Like pretty much all blockbusters, Venom 2 is not immune to a delayed release date. The sequel to the hit 2018 was slated to open on October 2nd. Andy Serkis was directing the film starring Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock/Venom squaring off against Woody Harrelson as Kletus Cassidy/Carnage. Filming was already underway this past February, but presumably had to shut down in March once social distancing went into effect due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The sequel was originally set to hit theaters on October 2nd.

Variety now reports that the film has a new release date of June 25, 2021, taking the date that was vacated yesterday by The Batman, which will now open on October 1, 2021. Variety also reports that the film's title is Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and that seems pretty spot on for how silly this franchise is. Honestly, the more they lean into the goofiness of Venom, the more charming the whole thing becomes because any attempt to take Venom seriously just reeks of 1990s grimdark posturing.

Of course, it should be noted that even with release dates shuffling around, there's still a lot of uncertainty at the moment. With social distancing in effect, that slows down post-production and it's unknown how much filming Venom: Let There Be Carnage needed, not to mention the inevitable reshoots that are commonplace on a blockbuster of that size. Maybe Venom: Let There Be Carnage has no trouble hitting that June 2021 date, but I wouldn't be surprised if the film and its blockbuster ilk all end up getting pushed further back on the calendar as studios hope to maximize worldwide profits by waiting for the COVID-19 pandemic to fade through test-and-trace, a vaccine, and/or herd immunity.

What do you think about the title for the Venom sequel? Do you think they should have gone with Maximum Carnage instead? Sound off in the comments.