Andy Serkis Is Ready to Take ‘Venom 2’ In “Another Direction”

Though he can’t share too much about it, director Andy Serkis does have a vision for Venom 2. After a panel for FX’s A Christmas Carol miniseries at the Television Critics Association’s 2019 summer tour, Serkis told a group of reporters about what he has in store for the upcoming film.

“I can’t tell you anything right now, I’m at the beginning stages. I have some very clear ideas about the journey that I’d like to see visually and how we can take the characters in another direction,” Serkis teased. Both A Christmas Carol and Venom 2 will see Serkis and Tom Hardy collaborating. “I’ve known Tom for years and have always admired him greatly as an actor and as a producer. We’ve always wanted to work together.

When asked if he will ever leave acting to pursue directing full time, Serkis emphasized that he likes doing both. “It’s a wonderful thing to be able to go from the intimacy of playing a single character and seeing the world through that character and that character’s point of view to stepping back and envisioning and being part of creating you know the whole picture,” Serkis said. “What I’ve learned from directing full stop is that you’re working with an extraordinary team of highly talented people and to create an atmosphere where everyone is able to do their work to 150 percent. As much as anything directing is about creating an atmosphere of people not being afraid to step forward with their very best work.”

Serkis also emphasized that he is currently not slated to star in Amazon’s upcoming Lord of the Rings series. The actor’s portrayal of Gollum is what originally turned him into a household name. “There are no plans for me to be involved at all. I’m really excited that there’s going to be an Amazon TV version of it. I think it’s going to be a world that will continue to be explored from what I hear they’re working on an earlier time frame from Lord of the Rings,” Serkis said.

Directed by Steven Knight, Serkis will be portraying the Ghost of Christmas Past in FX’s upcoming three-part miniseries adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic novel. “We created a character who’s from Dublin 200 years before,” Serkis said about his character. Knight’s version of the Ghost of Christmas Past is a sort of collector of trinkets from people’s past holidays. “The costume is almost things, bits that he has accumulated along the journey, this long journey. And he’s aware that he will probably never be redeemed.” The miniseries is set to premiere in December of 2019.