Venom: Let There Be Carnage star Tom Hardy has said that it's "really important" to him to tell a complete story within each movie, because future instalments aren't always guaranteed.
That said, he also told Digital Spy that having an idea of where the story could go beyond those first, second or even third outings is crucial, too.
Discussing the release of the Marvel Comics-inspired sequel, Hardy – who played Eddie Brock in the 2018 original and reprises the role in its follow-up – explained that there are already "plans" when it comes to Venom 3.
Related: Spider-Man star Tom Holland addresses Venom crossover possibility
"These things [usually] come in threes," he explained. "If there's going to be a new one – and they depend heavily on the success of each individual one, so you can't count on them ever happening again – every one has got to be as if it was the last one.
"But I think it's really important, if you go into something, thinking that one, two and three are the same... the same story, the same film. So that you don't surprise yourself by being caught out by suddenly having to do a third from nowhere.
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"There's got to be some continuity into a third and fourth and fifth, and if somebody says 'no', that's fine. Let it go, and you move on to something else."
Directed by Andy Serkis and featuring the likes of Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris, Reid Scott and Stephen Graham, Venom: Let There Be Carnage sees Eddie and the titular alien symbiote face off against a chaotic spawn of the latter's, after it latches itself onto serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) and breaks him out of prison.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage is out now in US cinemas, and opens on October 15 in the UK.
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Gabriella Geisinger is a freelance film critic and journalist, with a focus on J-drama & film, and the Japanese production industry. She was previously Locations Editor at Screen International and Deputy Movies Editor at Digital Spy. Her writing can also befound in Curzon, 1883, and more. A born and raised New Yorker, she loves coffee and the colour black, obviously.
