The name of Riz Ahmed’s Venom character has been revealed

Last Updated on July 21, 2021

The VENOM film that ZOMBIELAND director Ruben Fleischer is currently making for Sony, based on the Marvel Comics character, has been shrouded in mystery. Although we know the names of several cast members, we don't know exactly who many of them will be playing. Sure, we have Tom Hardy as the lead character, alien symbiote-coated Eddie Brock, and Michelle Williams as Eddie's wife Annie Weying, but we also have Jenny Slate as "a scientist", Woody Harrelson as "a henchman of sorts", and Reid Scott as a mystery character.

Who Riz Ahmed will be playing in the film has also been a mystery… until now. The top theory over the months since his casting has been that Ahmed would be playing serial killer Cletus Kasady, who becomes the monstrous Carnage when he bonds with the spawn of the Venom symbiote. That would make sense – if Venom is going to be the (anti)hero of a film, Carnage would be the top choice for the villain.

But Atlanta Filming has given away the name of Ahmed's character, and it's not Cletus Kasady. It's Dr. Carlton Drake, a character from the comics who works for the Life Foundation and 

has an above average knowledge of symbiotes, able to surmise that the Venom symbiote contained five more "seeds," and subsequently extract them.

The result of this seed extraction: the birth of five offspring called Riot, Lasher, Phage, Agony, and Scream. 

The inclusion of this event in the film would match up with what Fleischer has previously said about the movie being based on two comic storylines: Lethal Protector and Planet of the Symbiotes.

Lethal Protector finds Venom living in San Francisco and taking on 

five new offspring of the Venom Symbiote: Scream, Phage, Riot, Lasher, and Agony. 

Planet of the Symbiotes is about what happens when 

Earth is invaded by an army of symbiotes.

It looks like Ahmed's character is going to be responsible for unleashing several symbiotes into San Francisco, leaving Venom to clean up the mess.

It remains to be seen if the villains of the film will be Riot, Lasher, Phage, Agony, and Scream or if there will be more symbiotes worked in there as well. Will Carnage be in the film, or would they save him for a sequel? We can only wait to find out as VENOM's secrets continue to be revealed.

VENOM is scheduled to reach theatres on October 5, 2018.