Carnage in Venom 2 - The Venom (2018) end credit scene explained

For those of us Venom fans, the introduction of San Quintin prison and the deranged serial killer Cletus Kasady played by Woody Harrelson was nothing overly new, since we had known this post-credit scene would be included almost a year before Venom even hit theaters. But, for those who may not be as into the Venom lore, this article will quickly summarize the importance of that post-credit scene and also explain what is to be expected in the Venom movie sequel because of it.

Who is Carnage?

Carnage is Venom's spawn, in the most simplest of explanations. The Carnage symbiote is an extremely powerful offspring of the Venom symbiote and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #360 comic. Created by writer David Michelinie and artists Erik Larsen and Mark Bagley, Carnage quickly became one of Spider-Man's greatest foes once bonded to Cletus Kasady. The pairing of Carnage's insane power with Cletus' psychotic obsession for chaos and death made this Symbiotic bond one of the most dangerous ever. Although Carnage is essentially the child of Venom, it shares none of Venom's sense of remorse and ability to empathize with other life forms. In many instances, Venom teams up with Spider-Man to combat Carnage.

Carnage in Venom 2

The post-credit scene in Venom (2018) clearly insinuates that Carnage will be the primary antagonist in the Venom movie sequel, currently just titled Venom 2. Since Spider-Man is absent in this Venom-verse, it is highly unlikely we will ever see Venom and Spidey teaming up to combat Carnage in the next movie.

Collider sat down with Venom director Ruben Fleischer and briefly discussed the inclusion of Carnage and the build-up for his prominent role in the Venom sequel. To this, Ruben explained:

We felt strongly that, the first movie needed a place to build to. Carnage is the character I think fans and everyone wants to see the most in the Venom world, but we didn’t want to spoil it on the first movie. The first movie is all about Eddie, and Venom, and their relationship, and establishing the character. Then from there, it felt like we wanted to give them a place to go. So, choosing their most formidable adversary felt like a great, natural sequel.

Can Venom defeat Carnage?

Technically speaking, Venom is the stronger Symbiote, thanks to his bond with Eddie Brock - who is physically superior to that of Cletus Kasady. Carnage however has the ability to create more complex bio-weapons than Venom, like what we saw with Riot in the Venom movie. However, although Carnage has the ability to create more complex weapons from its Symbiotic membrane, the Venom Symbiote is actually able to survive temporarily when separated from its host - the Carnage Symbiote can not. This means that in Venom 2, if Venom can somehow separate Carnage from Cletus, game over.

That being said, there are a few other factors at play for when Venom and Carnage finally do battle. Mental states play a big role and while Venom is a bit more grounded and aware of his surroundings, Carnage is unpredictable and psychotic - getting distracted easily. This means while Carnage poses a more dangerous threat in the moment, Venom will have the upper hand in the ability to plan out his moves more intelligently and calculate how to combat Carnage at all times.

If Venom and Brock's bond continues to grow stronger and nothing really comes between them in the sequel, they should be able to defeat Carnage. However, if Venom becomes separated from Brock for whatever reason, then Carnage may have an opportunity to thrive.