Venom: Let There Be Carnage Director Andy Serkis Gets Candid About The Movie's PG-13 Rating

We're mere weeks away from the release date of "Venom: Let There Be Carnage," and at the risk of jinxing things, it looks like the sequel to 2018's "Venom" is actually going to stick with its October 1, 2021 release date. Judging from the film's trailer, "Let There Be Carnage" is gonna be one heck of a violent affair with Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and his crazed symbiote buddy throwing down against psycho killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) and his own symbiotic beast.

While that showdown promises no end to the potential for some serious bloodletting, it seems there may be a touch less carnage in the "Venom" sequel than fans might've anticipated, as the MPAA recently awarded the film a PG-13 rating. Given the hardcore nature of the source material, speculation abounded that "Let There Be Carnage" would take a hard R approach to its hyper-violent narrative. However, in a revealing interview with IGN, "Let There Be Carnage" director Andy Serkis admitted going PG-13 on the film was very much part of wanting to ensure the film reached as broad an audience as possible. 

"You could go down an R-rated adult version of this. Of course you could." Serkis stated. "You could have done that with the last film. But we wanted to reach a big audience with this and... there are several rules you have to abide by."

Most "Venom" fans would agree if ever there was a comic book character who seemingly demanded the R-rated treatment, it's the demented, head-chomping, dismembering beast known as Carnage, so some found the PG-13 rating a bit of a bummer. Nonetheless, Andy Serkis went on to tell IGN that, in spite "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" toeing the PG-13 line, he fully believes the film delivers the chaos and menace the character is known for. "I think we have pushed to the very limits [with] the danger and darkness and the threat and the menace of Carnage."

Serkis also assured IGN that his approach to the violence in the film ensured, even without loads of blood and gore, that the Carnage comic book fans have come to know over the years is very much the Carnage they'll see in the film. "Just because you don't see so much gore — perhaps there's not so much blood or... seeing heads being bitten off — you can still suggest that." Serkis further offered, "The suggestion, leaving it to the audience's imagination, can be just as powerful. I think that's just what we managed to do. It's certainly not shying away from the darkness. And the real heart of Carnage as a character isn't compromised at all."

Fans will be able to judge that approach for themselves when "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" finally hits theaters on October 1, 2021.