Venom: Let There Be Carnage Almost Had A Totally Different Title

Look, we're not saying "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" isn't a great title. It is. It's an appropriately over-the-top title for a movie as ecstatically deranged as the Tom Hardy-led superhero sequel that finds the murderous alien symbiote partying at a rave. But it almost had a totally different, even wilder title.

According to director Andy Serkis in an interview with Collider, before the Carnage-centric title was settled on, a contender was "Venom: Love Will Tear Us Apart."

"Venom: Love Will Tear Us Apart" is a title inspired by the classic 1980 song of the same name by the legendary post-punk band Joy Division. It's hilariously apt for the "Venom" sequel, which is literally about love tearing Eddie Brock and Venom apart, physically. The Venom symbiote separates from Brock's body after they get in an argument, after which point the B-plot of the movie becomes a will-they-won't-they story about them getting back together. Serkis told The Hollywood Reporter that the "center of the movie" is the "love affair" between Brock and Venom.

Here's how the "Love Will Tear Us Apart" revelation came about. Collider's Steve Weintraub asked Andy Serkis if the film ever had another title, such as "Venom: Lethal Protector," which is also the title of the first standalone Marvel Comics limited series about Eddie Brock and Venom.

"Not really, nothing to do with 'Lethal Protector' at this point," Serkis answered. "We did think for a moment it might be called 'Love Will Tear Us Apart,' that was a going concern for a little while. But 'Let There Be Carnage' just seems to do it. There wasn't a lot of fighting over the other titles we were thinking of. Because this was such a strong contender."

"Let There Be Carnage" is a perfect title. It's kind of the only title more perfect for the movie than "Love Will Tear Us Apart," when we really think about it. The only downside to it is that Joy Division doesn't have a song called "Let There Be Carnage."