Just to have a little brainstorming fun, I wanted to hear from the rest of Comicvine about film options that would make other Carnage fans happy (or actually get those of you who dislike/haven't heard of the character to check a movie about him out). I'm going to lay out some empty hopes of mine first, feel free to copy the format or add on any other thoughts you so desire. :)
The basics:
- Carnage NEEDS to have a hard R rating if he's going solo. While I could picture a Spider Man film teasing his existence, he's a character that falls totally outside of that series's target audience, and as such, would suffer from being watered down. If the movie is to set Carnage apart from other comic book villains, it needs to hold nothing back and let him show what makes him a priority threat for the nation's superheroes.
- The project should be marketed as a horror film first, but making sure the audience knows that it's production that takes place within the Amazing Spidey universe.
- The overarching plot would take us from Cletus Kasady's first arrest to his trial and imprisonment at Ryker's Island. From there, we would see him making first contact with the Carnage symbiote and orchestrating his escape from death row. The film would thematically mix the brutality of Cletus with the alien brilliance of Carnage's symbiote, supplying plenty of suspenseful moments along with the gore. The audience needs to feel the fear of isolation in this prison when all starts to go wrong.
The Monster:
Zack Ward as Cletus Kasady:
- That smirk...that sh*t-eating grin...that's Cletus. I've seen many suggestions for Robert Knepper and Jackie Earle Haley, but I'm looking for someone about 5-10 years younger. The charisma that Cletus exudes as a serial killer has to be accompanied by some degree of youth. Even if Zack is still a 70s child, he could probably pull off the look of someone in his 30s, imo. While I love Knepper and Haley, I don't think they could do the same. Cletus's focus and development in the film will be that of a nihilist and a societal outcast. The symbiote brings out a more calculating and terrifying side of him, slowly stripping away his personal identity and laying a new foundation within his twisted mind. There will be some sense of role reversal compared to traditional horror films here: Whereas normally monsters are depicted as savage and modern killers like John Doe are brilliant villains, Cletus is seen as a very primal murderer and his companion symbiote actually makes him more calculating and, in a way, even more frightening.
- Now, I think it could be fun to have a second actor to provide a voice for Carnage's symbiote. Someone who can be campy without sacrificing a horror feel. Mark Pellegrino could be a good fit, along with either of the actors I mentioned above. Or, just as easily, Zack's voice could be slightly warped to play Carnage as well for their inner dialog.
The Plot:
My ideas are certainly a work in progress here, though I think to make this iteration of Carnage work for a new generation, something has to give in his origin. Carnage has always been seen as "Venom's baby brother" and that's because he's literally very close to that. While I do think the core concept is an important one to keep, so that even the most diehard fans of the character are placated, I think there is some wiggle room to make the man and the symbiote more interesting.
- Initially, we open on Cletus's arrest and trial. The officer who brings him in is a trained and tough looking policeman who has been on this case for a while. We can tell he's glad to have finally caught Cletus. After a chilling scene in court, the pace picks up and we jump to Cletus's detainment while waiting on the death penalty. Cletus is introduced to his cellmate, who is also a newcomer to Ryker's. The two talk and between the cellmate's stories and some engravings/tally marks on the cell's wall, Cletus learns that the room was occupied by a man named Eddie Brock. The reason why Eddie is no longer being held at Ryker's is a mystery to both Cletus and his cellmate, as Eddie was not executed. Rumor is, Brock was released after making a deal with one of the prison's corrupt employees. Cletus's cellmate also remarks that he hears noises in the ventilation during the night and has night terrors; however, the attending guards mock his claims, as the vents are too small for anything larger than a cockroach to move through.
- On his first night in his cell, Cletus wakes up with an uncanny desire for chocolate. He convinces a guard to sneak him some extra pudding from the cafeteria, though he doesn't know why or how he was able to coerce the guard so easily. His cellmate is shocked at this, revealing that he's been stealing any and all chocolate as well, up until this morning.
- On the day of his execution, Cletus has been hearing voices in his head. Though the medical staff are intrigued by this, the warden is intent on killing Cletus on schedule; there is an eager news crew on hand, along with the officer who captured Cletus. The procedure goes as expected, lethal injection seemingly leads to Cletus flatlining minutes later, all the while he is muttering to himself and staring straight ahead with glassy eyes. The reporter and her crew begin tearing down and Cletus's doctors close their viewing window as they begin unstrapping his body from the chair. As one doctor turns, Cletus Kasady's body gives a sudden jolt, a death spasm. After a few more seconds of calm, red and black symbiote vines erupt from the killer's body, engulfing the small room and causing a thump so loud that it alerts those outside. The lights suddenly shut off, filling the hallways with a reddish emergency glow.
- Once the guards outside of the execution chamber are able to gain access, they discover a nearly empty room, with blood spattered in a few locations and the rear door knocked off it's hinges. The reporter and her crew try to contact their satellite crew outside, but cannot raise a response. The guards and policeman follow the rear exit to the prison's morgue. As they begin to search, the policeman recalls that when he found Cletus, he was hiding with the body of his latest victim. Dreading the similarity and assuming Cletus should be dead, the three characters begin to open the morgue's drawers after a bloody trail leads to them. One of the officers discovers the body of one doctor, the other opens a drawer to a body that is covered in reddish ooze, and the policeman follows the trail of ooze to another drawer containing Cletus's "body". Cletus opens his eyes and sits up; he recognizes the officer and mocks him. Horrified, the officer holds Cletus at gunpoint; however, when he calls him by his real name, Cletus laughs and remarks that he needs a superhero identity, first asking if he can use "Venom"; then mocking the guards' shocked expressions as he settles on "Carnage" instead. The symbiote, partly attached to Cletus's fingertips, reveals itself on the body that the other guard found, killing him.
^And that is WAAAAY too much to cram into an opening scene.I feel like cutting it off with the cellmate dying in the middle of the night (from the cellmate's groggy perspective) would be a good start too.
In essence, there will be a loose tie to Oscorp in the origins of Carnage, by way of the corrupt staff who not only guaranteed Venom's release in exchange for experimenting on Eddie and his symbiote, but also orchestrated Cletus's trial and eventual selection as the "offspring" symbiote's host. I think that would be a nice direction to take the character in. Likewise, it would continue to establish the ASM universe's Norman Osborn as an unlimited mastermind in the steps he'll take to grab power and eventually make Spidey's life a living hell. Setting the film on Ryker's Island provides the isolation necessary to make a good horror film, while Carnage's biding his time and making his "first strike" provides a logical reason as to why we wouldn't see Spider Man or the rest of the Avengers immediately notified of or responding to this kind of a crisis. Eventually, the policeman serves as a misdirect but also leads to an inmate doing the right thing, stepping up, and saving a small group of survivors from Carnage.
Again, it's a work in progress... >.>
Anyone else have any comic nightmares that they'd like to dream into reality?
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