While Marvel and DC dominate the world of superhero movies, one of the most famous superheroes of all time--Spider-Man--isn't owned by either studio. Marvel was in serious financial trouble during the late '90s and sold the cinematic rights to some of its prize possessions to other studios, with Spider-Man going to Sony, and X-Men and the Fantastic Four to Fox. And while the latter two properties have now returned to Marvel, Sony clearly has no interest in letting Spidey go. His appearance in the MCU is via a temporary co-production deal with Disney, and Sony continues to develop its own films using characters from Spider-Man comic books.

The first of these was 2018's Venom. The film starred Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock, a journalist who becomes the host for the dangerous alien symbiote of the title. The movie was met with very mixed reviews but was a box office smash, grossing more than $856 million worldwide. A sequel was announced soon after the movie's release, and in April this year, the title was confirmed to be Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

Like most major Hollywood movies set for release in 2020, the Venom sequel had been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, it won't be released this year at all. However, production was completed before the pandemic shut down work across Hollywood, and we know quite a bit about the film so far. So while we wait for the next dose of symbiotic insanity, here's everything we know so far about Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

What's the release date?

Venom: Let There be Carnage will hit theaters on June 25, 2021. It was originally scheduled for an October 2020 release, but like most movies due ito release this year, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed it back to 2021.

Who's coming back?

Tom Hardy will be back as Eddie Brock, as well his symbiotic alter ego Venom. Michelle Williams returns as district attorney Anne Weying, who is also Brock's ex-fiancee, while Reid Scott is playing Anne's boyfriend Dan Lewis once more.

Who's new?

There's a number of high-profile additions to the Venom sequel. Woody Harrelson takes second billing as the serial killer Cletus Kasady, who becomes a host for another alien symbiote, the insane creature known as Carnage (Technically, Harrelson appeared in the first movie, but this was just a brief mid-credit cameo). Naomie Harris, who has played Moneypenny in all the recent James Bond movies, joins the cast as Shriek. In Marvel's comic books, Shriek is Kasady's lover and a powerful supervillain in her own right, with the power to manipulate sound. There are also so-far undisclosed roles for Stephen Graham (The Irishman) and Sean Delaney (Killing Eve).

Who's directing?

Andy Serkis takes over from Ruben Fleischer, who directed the first Venom but could not commit to the sequel due to his work on Zombieland 2: Doubletap. Serkis is best known for his motion capture performances as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings movies and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes series. He also directed Netflix's Jungle Book adaptation Mowgli, and played Ulysses Klaue in the Marvel hit Black Panther.

Who's writing?

The script for Venom: Let There be Carnage has been written by Kelly Marcel. Marcel co-wrote the first movie, and also worked on Saving Mr. Banks and Fifty Shades of Grey.

What's the story?

The main conflict in the Venon sequel was set up at the end of the first movie, and the film will see Venom face off against Carnage. Not much is known beyond that, although producer Matt Tolmach has hinted that it will also focus on how Brock lives as the host to a powerful symbiote. "The heart of Venom was always the relationship between Eddie and Venom," he told Cinemablend. "These two characters, these two sides that had to figure out how to live together and that were somehow better together than they were separately, or more successful, and what that meant."

Any images of footage?

No official images or footage have been released from the movie so far. However, in February, Tom Hardy posted an image of Harrelson as Cletus Kasady, wearing a very colourful shirt--and minus the terrible wig he sported at the end of Venom. The image has since been deleted by Hardy, but you can still see it here.

Will there be Venom 3?

If Venom 2 is a success, then a third movie is certain to follow. Tom Hardy confirmed way back in August 2018 that he had signed on for three movies, and let's face it, as long as these films make money, then Sony will keep making them for as long as they can.