This post contains spoilers. Venom: The Last Dance.
The core of the question is Venom: The Last Dance It’s a simple question. Is this really the end of Venom?
Is this really Tom Hardy’s last hurray as journalist turned anti-hero Eddie Brock? Is the best comic book movie love story (the guy standing in front of the symbiote asking for love) finally over?
Looking at the events of the film, yes to all three. but last dance There are two post-credits scenes that leave at least the slightest chance that Alien’s superhero era will never end.
In the film, Brock and Venom, an alien symbiote who shares a body with a reporter, are chased by a villain named Null (CGI standout Andy Serkis). Knull is clearly some kind of terrible, terrible evil. A shadowy being with strikingly white hair is trapped in a world of eternal darkness. The only thing that can free him is the Codex (which looks like a slightly glowing, swirling gem), which, since this is ostensibly a movie about Venom, is actually a part of Venom’s body. Knull sends unkillable alien creatures called genophages after Venom and Eddie with the intention of killing one or both of them and bringing the Codex back so that Knull can bring destruction and despair to the universe.
Meanwhile, Venom and Brock are on the run after the incident. Venom: Let the carnage happen. They hide out in Mexico, but after Venom eats several of the men, they decide to make a new life in New York. Venom tells Eddie that he wants to see the Statue of Liberty. This is because Eddie explains how America welcomes anyone in need of shelter and protection. (yes, Venom: The Last Dance In fact, it serves as an allegory for immigration reform featuring undocumented aliens.)
Due to Knull, his genophage, and the interference of the U.S. military, the two never make it to New York. Instead, they are trapped in Area 51, where the situation for Venom looks bleak. In the symbiote’s last stand, he absorbs Knull’s murder beast and douses himself in the only corrosive acid strong enough to dissolve the genophage. Venom’s final act is to sacrifice himself for Brock and Earth, and when he and his attackers die, so does the Codex.
In the film’s final scene, after an extended Eddie and Venom montage, Eddie visits New York City and gazes upon the Statue of Liberty. He knows it’s a sight Venom would have loved. And guys, is this the end… or is it the end?
‘Venom: The Last Dance’‘s credits scene leaves the door open for future symbiotes.
first last danceThe credits scene is short. Knull appears on screen again and declares that Venom is dead and he will take over the universe! Is that so? Well, Knull’s return will largely depend on how much money this movie makes. If you have a little bit of cash — venom Foreign films are performing particularly well. Knull might be back. But if Knull returns, doesn’t that mean Venom will return too? There can be no villains without heroes! That’s not how superhero movies work!
The established and assured success of superhero movies these days seems more fragile and studios are scrambling. Marvel post~endgame The design has fallen apart and the studio plans to bring back Robert Downey Jr. to help start the engine. Warner Bros. is gearing up for a James Gunn-led reboot of its DC Comics properties. Sony’s smaller constellation of movies adjacent to Marvel has been a semi-bright spot on the landscape, so if these movies are a hit, they’ll likely find a way to bring the franchise back.
last dance‘s second credits scene occurs after all the credits have scrolled and looks at the remains of Area 51, where Venom died. Everything is destroyed! Everything is a mess! All of this allows Brock’s bartender from Mexico, who was detained by U.S. forces at the beginning of the film, to escape his cell and wander the desert.
The important part here is that we see the cockroach approaching the remnants of the symbiont. (I completely understand that the sentence is stupid, but Venom is stupid.) Bottom line: If this cockroach, nature’s ultimate symbol of survival, touches a symbiote, that symbiote can live. So if some part of Venom is protected by acid, he can survive through cockroaches.
What this means is that even though the movie is a farewell, and perhaps a farewell to Hardy, there’s still a chance that Venom or a Venom-related hero (e.g. another symbiote) will survive. That ambiguity is something that either people who like this movie, or people who have a strange, delusional fantasy of seeing a shared Sony universe where Madame Web, Morbius, and Venom all hang out like friends, or finally, endlessly teased. A Venom x Tom Holland Spider-Man crossover is receiving.
Much like the aforementioned Knull credits scene, it will be box office that ultimately determines Venom’s future films. If enough people see this movie and it grosses millions of dollars, this probably won’t be Venom’s last dance. Closed fans be damned.
