The recent release of the Venom: The Last Dance trailer has put a damper on fans’ hopes for a crossover between Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (SSU) and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). This third and final installment in the Venom trilogy, starring Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock/Venom, has effectively debunked two prevalent multiverse theories that speculated on a connection to Marvel’s upcoming Spider-Man 4.
Tom Hardy’s portrayal of Venom has firmly established itself within Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, sharing a narrative continuity with Morbius and the upcoming Kraven the Hunter. While Sony and Marvel share the rights to Spider-Man, allowing the web-slinger to appear in the MCU, Spider-Man has yet to make an appearance in the SSU. This complex rights arrangement led to considerable fan speculation following Hardy’s cameo in the post-credits scene of Spider-Man: No Way Home. This scene suggested a potential storyline that could bridge the gap between the MCU and SSU, especially with the narrative possibilities opened up by the multiverse concept.
In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Eddie Brock finds himself transported into the MCU’s primary universe and spends his time watching the unfolding events on a bar television. However, due to Doctor Strange’s spell, Eddie is returned to his original universe, but a small piece of the Venom symbiote remains behind. This left fans speculating that the remaining symbiote might bond with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, setting up a Venomized Spider-Man in Spider-Man 4 and further intertwining the MCU with the SSU.
The Venom: The Last Dance trailer, however, has shattered these crossover dreams. In a pivotal scene, Chiwetel Ejiofor’s character traps the symbiote under a glass, preventing it from bonding with anyone. This crucial moment indicates that the symbiote piece left in the MCU cannot encounter Peter Parker, nullifying the theory of a Venomized Spider-Man in Spider-Man 4. It implies that the symbiote’s presence in the MCU was more of a narrative tease rather than a setup for future MCU events.
With this trailer revelation, it is clear that Venom: The Last Dance will remain self-contained within the SSU. The trailer suggests that any lingering threads from Eddie Brock’s brief stint in the MCU will not influence the events of the MCU’s Spider-Man films. While the exact consequences of the symbiote’s containment in Venom 3 remain to be seen, the long-speculated connection to the MCU’s Spider-Man 4 appears to be definitively off the table.
This development underscores Sony’s strategy to keep its Spider-Man Universe distinct from the MCU, despite occasional overlaps. Fans eagerly awaiting a crossover between Tom Hardy’s Venom and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man might be disappointed, but the separation allows both universes to develop their narratives independently, preserving their unique tones and story arcs.
DC Fanboy! Superman is the greatest comic book character of all time. Favorite movies are Man of Steel, Goonies, Back To the Future