Thanos and Carnage are formidable foes on their own, so the two of them fusing together to fight Venom in the Guardians Of The Galaxy: Mission Breakout series was always going to be a tough battle. Venom is one of Spider-Man’s most recognizable villains, but he a tough journey to big-screen stardom. One of the earliest attempts was a 1997 project that apparently would have seen Dolph Lundgren play the title character, with David S. Goyer scripting. Sam Raimi was later forced by producers to include Venom in Spider-Man 3 despite the director’s noted dislike of the villain.
Despite Topher Grace’s best efforts, the Spider-Man 3 take on Venom was a major disappointment to fans and plans for a solo spinoff were canceled. The character was set to appear in either The Sinister Six or The Amazing Spider-Man 3, with Channing Tatum eager to play the role. Following the lukewarm response to the second movie, these plans were scrapped once again. The toothy symbiote finally got his time in the spotlight with 2018’s Venom, starring Tom Hardy. This was the first in a planned series of films focusing on Spider-Man villains and while reviews were mixed, Venom would become a surprise success thanks to its offbeat humor and the fun relationship between Eddie Brock and his symbiote.
Carnage was typically pitched as the villain for any potential solo Venom movie, with Jim Carrey once rumored for the role. The 2018 movie ended with Eddie Brock visiting serial killer Cletus Kasady, teasing Carnage as the villain for a sequel. Fans anticipating a live-action throwdown between the two should definitely check out the “Drive My Carnage” episode of the Guardians Of The Galaxy TV series. This season 3 episode finds the Guardians fighting the Mad Titan himself on Earth, who has bonded with Carnage and intends to create a symbiote army. This episode is also a crossover with Marvel’s Spider-Man series, so to make things even more complicated, Spidey than has to bond with the Venom symbiote in order to fight Carnage Thanos.
This episode of Guardians Of The Galaxy basically proves to be an overload of superhero goodness, ending with the Guardians and Venom fighting Carnage Thanos and causing all kinds of destruction. While defeating Thanos proved much tricker in Avengers: Endgame, “Drive My Carnage” ends with the Mad Titan captured by the Guardians - with Spider-Man webbing his mouth shut for good measure.
Guardians Of The Galaxy: Mission Breakout was a fun show at the best of times, but “Drive My Carnage” really overdoses on the premise of Thanos merging with Carnage. The ending battle with Venom is worth the wait too, so hopefully, Venom 2 will be able to deliver something as satisfying when the pair finally fight.
Next: Marvel Theory: The Snap Didn’t Kill Anybody (And Thanos Isn’t Dead)
