Carnage's History
Cletus Kasady is a major antagonist in Sony's Spider-Man Universe, serving as a minor antagonist in Venom and one of the two main antagonists (alongside Carnage) of its sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
He is a notorious and deranged serial killer who was locked away in San Quentin Prison, where reporter Eddie Brock interviewed him. However, Kasady eventually managed to break out of prison so he can unleash carnage upon New York City.
He was portrayed by Woody Harrelson, who also played Carnage in the second film, Mickey Knox in Natural Born Killers, Charles Costello in Seven Psychopaths, Harlan Degroat in Out of the Furnace, Colonel McCullough in War for the Planet of the Apes and Tobias Beckett in Solo: A Star Wars Story. As a child, he was portrayed by Jack Bandeira.
Early Life
Cletus Kasady is a deeply disturbed individual with a dark, twisted and traumatic past. He was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in St. Estes home after becoming an orphan at such a young age. Before Cletus was even placed into St. Estes, he was already showing signs of psychopathy, including being very antisocial and even torturing and killing his mother's dog with a drill, as well as killing his abusive grandmother by pushing her down a flight of stairs in revenge for her mistreatment of him and then his mother by dropping a hairdryer in her bathtub.
He also had an abusive father who beat him, which is presumed to be the reason Cletus grew up to become a psychopath. Cletus tried to kill his father to fight back against his abuse but failed and was then sent to a children's home named St. Estes, due to his sociopathic tendencies. While there, other kids mercilessly beat him up. The only one who took pity on him was a girl named Francis Barrison, who scared the kids off with her sonic scream powers. The two would then bond as they grew up in the children's home, and they would form a romantic chemistry. Cletus then burned down the orphanage, killing the headmistress and everyone else inside. Eddie Brock speculates in his notes that Cletus did this out of revenge.
Cletus then began murdering, cannibalizing and torturing countless people before he and Francis got caught. During their young adult years, Francis was hauled off to the Ravencroft Institute due to her powers, much to Cletus' furious dismay. She was presumed to be shot dead after trying to escape causing a car crash, although Cletus knew very well that she was alive.
Venom
Following the deaths of Riot and Carlton Drake, Eddie Brock was on a motorcycle trip to San Quentin Prison to do an interview with a mystery convict to see if he will help the FBI identify more potential bodies. After receiving an ominous warning from one of the prison guards, the mystery convict is revealed to be Cletus Kasady. When Eddie enters his cell, Cletus writes "Welcome Eddie" with his own blood. During the interview, Cletus asks Eddie if he can "forgo the whole creepy serial killer thing", claiming he can turn the serial-killer act on and off whenever he wants. Cletus also mentions eating the eyeballs out of victims' heads. Afterward, Cletus tells Eddie to get closer to him, despite the guards warning Eddie not to. Eddie remained cautious, but Cletus told him he wouldn't tell Eddie to locations of his other victims. Finally, Cletus claimed to Eddie that he planned to break out of prison and unleash "carnage" upon society (foreshadowing his becoming Carnage).
Venom: Let There Be Carnage
Two decades after having been separated from his girlfriend, Cletus had Eddie Brock run a coded message in the paper in exchange for his life story; to let Shriek know he intended to keep his promise to marry her. However, Venom quickly figured out the location of Cletus' victims from his cell drawings and the police exhumed them. With no reason to be kept alive, a dejected Cletus invited Eddie to meet him one last time to guilt trip him. However, this angered Venom, who assaulted him. Cletus took the opportunity to bite Eddie, only to be surprised when he accidentally ate a piece of the symbiote.
Come execution by lethal injection, Cletus' sample awoke as a sentient new symbiote whom he named Carnage. The two escaped and killed/ate numerous people on the way out. Carnage agreed to help Cletus free Shriek, in exchange for killing its parent, Venom. After Shriek used her power during the escape, Carnage threatened her not to do so again, since symbiotes were vulnerable to high sounds to which Cletus warned her about for her safety. The three decide to make a �??red wedding�?� for Cletus and Shriek. After kidnapping "witnesses" for the wedding, they planned on killing Venom, Eddie and Patrick Mulligan, the cop who arrested Shriek.
Venom attacked, resulting in Carnage and Cletus fighting them. During the fight Carnage knocked Shriek around to Cletus protests and killed the priest to get more power. Eventually, Carnage grew tired of Shriek's presence and tried to strangle her to death, which caused Cletus to panic and try to prevent Carnage from doing so. Carnage tried to force Venom and Eddie to watch Anne die but she was successfully rescued by the heroes. As the fight with Venom reached the bell tower, a still-alive Shriek fell to her death below as her scream dislodged the bell and symbiotes. Before Carnage could merge with Cletus again, Venom ate the offspring. A dying Cletus told Eddie that he desired his friendship; Eddie apologizes to Cletus but an annoyed Venom comes out and declares "Fuck this guy!" and bites his head off, ending Cletus' reign.
