The Last Dance Sets Up For Sony’s Spider-Man Universe

Spoiler alert! This article contains spoilers for Venom: The Last Dance.Venom: The Last Dance may be the final installment in the Venom trilogy, but it has laid the groundwork for several key narratives that could shape Sony’s Spider-Man Universe for years to come. While wrapping up Eddie Brock’s storyline, the film introduced new characters, left open-ended plotlines, and teased future threats, including the potential rise of an ominous Marvel villain. These hints offer an intriguing glimpse into the possible future of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, suggesting that Venom: The Last Dance may be just the beginning of a new chapter for the SSU.

Sony’s Spider-Man Universe adapts the villains and associated characters from the Spider-Man comics. The SSU began with Venom (2018), which introduced audiences to Eddie Brock, an investigative journalist who bonds with an alien symbiote known as Venom. The first movie’s success led to the sequels, Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), and Venom: The Last Dance (2024). While the latter concluded Tom Hardy’s Venom trilogy, the SSU seems poised for even more ambitious storytelling, including cross-dimensional threats and an expanding roster of characters.

5 Venom 3 Sets Up Knull And A King in Black Adaptation

Knull’s Invasion Could Be In The SSU’s Future

One of the most exciting potential storylines teased by Venom: The Last Dance is the setup for Knull and a possible “King in Black” adaptation. In Marvel Comics, the “King in Black” storyline introduces Knull, the god of the symbiotes, who leads a cosmic symbiote invasion of Earth, wreaking havoc on the Marvel Universe. Knull is an ancient deity who created the symbiotes and aims to conquer worlds, making him one of the most formidable villains in Marvel’s cosmic pantheon.

In Venom: The Last Dance, Knull appears only briefly, but his presence is ominous. Importantly, during the chilling Venom: The Last Dance mid-credits scene, Knull vows that the universe is no longer safe following Venom’s defeat. This hints at a larger, possibly cosmic, symbiote invasion in the SSU.

This ominous scene echoes a concept introduced in the first Venom movie, where the Symbiotes were sent to Earth looking to assimilate the planet. Throughout Venom: The Last Dance, scientists speculate on whether the Symbiotes arrived peacefully or as a precursor to an invasion. This debate, combined with Knull’s appearance, sets up the SSU for a potential “King in Black” storyline that could bring Knull to Earth as a devastating new threat.

4 Venom 3 Sets Up Agony As The Main Sony Symbiote

Agony Is The SSU’s Only Surviving Symbiote

Another key setup in Venom: The Last Dance is the introduction of Agony, a symbiote that could take a central role in future SSU stories. During the film, Dr. Teddy Payne bonds with a purple-colored symbiote with long, tendril-like hair, heavily hinting that this is Agony, a symbiote character from the comics. In Marvel’s lore, Agony is one of the “Life Foundation symbiotes,” a group of symbiotes created as “children” of Venom, each with unique powers and appearances.

At the end of Venom: The Last Dance, Agony is the only symbiote left standing. Venom has sacrificed himself and the other Symbiotes have been killed. This leaves Agony as the sole surviving Symbiote in the SSU, and Sony could explore her journey further in future movies.

With Agony as the last remaining Symbiote, there’s potential to dive into her backstory. An Agony movie can explore her powers, and establish her as a complex anti-hero or a new kind of threat, elaborating on the female Venom briefly teased in the first Venom movie. Agony’s survival also hints at a different direction for Symbiote stories in the SSU, perhaps one that isn’t bound by Eddie Brock’s arc but instead explores the psychology and motives of other symbiote hosts.

3 Venom 3 Sets Up Eddie Brock’s Son, Dylan Brock

Dylan Brock Has A Connection With Knull

One of the subtler but significant hints in Venom: The Last Dance is the potential introduction of Eddie Brock’s son, Dylan Brock. During an emotional road trip scene, Eddie consoles a young boy, and Venom comments that Eddie would make a great father. This moment nods to Dylan Brock, Eddie’s son in the comics, who eventually develops his own relationship with the Symbiotes.

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In Marvel’s comics, Dylan plays a significant role, even briefly becoming the vessel for Knull, the god of the Symbiotes, in the lead in to the “King in Black” storyline. Dylan possesses unique powers and a special connection to the Symbiotes, making him a key figure in the larger Symbiote mythos. Venom: The Last Dance sets up the possibility of Eddie’s legacy living on through a future storyline featuring Dylan, potentially with Dylan grappling with his father’s past and forging his own bond with a Symbiote.

The setup is subtle, but it opens up intriguing narrative opportunities. If Sony intends to pass the torch to a new generation within the SSU, then Dylan could become the new Venom. Dylan’s introduction would also tie in perfectly with the Knull tease and the possible invasion of Earth.

2 Venom 3 Sets Up Venom’s Return Despite His Death

Remnants Of Venom Are Scattered Throughout The Multiverse

While Venom: The Last Dance concludes with Venom’s apparent death, the film drops hints that this might not be the end for the iconic character. Before his demise, Venom tells Eddie that this is “just goodbye for now.” This is a callback to an earlier line, but it is also a tantalizing hint at his potential return.

Even after Venom’s death, pieces of the symbiote remain scattered across the multiverse. One piece of the Venom symbiote was left in the MCU timeline following Spider-Man: No Way Home. Another piece was retrieved from a bar in Mexico by Strickland in Venom: The Last Dance, whose fate remains unknown.

With these remnants still in existence, there’s a strong possibility that Venom could return in some form, perhaps through one of these surviving fragments. The hint of Venom’s possible comeback ensures that even though Eddie’s story might have reached its end, Venom’s story in the SSU could continue. Venom could return and bond with another host, perhaps Dylan Brock, or one of the many others from the comics.

1 Venom 3 May Have Set Up the Sinister Six

Sony Have Been Teasing The Sinister Six Since Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man

A particularly interesting reference in Venom: The Last Dancemight be setting up Sony’s long-anticipated Sinister Six project. During a critical scene, Strickland, a high-ranking official overseeing a task force, asks one of his soldiers if they’ve “reconstituted the six.” Moments later, six soldiers are deployed to apprehend Eddie and Venom in Las Vegas, suggesting that “the six” could refer to a military unit.

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This reference may simply pertain to Strickland’s forces, but given the deliberate mention of “the six,” it’s hard not to wonder if Sony is slyly hinting at the formation of a Sinister Six within the SSU. Sony has been toying with a Sinister Six project for years, which would depict the eponymous troupe of Spider-Man villains teaming up together.

With solo films for villains like Morbius and Kraven the Hunter, Sony is indeed amassing a potential line-up. This would presumably build to an Avengers-style team-up. While Venom: The Last Dance doesn’t definitively confirm a Sinister Six movie, it teases the possibility, making the future of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe seem much more tantalizing than before.

Venom 3 is the third and final installment in Sony’s symbiote trilogy starring Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock. It follows the events of Let There Be Carnage, where the anti-hero fought serial killer Cletus Kasady, and Spider-Man: No Way Home, where Brock was briefly transported to the MCU through the multiverse.

Sony’s Upcoming Marvel Movie Release Dates

Release Date

December 13, 2024