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.
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