just as Venom tries to demonstrate, a burst of energy seems to teleport them to a new location. On the TV, Eddie and Venom see a news report from J Jonah Jameson (JK Simmons) about Spider-Man (Tom Holland) following the events of “Far From Home”. Venom growls and licks Spidey’s image on the screen.

Eddie Brock and Venom are now living together, albeit under strenuous circumstances since Venom is starving for flesh, but Eddie won't allow him to eat people, no matter how bad they are. Adding to his troubles, Anne has gotten engaged to Dan, and the only person seemingly willing to talk to Eddie is serial killer Cletus Kasady. After Venom helps Eddie and the authorities uncover the location of Cletus's victims, the madman is set to be executed. Just before this, Eddie visits him one last time, and Cletus bites Eddie's hand, allowing him to ingest Eddie's symbiote-tainted blood. This causes Cletus to transform into the monstrous Carnage during his execution, and he breaks out to go and free his girlfriend Frances Barrison/Shriek, who has the power of supersonic screams.

Eddie and Venom break up before Carnage's rampage, but after seeing the chaos brought about by Carnage and Shriek, Eddie realizes he needs Venom, while the symbiote realizes he misses Eddie. With Anne's help, the two are reunited to go after Carnage, but the villains strike first and capture Anne, plus Detective Mulligan, who shot Shriek as a teenager and blinded her in one eye. The final showdown takes place at a cathedral where Cletus and Shriek try to get married and get revenge on their targets. Eddie and Venom power-up to fight back, leading to a big symbiote battle. Shriek seemingly kills Mulligan before Carnage tries to kill Anne. Dan helps Eddie and Venom fight by telling them they have a stronger bond that Cletus and Carnage. Venom knocks Shriek to her death, and her screams bring him and Carnage down, separating him from Cletus. Venom devours Carnage before taking a bite of Cletus's head. He and Eddie part ways with Anne and Dan before police show up. Mulligan is also potentially infected by whatever caused Shriek's powers.

Eddie and Venom go into hiding, but end up transported to an alternate dimension, the same as the MCU Spider-Man, setting up his inevitable showdown with Venom.