Deadline is reporting that British character actor Stephen Graham (Snatch, This Is England) has joined the Venom sequel in an undisclosed role.
We hear that two-time Boardwalk Empire SAG ensemble winner Stephen Graham is joining Sony’s Venom 2 directed by Andy Serkis.
The actor has a connection to lead actor Tom Hardy as the two worked alongside each other on the series Taboo, Josh Trank’s Fonzo, and HBO’s Band of Brothers.
Graham is best known for playing real-life American gangsters such as Baby Face Nelson in Michael Mann’s Public Enemies, Al Capone in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, and most recently Tony ‘Pro’ Provenzano in Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman.
Andy Serkis is directing the film and we assume will also take a role in some capacity.
Given his track record playing villains there is a good shot he’s playing one here as well. In the world of Spider-Man, it’s populated by plenty of gangsters and I wouldn’t be shocked if ended up as Hammerhead. Since he’d fit that part perfectly.
We previously reported that filming on Venom 2 would be taking place at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in Watford, England (recently confirmed by Tom Hardy himself).
Joining Hardy in the sequel will be Michelle Williams returning as Anne Weying aka She-Venom, Woody Harrelson (Solo: A Star Wars Story, Zombieland) as Cletus Kasady aka Carnage, and reported newcomer Naomie Harris (Skyfall, No Time To Die) as Skriek.
Stephen recently had a voice-over role in Lionsgate’s failed Hellboy reboot.
The studio is banking big on the sequel after the original earned a massive $855 million globally even with iffy critical response.
There have been rumblings that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man could be showing up, however, folks said the same thing about the first installment and that didn’t happen. We’ll have to wait for more official word even if Sony is game for a crossover.
Sony Pictures has given Venom 2 a release date of October 2nd, 2020.
SOURCE: DEADLINE
