Venom may have made over $850 million at the box office, proving to Sony that they could build their own lucrative Marvel universe even without Spider-Man, but it wasn’t exactly a great movie. Besides Tom Hardy’s entertainingly bizarre performance as the title character, there’s nothing particularly memorable about it at all, with the story as generic as it comes, some talented actors completely wasted in two-dimensional supporting roles and incredibly inconsistent CGI for a $100 million blockbuster.

That being said, there is renewed hope surrounding the upcoming Venom 2. Following his sequel-baiting cameo at the end of the first movie, Woody Harrelson takes center stage as Eddie Brock’s arch-nemesis and fan favorite villain Carnage, thankfully sporting a much better and more convincing wig than he did the first time round.

Original director Ruben Fleischer has also been replaced by Andy Serkis, and while it may only be his third feature, he’s proven to be a versatile filmmaker having made biopic Breathe and mo-cap adventure Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, as well as cutting his teeth on big budget blockbusters by shooting second unit on The Hobbit trilogy. At the very least, Serkis’ involvement guarantees the effects will be much improved for the symbiote’s return.

At times, the overall tone of Venom made it feel like it had arrived about a decade too late to the party, and despite the proposed R-rating for the sequel reportedly being nixed thanks to Birds of Prey’s disappointing performance at the box office, Venom 2 is apparently set to push the boundaries of what you can get away with in a PG-13 movie.

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