Venom 2: Stephen Graham joins potentially R-rated sequel's cast

Venom 2 director Andy Serkis
(Image credit: Sony)

The Venom 2 cast has started growing. Hot from a brilliant turn in Martin Scorsese's "twilight masterpiece" The Irishman as Tony Pro, Stephen Graham has joined the super-villain sequel. However, which comic-book character the actor will play remains a mystery as no details have yet been reported (per Deadline).

We do know that Graham won't be the main antagonist of Venom 2. That honour goes to Woody Harrelson, who previously appeared as Cletus Kassady (better known as Carnage) in the original Venom post-credits scene. Reports have also circulated that Naomie Harris could be playing Spider-Man nemesis (and Cletus's lover) Shriek, though this remains unconfirmed. 

In follow-up Venom 2 news, producer Matt Tolmach recently revealed to Joblo that they are considering making the sequel R-rated following the success of Joker. 

"I think you always have to think about [it], now that that works," he said. "Having said that, our movie worked really well. Our franchise exists as it is, and I don't think anybody is looking to just say, ‘Hey, they [did it]!’ We have a place in the world. So it isn't like suddenly everybody's considering what to do with the rating. 

"What Joker does is it tells you that you can succeed. For a very long time, that was the narrative. And Deadpool sort of wrestled that to the turf, and then Logan, but for a long time, that was considered totally forbidden. So you know, I think it's the greatest thing in the world that R-rated movies are being embraced by massive audiences. And it just means that there are more opportunities for that kind of storytelling."

As yet, there's no word on whether Tom Holland will appear as Spider-Man in the movie. While that was not a possibility in the first Venom, thanks to a falling out – and then recoupling – between Sony and Marvel, the web-slinger could feature in Venom 2. We should no more soon enough. Venom 2 reaches cinemas 2 October 2020.

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Jack Shepherd
Freelance Journalist

Jack Shepherd is the former Senior Entertainment Editor of GamesRadar. Jack used to work at The Independent as a general culture writer before specializing in TV and film for the likes of GR+, Total Film, SFX, and others. You can now find Jack working as a freelance journalist and editor.