Comics
Woody Harrelson Confirms ‘Venom’ Role; Stokes the Fire of Carnage Rumor [Spoilers]
Back in February, it was alleged that Woody Harrelson would be playing Cletus Kasady (Carnage) in Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer‘s Venom. The report carried a massive spoiler, suggesting that the Spider-Man spinoff would not include Carnage, but set the stage for his arrival in the sequel. It was explained that, during a prison interaction, a piece of symbiote would make its way off Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and onto Kasady. The sequence is allegedly set for the closing of the film, which would mean Harrelson’s appearance is simply a cameo and that he’d be the starring antagonist in the film’s sequel. He all but confirms this in a new interview promoting Solo:
“I’m in a little fraction of this movie, but I’ll be in the next one, you know? So I haven’t read that script, but anyways, just rolled the dice,” he told Collider.
He not only verifies that he’s barely in Venom, but also confirms that he’s locked in for a sequel. While this by no means guarantees that he’s playing Kasady/Carnage, it’s hard to argue that his statement doesn’t support the aforementioned rumor.
As for Venom’s antagonist, it’s Dr. Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), a Life Foundation employee who was able to surmise that the Venom symbiote contained five more “seeds” (Agony, Lasher, Riot, Phage, and Scream), and subsequently extracts them.
We’ll find out more as we get closer to the film’s release on October 5, 2018.
The supernatural world of Korean folk horror movie Exhuma grows larger with the arrival of prequel spinoff webtoon Maengjong this weekend, Variety reports today.
Naver Webtoon debuts Maengjong on May 30.
The series hails from Haemuri (Olgami) and will trace the high school origins of how shaman duo Hwarim and Bonggil, played by Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun in the 2024 film, came together to face occultish threats.
The story is set to begin when “Hwarim, who has been concealing her identity following a childhood encounter with a snake spirit called Jin, crosses paths with Bonggil at their school.”
Variety notes that Exhuma director Jang Jae-hyun participated in the project’s early concept stage.
“We are presenting ‘Maengjong,’ a new series capturing the appeal of the horror-occult genre, ahead of the full summer season,” said Lee Jeong-geun, Naver Webtoon’s Korea webtoon content leader. “With the high school story of Hwarim and Bonggil, who left a strong impression in the film ‘Exhuma,’ enhanced by Haemuri’s characteristic tense direction, we expect it will be a welcome work for genre fans.”
“It is meaningful that the spin-off story of ‘Exhuma,’ loved by many audiences, expands by meeting the new grammar of webtoon,” said Lee Hyeon-jeong, managing director of the film business division at Showbox, which distributed the film. “We hope it will be a fresh experience for both film fans and webtoon readers.”
Exhuma was a breakout hit in 2024, becoming the first Korean occult film to surpass 10 million ticket buyers and the country’s highest-grossing film of the year. I wrote in my review that “the intricately woven Exhuma delivers one of the year’s biggest surprises in horror so far.”
The bond between Hwarim and Bonggil was one of the film’s highlights, making this prequel webtoon a must for fans.
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