Tom Hardy wants to sink his teeth into a Spider-Man-Venom crossover. But which Spider-Man? Venom: The Last Dance (out October 25) is the third and final film in Sony’s Venom trilogy, marking Hardy’s fourth outing as the symbiote-bonded Eddie Brock, who we last saw in the mid-credits scene of 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. After a haywire spell cast by Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange brought him into the Marvel Cinematic Universe alongside other Spider-Man villains from throughout the multiverse, Eddie spent his stint in the MCU at a bar in Mexico before he was blipped back to Sony’s Spider-Man Universe — leaving the almost-Sinister Six shy of one member and never crossing paths with Peter Parker 1 (Tom Holland), Peter 2 (Tobey Maguire), or Peter 3 (Andrew Garfield).

“I would love to fight Spider-Man. I would love to fight him now. I’m happy to fight Spider-Man today, 100 percent,” Hardy said onstage during the Venom 3 New York Comic Con panel. “I would never say never. We were specifically set up to bring Venom to a movie format, and that’s what we’ve done. The Last Dance is the final piece in that trilogy, and we’re really excited about that.”

But with there being three live-action Spider-Men, ComicBook asked Hardy to clarify which webhead he wants to tango with after The Last Dance. “Tom Holland, without a shadow of a doubt,” Hardy said in our exclusive interview (below).

After he faced off with another comic book adversary in 2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage — Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson), a.k.a. the symbiotic serial killer Carnage — Hardy said that a potential run-in with Spider-Man depended on Sony and Marvel Studios’ ongoing partnership concerning the Spider-Man movie rights.

“I would be remiss if I wasn’t trying to steer any kind of connectivity,” he told Esquire. “I wouldn’t be doing the job if I wasn’t awake and open to any opportunity or eventuality or be excited by that. Obviously, that’s a large canyon to leap, to be bridged by one person alone, and it would take a much higher level of diplomacy and intelligence, sitting down and talking, to take on an arena such as that.

“Should both sides be willing, and it be beneficial to both sides, I don’t see why it couldn’t be,” he continued. “I hope and strongly, with both hands, push, eagerly, towards that potential, and would do anything to make that happen, within what’s right in business. But it would be foolish not to head towards the Olympic Games if you were running 100 meters, so yeah! I want to play on that field.”

In Venom: The Last Dance, Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and Venom are on the run, hunted by both their worlds: on Earth, by the military (at the charge of Chiwetel Ejiofor’s character) and off-world, by the God of the Symbiotes, Lord of the Abyss, King in Black: Knull. In the conclusion to the Venom trilogy, “The duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance,” per the synopsis.

In addition to Hardy and Ejiofor, Venom 3 stars Juno Temple (Ted Lasso), Rhys Ifans (The Amazing Spider-Man), Alanna Ubach (Euphoria), Peggy Lu (reprising her role as Mrs. Chen), and Stephen Graham (reprising his Venom 2 role as Detective Mulligan). Kelly Marcel, co-writer of the first two films, makes her directorial debut and directs from a script she co-wrote with Hardy. Avi Arad (Borderlands), Matt Tolmach (Morbius), Amy Pascal (Spider-Man: No Way Home), and Hutch Parker (The Wolverine) are the producers with Marcel and Hardy. Venom 3 is in theaters Oct. 25.

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Chiwetel Ejiofor is about to be a Marvel movie veteran in more ways than one. The actor starred in Doctor Strange as Baron Mordo, and fans saw his path from hero-in-training to potentially dangerous villain. This month he’s set to make the jump from the MCU to Sony’s universe of Marvel characters, taking on the role of General Strickland in Venom: The Last Dance.

While both characters are integral to Marvel movies, they couldn’t be more different. Mordo is a sorcerer, a master of dark and ancient arts. Strickland is much more grounded, rooted in what we know of as reality, making him an interesting fit for a film about symbiotic alien goo that can take over other life forms.

Ahead of Venom: The Last Dance‘s arrival in theaters this weekend, ComicBook.com spoke with Ejiofor about the differences between his two major Marvel characters.

“It’s just such a different character, and that’s the main thing,” Ejiofor told us. “For General Strickland, just how organized everything is, and the responsibility. How Earthy it is. It’s all just kind of built on reality and on these really high stakes for him, this attempt to keep in line the military part of this incredibly secret facility. His life, in many ways, is being complicated by the scientific wing of that, headed by Doctor Payne. So they end up in this kind of conflict about what’s best, and the best ways to proceed with these alien life forms. And all of that, all of those dynamics, were really interesting to play. And fun to play, with Juno [Temple].”

Mordo and Strickland are such different characters that it would be hard to find some common ground that could connect them in-universe. Before knowing who Ejiofor was playing, though, many Marvel fans thought his role could somehow be related to Mordo, or even an alt-universe version of the character in disguise.

Those theories almost all stem from the “crossover” between Venom and the MCU in the post-credits for Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man: No Way Home. The former saw Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock and his Symbiote end up in the same universe as Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, while the latter saw those characters shipped back to their universe, although they left a little piece of Symbiote behind.

This gave both Marvel franchises a way to connect with one another if need be, but there hasn’t been any real connective tissue between Hardy and Holland’s characters on-screen.

Given this lack of connection, it seems as though the door is still open for Ejiofor to reprise his Mordo role in the MCU, should a future opportunity arise.

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Tom Hardy looks to bring Venom’s movie saga to a thrilling close in Venom: The Last Dance, and that adventure wouldn’t be possible without the comics that introduced Venom to the world. First brought to life by Todd McFarlane and David Michelinie back in Amazing Spider-Man #299, Venom has since become one of Marvel’s most popular characters, and now he’s developed a new legion of fans on the big screen. Crazily enough McFarlane and Hardy hadn’t actually met before New York Comic-Con, but ComicBook’s Chris Killian had the chance to be in the room when McFarlane, Hardy, and Venom: The Last Dance director Kelly Marcel all finally crossed paths, and you can watch the moment play out in the video below!

During ComicBook’s interview with Marcel and Hardy, McFarlane surprised the pair after we subtly brought up who created the character. McFarlane entered the room, telling them how special it is to see a character he worked on so long ago reach a whole new audience thanks to the work Hardy, Marcel, and the rest of the team have done in bringing Venom to life in film.

“I appreciate meeting the two of you,” McFarlane said. “I just wanted to say from a personal point of view it’s been a pleasure, seeing this character that I created so long ago with David Michelinie, the writer. But even more so that there’s rarely a day that goes by I don’t run into somebody, usually like kids that come around, they go, ‘Man, I just love those Venom movies, Todd.’ ‘Oh, thanks.’ I just came up with a design that we had no idea (would take off) and you guys are now taking it to the world, right? It’s just been an utter pleasure to sit back and watch it I just want to say thanks to you.”

Marcel told McFarlane “We love him, We love him. We’re such big fans.” Hardy added, “Thank you for creating Venom”, but McFarlane responded, “Oh no, you guys take it to the next level.” Hardy added, “Oh no, we get to play with him. So thank you.”

The Future

While this very well might be Venom‘s final film, it most likely won’t be Knull’s, as Marcel says The Last Dance is really “the beginnings” of Knull’s on-screen story. Marcel assured fans that they know just how important Knull is, and they hope they are laying the same foundation for Knull as they did Hardy’s Venom.

“We were always aware of Knull, but knew that we needed to lay the foundation of the Venom character, and his relationship with Eddie, before introducing him. This is just the beginning for Knull,” Marcel said. “We’re in spoiler territory now and we hope some of the fun of watching this movie is not knowing what will happen, but trust me, we know full well how important Knull is to the fans, so just as we laid a foundation for Venom, we hope we are doing the same for Knull. The King in Black is way too powerful for ‘one and done.’”

Venom: The Last Dance hits theaters on October 25th.

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Later this week Tom Hardy will be seen on the big screen in Venom: The Last Dance, marking his third feature film starring as the Marvel antihero. Though he’s been playing the role of Venom on screen for six years now, Hardy didn’t actually meet Venom’s co-creator Todd McFarlane until very recently…and ComicBook had a hand in getting the two creatives together for the first time.

Speaking with Tom Hardy and Venom: The Last Dance writer/director Kelly Marcel, we asked the pair if they recalled who created the iconic comic book character, with both quickly naming McFarlane. Having dropped his name themselves, we then opened the door and had the man himself enter the room for a full introduction to the pair.

“I just wanted to say from a personal point of view it’s been a pleasure, seeing this character that I created so long ago with David Michelinie (on screen),” McFarlane said to Hardy and Marcel. “There’s rarely a day that goes by I don’t run into somebody, usually kids that come around, they go, ‘Man, I just love those Venom movies, Todd.’ ‘I just came up with a design that we had no idea (would take off) and you guys are now taking it to the world, right? It’s just been an utter pleasure to sit back and watch it, I just want to say thanks to you.”

“We love him, We love him,” Marcel told McFarlane. “We’re such big fans.”  

McFarlane and Hardy then went on to have fun exchange.

“Thank you for creating Venom,” Hardy said to McFarlane, prompting the creator to respond: “Oh no, you guys take it to the next level.

“Oh no, we get to play with him,” Hardy added. “So thank you.”

Across the two live-action movies that have been released, Venom has brought in over $1.3 billion at the global box office. The upcoming Venom: The Last Dance will no doubt push that number even higher, while the future for the character may also be even more open than the title for the sequel implies.

McFarlane’s influence on Marvel Comics (and comics at large) has been felt not only in the Venom feature films (where character beyond Venom that he co-created also appear) but even in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This summer’s hit movie Deadpool & Wolverine paid homage to McFarlane’s iconic cover from 1987’s Incredible Hulk #340, featuring the reflection of The Hulk in Wolverine’s claws, by recreating the moment with Hugh Jackman and Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk in a brief moment.

What is Venom: The Last Dance about?

In Venom: The Last Dance, Tom Hardy returns as Venom, one of Marvel’s greatest and most complex characters, for the final film in the trilogy. Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance.

Venom: The Last Dance stars Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach and Stephen Graham. The film is directed by Kelly Marcel from a screenplay she wrote, based on a story by Hardy and Marcel.

Venom: The Last Dance opens in theaters on October 25th.

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The rating for Venom: The Last Dance may have fans, as well as star Tom Hardy, disappointed. The third film in Sony Pictures’ Venom franchise is the swan song for Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock / Venom, the character that evolved from one of Spider-Man’s greatest enemies to a full-fledged hero in the Marvel Universe. There was a time when a movie starring Venom would have seemed silly, but Hardy and the team at Sony Pictures have done a commendable job of turning Venom into a property that fans are excited to watch. With Venom: The Last Dance being the end of the road for the Lethal Protector, there was hope that it would move past the PG-13 rating of its predecessors to warrant an R-rating. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case.

Venom: The Last Dance‘s official MPA rating has been revealed, and instead of being rated R, Venom 3 will be rated PG-13 “for intense sequences of violence and action, bloody images, and strong language.” There was a big movement by Venom fandom and Tom Hardy for Venom: The Last Dance to get that R-rating. The advantage of being rated R is that it allows for more violence and bloodshed on film, along with having a more mature tone. Sony Pictures probably weighed the pros and cons of this decision, and ultimately landed on being conservative with Venom: The Last Dance‘s rating.

It remains to be seen how Venom fans will react to the news. More than likely it won’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Fans who were already going to see Venom: The Last Dance in theaters probably aren’t changing their minds based on a rating, especially if they saw Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which were also PG-13.

One of the big talking points coming out of the final trailer for Venom: The Last Dance was the appearance of Knull. The villain is a recent addition to the Venom mythos, but he’s played a big role in the comics and was the center of a crossover event, King in Black. Knull is the creator of the symbiotes and made his comics debut in 2018’s Venom #4. Knull has connections to the very beginnings of the Marvel Universe, and has crossed paths with figures such as the Celestials, Silver Surfer, Ego the Living Planet, and Thor. 

Eddie Brock and Venom ultimately defeated Knull in King in Black, with Eddie taking on the King in Black mantle. One of the lead ups to King in Black was Absolute Carnage, which saw Venom team up with the Avengers to battle a much deadlier Carnage.

While the actor playing Knull hasn’t been confirmed, the cast list for Venom: The Last Dance includes Rhys Ifans, who looks a lot like the Knull we quickly saw in the Venom 3 trailer. Ifans is no stranger to taking on comic book roles, having also portrayed Dr. Curt Connors / The Lizard in Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man.

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The theatrical debut of Venom: The Last Dance is just around the corner, promising to deliver an epic new chapter in the story of Eddie Brock / Venom (Tom Hardy). The live-action take on the character has spanned two solo films and a confusing string of post-credit appearances since 2018, with fans all around the world becoming endeared to Hardy’s performance. While the actor has repeatedly stated that The Last Dance will be his final solo film as the character, there has still been the question of what his onscreen future holds, either in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe or through crossing back over into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As we wait to see what The Last Dance ultimately does for Eddie’s story, one prevailing theory has surrounded his connection to that film’s villain, Knull.

Created by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman, Knull is a primordial cosmic being with a wide-ranging impact across the Marvel Universe. Retroactively established as an instrumental part of Gorr the God Butcher’s debut in Thor, Knull was later properly introduced as the “King in Black”, who created and has domain over all symbiotes in the galaxy. He eventually became the central antagonist of the King in Black comic crossover, which saw nearly all of the Marvel Universe joining forces to fight him.

Those involved with The Last Dance have already hinted at Knull’s onscreen debut being the first chapter in a larger story, which has naturally led some to wonder if the specific character will eventually become a larger onscreen villain. But if that is not the case, what if Eddie ultimately takes his place?

This doesn’t necessarily mean Eddie would transform into a new version of Knull — although, admittedly, there would be some interesting narrative potential in seeing that corruption. If anything, there could be a fun (and as of late, comic-accurate) narrative in having Hardy’s Eddie succeed Knull as the King in Black. The honor (or burden, depending on how you look at it) was bestowed upon Eddie after he killed Knull at the end of the King in Black storyline, giving him access to the Nexus of the Hive Mind and other domain over the symbiotes. In the years since that event, Eddie has used the King in Black title to go through some convoluted evolutions and start a new superhero team, all while passing the proper mantle of Venom onto his son.

While we probably would not see aspects of that adapted onscreen following The Last Dance, bonding Hardy’s Eddie to the symbiotes of the universe would be a clever full-circle choice, given his reluctant journey with Venom over the years. And theoretically, if the live-action Spider-Man mythos were to reach the point of some sort of onscreen crossover event, it would be rather fitting to place Eddie Brock into the role of a franchise-spanning antagonist. Amid the highs and lows of Sony’s various movies about Spider-Man villains, the Venom franchise has remained their biggest stable success, grossing plenty of money at the box office and being well-received among fans. Turning the “face of your franchise” into its new greatest villain does have some interesting story potential, as evident by the MCU’s own casting for Doctor Doom.

No matter how notorious and meme-worthy Morbius and Madame Web have become, the prospect of seeing characters from those films join forces to fight a super-powerful Venom could very well be a draw for a big crossover movie, doubly so if any of Sony’s live-action Spider-Man portrayals were to somehow get involved. Hardy’s Venom becoming the next live-action King in Black would work, in part, because fans would truthfully have no idea what to expect, even amid the past few years of comic precedent. Amid the highs and lows of the superhero movie industry around him, Hardy’s take on Venom has become beloved for how wacky and maximalist it is — and what could be more wacky and maximalist than seeing him transform from an ordinary disgraced reporter to a full-blown cosmic deity?

Venom: The Last Dance will be released exclusively in theaters on Friday, October 25th.

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The box office projections for Venom: The Last Dance are tracking as the lowest in the entire franchise. To say films are having a tough time in theaters at the moment would be an understatement. There was an expectation that Joker: Folie a Deux would ride the momentum from 2019’s Joker to more box office success. Unfortunately, Joker 2 landed in the same range as major disappointments The Flash and The Marvels. Deadpool & Wolverine is the only comic book property to be a hit with audiences at the theater this year, but can Venom: The Last Dance join the Marvel flick in that category?

The tracking for Venom: The Last Dance opening weekend is in the range of $70 million, which is lower than 2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage ($90 million) and 2018’s Venom ($80.2 million). To put that in perspective, Deadpool & Wolverine‘s opening weekend made $211.4 million, and Joker: Folie a Deux was surprisingly under $40 million. So if Venom 2 was able to stay close to that $70 million projection, Sony Pictures would probably take that as a much-needed win. There isn’t much competition in Venom: The Last Dance‘s way, so the runway is there if the audience shows up.

Venom: The Last Dance runtime revealed

With tickets for Venom: The Last Dance now on sale, audiences can find out how long the movie actually is. The official runtime for Venom: The Last Dance is 1 hour and 50 minutes with credits. The previous two movies – Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage – were also under the two-hour mark. Sony has stuck to this for all of the movies that exist in its Spider-Man Universe: Madame Web had a runtime of 1 hour 56 minutes, and Morbius was 1 hour 44 minutes. We’ll have to see how long Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Kraven: The Hunter winds up being.

To compare, the runtime of Venom 3 is within range of 2011’s Thor and 2016’s Doctor Strange (both 1 hour 55 minutes), 2011’s Green Lantern (1 hour 54 minutes), 2004’s Blade: Trinity and 2019’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix (1 hour 53 minutes), 2013’s Thor: The Dark World and The Incredible Hulk (1 hour 52 minutes), and The Crow remake (1 hour 51 minutes). Venom 3 is the same length as 2007’s Ghost Rider and 2008’s Wanted, and just a minute longer than 2020’s Bloodshot and Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey (1 hour 49 minutes).

Other superhero movies to come in under two hours include 2016’s Deadpool (1 hour 48 minutes), 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine (1 hour 47 minutes), 2005’s Fantastic Four (1 hour 46 minutes), 2000’s X-Men (1 hour 44 minutes), 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand (1 hour 44 minutes), 2004’s Catwoman (1 hour 44 minutes), 2003’s Daredevil (1 hour 43 minutes), 2008’s The Punisher: War Zone (1 hour 43 minutes) and 2015’s Fant4stic (1 hour 40 minutes).

What is Venom: The Last Dance about?

In Venom: The Last Dance, Tom Hardy returns as Venom, one of Marvel’s greatest and most complex characters, for the final film in the trilogy. Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance.

Venom: The Last Dance stars Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach and Stephen Graham. The film is directed by Kelly Marcel from a screenplay she wrote, based on a story by Hardy and Marcel. The movie opens in theaters on October 25th.

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The final installment in the Tom Hardy Venom trilogy is hitting theaters later this month, and bringing with it one of the most popular characters in recent Venom comics history. Venom: The Last Dance will feature the Symbiote god Knull as an important character of Eddie and Venom’s journey, though he apparently won’t be the film’s main antagonist. That’s because the creative forces behind this new Venom film seem to have bigger plans for Knull than just this one movie.

Knull immediately became a fan-favorite villain after debuting in Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman’s acclaimed Venom run back in 2018. The trailer for Venom: The Last Dance included a shot of Knull, seemingly setting him as the film’s villain, but director and co-writer Kelly Marcel thinks that honor goes to another character.

Instead, The Last Dance will be laying the groundwork for more Knull at some point in the future. While speaking to IGN about the film, Marcel noted that “one movie could never do justice to Knull.”

“We were always aware of Knull, but knew that we needed to lay the foundation of the Venom character, and his relationship with Eddie, before introducing him. This is just the beginning for Knull,” the filmmaker continued. “We’re in spoiler territory now and we hope some of the fun of watching this movie is not knowing what will happen, but trust me, we know full well how important Knull is to the fans, so just as we laid a foundation for Venom, we hope we are doing the same for Knull. The King in Black is way too powerful for ‘one and done.’”

Marcel goes on to call The Last Dance “the beginnings” of Knull’s on-screen story. That would indicate that the character is going to appear in more movies in the future. With this Venom story wrapping up the saga of Tom Hardy’s character, could that a solo Knull movie is already in the works?

“This film introduces Knull, but it just touches the beginnings of his story,” Marcel added. “Marvel’s greatest film villains are developed over time. Here, Knull is the threat lurking behind the danger that tests the absolute limits of Eddie and Venom’s partnership — but it’s their relationship that remains the heart of this story.”

While he hasn’t existed in the pages of Marvel Comics for very long, Knull quickly established himself as one of the most devastating villains in Venom or Spider-Man stories. His connection to all Symbiotes around the universe makes him a terrifying foe for any Marvel hero, especially one like Venom that is already part-Symbiote.

Venom: The Last Dance arrives in theaters on October 25th.

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When the most recent promotional material for Venom: The Last Dance dropped, fans got a glimpse of grisly-looking, symbiote-hunting baddie. There have been a few fan theories as to which character it could be, with Grendel being a fairly popular choice. Instead, it turns out that this is one of the original symbiote hunters — a race of aliens known as xenophage. One of them, nicknamed Phage, was an antagonist in the mostly-forgotten 1996 miniseries Venom: The Hunted. That story centered on the Venom symbiote being hunted by xenophage, an interstellar predator race who consider symbiotes a delicacy.

They’re pretty ugly-looking spuds in their natural forms (not like the symbiotes are cute and cuddly), but the xenophage are also shapeshifters (at least in the comics). In one instance, a xenophage that was hunting Venom disguised itself as a piece of furniture, so they aren’t limited to just living beings, either.

Apparent confirmation that the creature in the trailer is a xenophage comes from fan account The Venom Site on social media, where they shared an image of what appears to be a t-shirt featuring the character and a graffiti-style “Xenophage” label.

Xenophages particularly like eating symbiote brains, but will also sometimes eat other brains if there isn’t a symbiote handy. In Venom: The Hunted, the title works on two levels because one such murder of a human lands Venom in the police crosshairs while the xenophage who did the actual murder works to track down Venom on its own.

Created by G.I. Joe legend Larry Hama and Man of Action Studios’ Duncan Rouleau, the xenophage is kind of a footnote in Marvel’s (and Venom’s) history, having only really played a key role in Venom: The Hunted. It isn’t immediately clear how much of the Venom: The Hunted story might carry over here, or if the xenophage is just being used a kind of generic alien army for Knull, in the vein of what the Chitauri were for Loki and Thanos in The Avengers.

What does seem likely is that the xenophage in the movie will be actively hunting Venom in specific. In Venom: The Hunted, the Planet of the Symbiotes event had just happened in Spider-Man titles, and Marvel had a lot of symbiotes chilling on Earth who could be targeted. More generally, Earth was inherently a target because of how many symbiotes kept finding their way to the world. In Venom, there aren’t quite as many of them camped out here (although maybe that can change before The Last Dance starts).

“These things [usually] come in threes,” Hardy had told Digital Spy shortly before Venom 3 became official. “If there’s going to be a new one – and they depend heavily on the success of each individual one, so you can’t count on them ever happening again – every one has got to be as if it was the last one. But I think it’s really important, if you go into something, thinking that one, two and three are the same… the same story, the same film. So that you don’t surprise yourself by being caught out by suddenly having to do a third from nowhere. There’s got to be some continuity into a third and fourth and fifth, and if somebody says ‘no’, that’s fine. Let it go, and you move on to something else.”

Venom: The Last Dance will be directed by Kelly Marcel (Fifty Shades of Grey), who wrote and produced the first two Venom movies alongside Tom Hardy; Marcel is also writing the script of the third film. Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal, and Hutch Parker will all produce alongside Marcel and Hardy. 

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Venom: The Last Dance will be a quickstep. With tickets for the Sony Marvel adaptation now on sale, movie theater chain listings reveal that the official Venom 3 runtime is 1 hour and 50 minutes with credits. The 110-minute length is on par for the franchise and Sony’s Spider-Man Universe: 2018’s Venom clocked in at 1 hour 52 minutes with credits, while Madame Web had a runtime of 1 hour 56 minutes. 2022’s Morbius was 1 hour 44 minutes, but the shortest runtime was 2021’s Venom 2: Let There Be Carnage at 1 hour 37 minutes.

To compare, the runtime of Venom 3 is within range of 2011’s Thor and 2016’s Doctor Strange (both 1 hour 55 minutes), 2011’s Green Lantern (1 hour 54 minutes), 2004’s Blade: Trinity and 2019’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix (1 hour 53 minutes), 2013’s Thor: The Dark World and The Incredible Hulk (1 hour 52 minutes), and The Crow remake (1 hour 51 minutes). Venom 3 is the same length as 2007’s Ghost Rider and 2008’s Wanted, and just a minute longer than 2020’s Bloodshot and Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey (1 hour 49 minutes).

Other superhero movies to come in under two hours include 2016’s Deadpool (1 hour 48 minutes), 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine (1 hour 47 minutes), 2005’s Fantastic Four (1 hour 46 minutes), 2000’s X-Men (1 hour 44 minutes), 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand (1 hour 44 minutes), 2004’s Catwoman (1 hour 44 minutes), 2003’s Daredevil (1 hour 43 minutes), 2008’s The Punisher: War Zone (1 hour 43 minutes) and 2015’s Fant4stic (1 hour 40 minutes).

In Venom: The Last Dance, Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and Venom are on the run, hunted by both their worlds: on Earth, by the military (at the charge of Chiwetel Ejiofor’s character) and off-world, by the God of the Symbiotes, Lord of the Abyss, King in Black: Knull. In the conclusion to the Venom trilogy, “The duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance,” per the synopsis.

In addition to Hardy and Ejiofor, Venom 3 stars Juno Temple (Ted Lasso), Rhys Ifans (The Amazing Spider-Man), Alanna Ubach (Euphoria), Peggy Lu (reprising her role as Mrs. Chen), and Stephen Graham (reprising his Venom 2 role as Detective Mulligan). Kelly Marcel, co-writer of the first two films, makes her directorial debut and directs from a script she co-wrote with Hardy. Avi Arad (Borderlands), Matt Tolmach (Morbius), Amy Pascal (Spider-Man: No Way Home), and Hutch Parker (The Wolverine) are the producers with Marcel and Hardy.

Venom: The Last Dance is playing only in theaters starting Oct. 25.

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Not to be outdone by the Thor Frog in Loki, the final installment in Tom Hardy’s Venom trilogy is rolling out a veritable menagerie of symbiote-infected critters, from horses to fish to frogs. A new TV spot for Venom: The Last Dance showed off the two latter animals, which are of course an affront to nature and something to be celebrated. It also — because why not? — name-dropped Tom Cruise and is premised around an extended Superman parody. So…make of that what you will, good reader.

The spot is the latest ad for the third Venom, for which the marketing finally seems to have caught up with the movies’ vibes. In the past, they’ve advertised the movies in a pretty straightforward way, rather than leaning into the silly, grotesque, and bizarre things that make people love Venom.

(See also: Venom recently doing a crossover with Hot Ones.)

You can see the TV spot below.

…Yes, they went with the old “it’s a bird, it’s a plane” bit — which is made a little more forgivable by Venom’s attachment to an actual plane along the way.

The first two Venom movies have been the only big hits Sony has produced with its live-action Spider-Man franchise yet, earning a combined $1.3 billion at the box office while both Morbius and Madame Web were critical and commercial disappointments. Hardy’s Eddie Brock also had a brief cameo in the mega-hit Spider-Man: No Way Home.

“These things [usually] come in threes,” Hardy had told Digital Spy shortly before Venom 3 became official. “If there’s going to be a new one – and they depend heavily on the success of each individual one, so you can’t count on them ever happening again – every one has got to be as if it was the last one. But I think it’s really important, if you go into something, thinking that one, two and three are the same… the same story, the same film. So that you don’t surprise yourself by being caught out by suddenly having to do a third from nowhere. There’s got to be some continuity into a third and fourth and fifth, and if somebody says ‘no’, that’s fine. Let it go, and you move on to something else.”

Venom 3 will be directed by Kelly Marcel (Fifty Shades of Grey), who wrote and produced the first two Venom movies alongside Tom Hardy; Marcel is also writing the script of the third film. Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal, and Hutch Parker will all produce alongside Marcel and Hardy. 

Venom: The Last Dance will waltz into theaters on October 25th.

The post Venom: The Last Dance TV Spot Reveals More Venom Fish and Venom Frog appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Venom’s past catches up with Tom Hardy in a new TV spot for Venom: The Last Dance. We’re only a few short weeks away from the release of Venom: The Last Dance, which is billed as the final chapter in Sony Pictures’ Venom saga. Tom Hardy is back as Eddie Brock / Venom, but this time the entire planet is being invaded by a swarm of symbiotes. Venom’s creator, most likely Knull, appears to be leading the assault on our planet, and both Venom and Eddie will have to work together to survive. If you’re curious to see some new action from the third Venom movie, then you’ll want to check out a new commercial that ran on TV.

The “Future” TV spot for Venom: The Last Dance begins with the symbiote telling Eddie Brock, “Eddie, my home has found us.” We see the symbiotes hellhounds attacking Venom on top of an airplane in the sky that has appeared in previous Venom: The Last Dance trailers and teasers, along with the symbiote hivemind where Knull resides. The action then heads to an army base and a waterfall, with Venom making exaggerated facial expressions following each attack. There’s nothing like seeing a musclebound Venom cruising on a motorcycle while being chased by hungry symbiote creatures out for blood. You can take a look at the Venom: The Last Dance TV spot in the video below.

https://twitter.com/Venom3Verse/status/1842226430219808841

Is Venom: The Last Dance Tom Hardy’s final Venom movie?

Tom Hardy is sounding sentimental when it comes to the possibility of Venom: The Last Dance being the last time he stars as Venom. Hardy, while sharing the trailer for Venom: The Last Dance, seemed unequivocal about the idea that it’s time to wrap things up, saying that the movie will be “me and the big guy’s last outing.”

“Thank you for a great time – and seven years. I’ve had the best experience [Sony] working with Venom,” Hardy wrote in a social media post. “This is me and the big guy’s last outing, going out with a Bang!!! Come see us off – last in the trilogy and done.”  

Of course, Hardy could always change his tune in Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures worked out a way for Venom to make an appearance in Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars. Plus, we still haven’t gotten the long-awaited meeting between Venom and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. Hopefully if given the opportunity, Hardy would sign back up to make that happen.

What is Venom: The Last Dance about?

In Venom: The Last Dance, Tom Hardy returns as Venom, one of Marvel’s greatest and most complex characters, for the final film in the trilogy. Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance.

Venom: The Last Dance stars Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach and Stephen Graham. The film is directed by Kelly Marcel from a screenplay she wrote, based on a story by Hardy and Marcel. The movie opens in theaters on October 25th.

The post Venom: The Last Dance TV Spot Reveals New Footage of Tom Hardy in Action appeared first on ComicBook.com.

In Venom: The Last Dance, Tom Hardy returns as Venom, one of Marvel’s greatest and most complex characters, for the final film in the trilogy. Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance.

Directed by Kelly Marcel, Venom: The Last Dance opens in theaters on October 25th.Barring some currently-unexpected development, it sounds like Venom star Tom Hardy is planning to make the upcoming, third installment of his antihero franchise the last time he bonds with his symbiote pal. Hardy, while sharing the trailer for Venom: The Last Dance, seemed unequivocal about the idea that it’s time to wrap things up, saying that the movie will be “me and the big guy’s last outing.” That, of course, may surprise some fans who expected the billion-dollar franchise to tie in with Avengers: Secret Wars in a few years or something like that.

(Of course, that could still happen if Hardy was talked into it. Given the relatively recent hiring of the screenwriters and filmmakers for Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars, it’s entirely possible most of the hoped-for cameos haven’t even been approached yet.)

“Thank you for a great time – and seven years. I’ve had the best experience [Sony] working with Venom,” Hardy wrote in part. “This is me and the big guy’s last outing, going out with a Bang!!! Come see us off – last in the trilogy and done.”

The promotion for the new movie has leaned heavily on the idea of a very permanent end to this Venom’s story, with “Til Death Do They Part” as a tagline. Since either a symbiote spawn or a piece of Venom was left behind in the main MCU universe, many have speculated that a new Venom could be cast for Marvel/Disney movies, in which he could serve as an antagonist to Tom Holland’s Spider-Man.

Here’s the film’s (detail-light) official synopsis:

In Venom: The Last Dance, Tom Hardy returns as Venom, one of Marvel’s greatest and most complex characters, for the final film in the trilogy. Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance.

Directed by Kelly Marcel, Venom: The Last Dance opens in theaters on October 25th.

The post Tom Hardy Reveals if Venom: The Last Dance Is His Final Eddie Brock Role appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Lethal Protector is showing off his monstrous teeth in a new poster for Venom: The Last Dance. The third movie in Sony Pictures’ Venom franchise is marketing itself as the end of the road for Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and his alien symbiote. Whether that’s true or not, there is significant interest in Venom: The Last Dance, especially after its latest trailer dropped and teased the debut of Knull. Maybe once the movie comes out it opens the doors for Venom and Eddie Brock to cross over into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In any event, we’re only a few weeks away from the release of Venom: The Last Dance, and there’s a new 4DX poster to show off.

The 4DX poster for Venom: The Last Dance comes courtesy of artist David Sauste. It features Venom descending from above, as tendrils from the alien symbiote extend from Venom’s arms and body. His signature elongated tongue and sharped teeth are at the ready, and the light reflecting off of Venom illuminates his body in a very unique way. It’s an example of the type of visual masterpiece awaits audiences when they sit down in the theater to watch Venom: The Last Dance in 4DX.

You can take a look at the full Venom: The Last Dance 4DX poster by David Sauste below.

What is Venom: The Last Dance about?

In Venom: The Last Dance, Tom Hardy returns as Venom, one of Marvel’s greatest and most complex characters, for the final film in the trilogy. Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance.

Venom: The Last Dance stars Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach and Stephen Graham. The film is directed by Kelly Marcel from a screenplay she wrote, based on a story by Hardy and Marcel. The movie opens in theaters on October 25th.

The post Venom: The Last Dance Unleashes a Monstrous 4DX Poster (Exclusive) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

What if I told you there’s a way that Marvel’s Thunderbolts* movie can connect the worlds of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe and Netflix’s street-level heroes, also known as the DefendersVerse. Marvel Studios has had plenty of success with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with other studios trying to replicate what works. After being in limbo, the list of Marvel heroes on Netflix – Daredevil and Punisher, for example – are being officially integrated into the MCU. Sony Pictures continues to build on its Spider-Man adjacent universe with Venom: The Last Dance, and even Deadpool is a part of the MCU following Deadpool & Wolverine. There is a lot riding on Thunderbolts*, but one thing it has the potential to do is connect all three of these worlds.

Thunderbolts* features a ragtag team of anti-heroes headlined by Yelena Belova and Winter Soldier. Numerous iterations of the Thunderbolts in the comics have operated outside the lines, hardly ever being considered traditional heroes like the Avengers. For example, their roots involve the villainous Baron Zemo gathering a group of bad guys and dressing them up as heroes. One era of Thunderbolts comics may have been overlooked by the general public, but it lays the groundwork for how characters from Thunderbolts*, Venom, and Deadpool could all work together on the big screen.

Red Hulk’s Thunderbolts, explained

Back in 2012, Marvel Comics debuted a new publishing initatived titled Marvel NOW! that saw all of its titles starting over with new #1 issues and creative teams. One of those titles was Thunderbolts by Daniel Way and Steve Dillon. Instead of being led by Baron Zemo or Norman Osborn, this Thunderbolts team was brought together by Red Hulk to function as a black ops team in a similar manner as X-Force. Red Hulk pulled out his gamma-radiated rolodex to recruit some heavy-hitters to the Thunderbolts: Deadpool, Punisher, Elektra, and Agent Venom (Flash Thompson).

Deadpool was a veteran of working on different X-Force teams, so he was an easy addition to the Thunderbolts. Venom may be seen as a full-fledged hero right now, but even when Flash Thompson was Agent Venom, the missions he underwent would leave you questioning if you really wanted to root for him. As for Punisher and Elektra, they definitely fell under the “morally grey” category. Under Red Hulk’s leadership, the Thunderbolts hit hard and left bodies in their wake, including Hulk nemesis Leader. Samuel Sterns would eventually join the team as Red Leader, with Ghost Rider also coming onboard before the team disbanded.

Since the Thunderbolts were led by Red Hulk, they took on his crimson color scheme. Deadpool and Elektra already wore red, but Agent Venom and Punisher switched out their white for red, making for a stylish upgrade if we do say so ourselves. As you can imagine, there was some tremendous friction on the Thunderbolts, mostly caused by Red Hulk’s machinations. While a romantic relationship formed between Punisher and Elektra, Punisher ultimately turned on the team when he quit and then was the subject of an assassination attempt that he thought was orchestrated by Red Hulk.

Future Thunderbolts* teams can include Deadpool, Venom, Punisher, and Elektra

If Thunderbolts* is a success, it’s not outside the realm of possibility to see Marvel Studios greenlighting a sequel. Though we may need an answer as to what the asterik in Thunderbolts* stands for first. In any case, we can cross our fingers and hope there’s a way for the superhero universes from Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures to crossover in a legitimate way. This means Tom Holland’s Spider-Man to appear in a movie next to Tom Hardy’s Venom, or for Venom to run into Anthony Mackie’s Captain America. If these types of meetings eventually take place, then we’re one step closer to Red Hulk’s Thunderbolts moving from the comics to the big and small screens.

Just imagine if we got a Thunderbolts movie starring Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool, Harrison Ford as Red Hulk, Elodie Yung reprising her Daredevil role as Elektra, and Jon Bernthal’s Punisher? A movie sporting this type of A-list talent could help audiences forget about the Avengers. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to have other franchises to help grow the MCU, just like the breakout hit that was the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. 

Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures, the ball is in your court.

The post Thunderbolts Could Unite Marvel’s Netflix Heroes, Deadpool, and Venom appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Two comic book events took over the top ten lists this past week: the release of Venom: The Last Dance’s final trailer and Marvel’s promotional partnership with Whatnot. The Venom trailer has created a massive boom in the aftermarket for a particular villain of darkness. While this new promotional sale has fans wondering about the future of comic books. Ironically, the outliers of this week’s Top Ten are The Outliers themselves! Scroll down to check out their first cover appearance!

Want to know what comic books are trending each week and why? COVRPRICE.COM uses live sales analytics to identify and compile the most robust market price guide, highlighting the weekly top trending comics. No opinions. Just data. Each week, they present a newly updated list of the TOP 10 COMICS trending in the aftermarket. These trends are due to rumors, fan-favorite covers, story-driven content, and content-related news.

1: VENOM #3 – RYAN STEGMAN – REGULAR | MARVEL | JUNE 2018: Last week, Sony released their final trailer for Venom: The Last Dance. The trailer focused heavily on the intergalactic nature of the film and highlighted top-tier Marvel Comics villain – Knull. There has been an alleged rumor floating around that Marvel was aiming to make a grounded Spider-Man 4 movie and that Sony wanted a multiversal film, including Knull and Venom. With the trailer drop, the latter theory now has more reason to be believed. Kevin Feige came out and said, “When we said we wanted Spider-Man to be more grounded, we just didn’t tell you that ground was from an alien planet in another universe.” However, neither studio has confirmed whether the King in Black will play a role in any future movies. While we’re waiting for more news on Knull, take time to look through your back issue bins at your LCS, as this book has been steadily dropping in price these past few years. As with most Sony-related books, buyers beware. They have not had the best track record at keeping their movie-related keys at top value! We tracked it at a high sale of $280 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a current NM raw of $140. 

2: X-MEN ’97 #1 – ROB LIEFELD – WHATNOT – SEALED COMIC TRADING PACK BLIND BAG | MARVEL | SEPTEMBER 2024: In case you were unaware, Marvel Comics partnered with Whatnot to launch their Marvel Comic Trading Packs. There were four pack designs, with three random X-MEN ’97 #1 variants in each one. The pack designs were collaborations with renowned Marvel artists Ariel Olivetti, Rob Liefeld, Salvador Larroca, and Stephen Segovia. Based on tracking of each sealed pack and individual issue sales, Liefeld’s sealed pack design had the most traffic. When this marketing concept was announced, the fan base was divided on whether this would be good for comic books. However, the sales clearly show that the tactic was a success. Not only were the blind bags selling at record speeds, but they immediately were also trending in the aftermarket as well. This promotional run was only offered to a select few in the Whatnot community, but time will tell whether Marvel Comics will decide to offer these blind bags to your local comic shops as well. We tracked it at a high sale of $200 for an NM copy and a current NM raw of $188. Keep in mind that we track each individual cover and sealed mystery pack separately. So, overall, the volume of sales is much higher. Liefeld’s blind-back cover definitely seemed to capture the demand amongst all offerings. 

3: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #23 | MARVEL | JANUARY 2015: It is fair to say that the latest Venom: The Last Dance trailer would kick all related keys into high gear. This is an unexpected one to hit so high on the list: the first appearance of Klyntar (the symbiote planet). The trailer offers us a brief glimpse at Knull and his throne. Some fans speculate that this would be most of what we see of the symbiote planet, with the story mostly focusing on the invasion of Earth. While VENOM #3 has a larger buy-in, this book is an easier find and has a lower price, making it a top key to hunt down. We tracked it at a high sale of $100 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a current NM raw of $17. 

4: VENOM #3 – RYAN STEGMAN – 3RD PRINT | MARVEL | JUNE 2018: While the first print of this issue is at the top of this list, don’t count out this third print! It may be lower on the list, but it is the 2nd most valuable reprint. The reason is that many believe it to be the first cover appearance of the God of Symbiotes. However, a less flattering first cover appearance occurs in the 2nd printing of VENOM #4, which was released before this issue. This issue is more attractive to collectors because the 3rd print had a low print run, making it that much harder to find. We tracked it at a high sale of $400 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a current NM raw of $165.

5: THOR: GOD OF THUNDER #6 – ESAD RIBIC – REGULAR | MARVEL | MARCH 2013: This book saw a significant bump when Thor: Love and Thunder announced Gorr the God Butcher as the main villain. After the lackluster reception of this film, this book took a nosedive and rarely makes an appearance. Aside from being the origin of Gorr, this book also harbors another key, a Knull cameo. This cameo is why we see this book trending on the aftermarket again. We tracked it at a high sale of $180 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a current NM raw of $57. 

6: VENOM #4 | MARVEL | JULY 2018: By now, you’ll have an idea of where this list is going, and while Knull may not succeed in conquering Earth in Venom: The Last Dance, he certainly has conquered this Top Ten list! This book features the origins of Knull and the creation of Knowhere through the severing of a celestial head. In this issue, we see how Knull created his planet of symbiotes. We also get a nice full art page of Miles Morales punching Knull right on the jaw. This artwork is used for the second printing of this book and could be considered Knull’s first cover appearance. Regardless, this book tells a great origin story for the titular villain. We tracked it at a high sale of $72 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a current NM raw of $14. 

7: VENOM #3 – MOLINA (1:25) | MARVEL | JUNE 2018: Fans of Jorge Molina and Venom are flooding the aftermarket to pick up this issue. This was the retailer incentive for VENOM #3 and it is now one of the harder variants to track down. The raw NM value of this book is nearly twice the amount of Cover A. It is likely this book could trend higher if it was easier to find and more affordable. For the time being, it looks like this book will be going to the avid comic book hunter who is willing to pay a decent price for a Venom key. We tracked it at a high sale of $385 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a current NM raw of $223.

8: VENOM #3 – SKAN – FRANKIE’S COMICS / GOLDEN APPLE COMICS | MARVEL | JUNE 2018: Another popular Venom artist is Skan, and his variant of Knull’s first appearance has been making aftermarket waves. This book was a collaborative store exclusive with Frankie’s Comics and Golden Apple Comics. The book also has a virgin variant version, but it seems that the trade copy is much easier to find. We tracked it at a high sale of $125 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a current NM raw of $63.

9: VENOM #3 – 2ND PRINT | MARVEL | JUNE 2018: All VENOM #3 books are currently hot commodities. While this book is lower on the list, it still has had a ton of sales growth in the past few days since the trailer debuted. Even though it is not the most popular reprint of issue #3, it still holds value for collectors of Knull. We tracked it at a high sale of $95 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a current NM raw of $51.

10: UNCANNY X-MEN #1 – DAVID MARQUEZ – 2ND PRINT (1:25) | MARVEL | SEPTEMBER 2024: While the X-Men seem to still be on the back burner over at the MCU, the comics have been releasing great content. In the latest release, UNCANNY X-MEN #1 introduced us to a new mutant team, The Outliers. In true comic book fashion, a request for help is misunderstood, and a battle ensues. Once the confusion is cleared, the X-Men will welcome the new super team. This second printing retailer incentive is the first cover appearance of that team. As we’ve seen in all these Knull keys, second prints and cover appearances are top-tier collector items! We tracked it at a high sale of $150 for an NM copy and a current NM raw of $132.

The post Top 10 Comic Books Rising in Value in the Last Week Include X-Men and a Lot of Venom appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The inclusion of Knull in Venom: The Last Dance has some repercussions for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The third chapter in Sony Pictures’ Venom franchise hasn’t officially said who its big villain is, but there was a menacing figure who certainly looked like Knull in the last trailer for Venom: The Last Dance. Knull is a semi-recent addition to the Marvel Universe, but he has a backstory that dates back to its early beginnings while also tying to some recognizable heroes. If Knull really is in Venom: The Last Dance, then it could open the floodgates to even more synergy between Sony’s Spider-Man Universe and the MCU.

Knull debuted in 2018’s Venom #4 as the main villain Ryan Stegman and Donny Cates were building up to in their relaunch of the series. Called the “King in Black,” Knull loomed in the background before fully making his presence known, culminating in the King in Black event series that concluded with Eddie Brock and Venom defeating Knull and taking on the King in Black moniker. One of the heroes to fight alongside Venom in King in Black was Thor, the God of Thunder. Many fans may not realize it, but Thor also has a history with Knull and one of the weapons he helped forge.

Knull’s connection to Thor explained

Writer Jason Aaron began his celebrated run on Thor by introducing Gorr the God Butcher, the primary villain in Thor: Love and Thunder. While Thor had Mjolnir by his side, Gorr brandished All-Black the Necrosword, a blade made of living darkness that flowed and behaved very similar to a symbiote. Gorr and the Necrosword appeared to be one and the same, but it became clear later on that the Necrosword corrupted Gorr, partly responsible for sending him down the evil path of wanting to murder all of the living gods.

Remember how we said that the Necrosword had some of the same qualities as a symbiote? The reason for this is because the Necrosword is a symbiote. The story behind that is Donny Cates, co-creator of Knull, was a big fan of what Jason Aaron was doing with Thor. So when it came time to explore Knull’s origin, he found a creative way to tie it to the God of Thunder. Knull created All-Black the Necrosword to sever the head of a Celestial, which ultimately became Knowhere from the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. So not only was Thor up against Gorr, but he also had to contend with his living symbiote sword.

The Necrosword has also made an appearance in the MCU, though not with Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher. When Cate Blanchett played Hela in Thor: Ragnarok, her primary weapon of choice was Necroswords. It remains to be seen if Knull will bring a Necrosword with him in Venom: The Last Dance.

Will Knull show up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Sony’s Spider-Man Universe is still waiting to catch up to the popularity of the MCU. Tom Holland’s Spider-Man has yet to appear in any of the Venom movies, Morbius, or even Madame Web. Sony has decided to build its connected universe with Spider-Man’s rogues gallery, focusing on the web-slinger’s enemies. However, that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been a little bit of cross synergy between the two studios.

For example, Michael Keaton’s Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming made a cameo appearance in Morbius, as they plotted a potential team-up against Spider-Man. Also, the post-credits scenes in Venom: Let There Be Carnage transported Venom to the MCU just in time to see Peter Parker exposed as Spider-Man to the entire world in Spider-Man: Far From Home‘s post-credits scene. This was followed up in Spider-Man: No Way Home, with Venom sent back to his world and a piece of the Venom symbiote left behind in the MCU.

So while MCU fans may want to see a showdown between Thor and Knull, the likelihood of that happening remains slim for now. You would think Sony wants to incorporate Spider-Man into its universe first before worrying about how Knull fits into the MCU. We have to see Spider-Man vs. Venom before we worry about the larger crossover implications.

What is Venom: The Last Dance about?

In Venom: The Last Dance, Tom Hardy returns as Venom, one of Marvel’s greatest and most complex characters, for the final film in the trilogy. Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance.

Directed by Kelly Marcel, Venom: The Last Dance opens in theaters on October 25th.

The post How Knull Could Connect Venom to Thor and the MCU appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The ComicBook Nation crew discuss the MCU news that Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton is directing Spider-Man 4 and break down the first reactions to The Batman spinoff series The Penguin, as well as the upcoming film Transformers One. 

PLUS: A review of the new horror-thriller Speak No Evil and reactions to the final trailer for Venom: The Last Dance. 

Transformers One Reaction

Here’s what ComicBook Nation – Anime Initiative host Evan Valentine had to say about his 4-star review of Transformers One: 

I would be remiss by not calling this the best Transformers film since the 1980s animated film. If this is the future of the Transformers franchise, then Autobot and Decepticons fans have a bright future to look forward to indeed.

Speak No Evil Review

Here’s what ComicBook Nation host Kofi Outlaw said in his 4-star review of Speak No Evil: 

Even with some groan-worthy moments of contrivance, it’s hard to remember the last time a horror-thriller film has been executed as well, with as many strong performances, as Speak No Evil. It’s another showcase of McAvoy’s immense talent for creating unnerving characters (see also: Split), and a strong endorsement that James Watkins may have found his best lane as a horror filmmaker.

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The final trailer for Venom: The Last Dance shocked Marvel fans when it revealed that the big bad of the threequel will be Knull, the God of the symbiotes. The Venom 3 trailer only gave us the barest glimpse of Knull, with his head bent and that signature white hair hanging in front of his face. We can’t know for sure which actor is playing Knull, but there are a few educated guesses floating around. 

Who Is Rhys Ifans Playing in Venom 3? 

One major standout of the final trailer for Venom: The Last Dance was a shot of Eddie Brock/Venom (Tom Hardy) hitchhiking his way into a van filled with hippies, including Rhys Ifans, who is seen both strumming a guitar in song, and giving Eddie profound advice about how “There comes a time in every man’s life…”. 

Some fans have taken Ifans’ appearance in Venom: The Last Dance to be a tease that the actor is reprising his role as Curt Connors/The Lizard from The Amazing Spider-Man. It’s hard to believe that theory, though: Ifans’ character is seen strumming a guitar with two hands – so if he is Curt Connors, then he seems to have successfully regrown his missing arm and left his Lizard days behind him. That would be an odd callback to throw at fans – but then again, casting Ifans in Venom: The Last Dance is already an oddly conspicuous choice for Sony to make (see also: adding Doctor Strange actor Chiwetel Ejiofor to the cast). 

Rhys Ifans returning as Curt Connors seems unlikely; fans have already checked the captions on the scene, which show Ifans’ character to be named “Martin.” So unless Connors is traveling incognito to ahead his felonious past, it’s probably a different character. But that doesn’t mean his appearance is just bait for Spider-Man fans… 

Venom 3: Who Is Playing Knull?

The other theory is that Rhys Ifans is playing Knull and that the scene of the actor strumming guitar in a van is just misdirection, with the God of the Symbiotes taking on human form to approach Eddie Brock/Venom before their inevitable super-powered showdown. It could also be the case that the film changes Knull, making the villain a super-symbiote looking for a host – and Rhys Ifans’ hippie ends up being that host. Judging from the shot of Knull in the trailer, it may be Rhy Ifans under that white-haired wig and makeup. 

Other than the Rhys Ifans theory, there’s not much to go on in terms of who could be playing Knull in Venom: The Last Dance. If the movie does change the villain into being a symbiote possessing a host, then Chiwetel Ejiofor’s soldier character could also be a possibility. 

If Venom: The Last Dance honors the comic book history of Knull, and the villain is played by a different actor, then maybe we have a surprise cameo coming our way. 

Venom: The Last Dance has a release date of October 25th. 

The post Venom: The Last Dance: Who Is Playing Knull? appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The creators of Knull weren’t aware that the King in Black was going to be in Venom: The Last Dance. The Marvel villain has quickly become one of the publisher’s most popular characters. A lot of this comes down to his unique visual design and his lore tied to symbiotes. After appearing in various media like video games (Marvel Snap, Marvel Contest of Champions), Knull is set to be the main villain in Venom: The Last Dance, the third film in Sony Pictures’ Venom trilogy. Venom: The Last Dance gave fans a quick glimpse of Knull, which came as a surprise to the villain’s creators.

Artist Ryan Stegman and writer Donny Cates are the creators of Knull, and they were just as surprised as fans when he seemingly appeared in the Venom: The Last Dance trailer. “Yes, I did co-create Knull. No, I didn’t know until today that he was gonna be in Venom: The Last Dance. Yes, I do expect to finally be able to afford that lazy river moat around my house,” Ryan Stegman wrote on X (formerly Twitter). The replies to his post join in on the “lazy river moat” joke referring to how much (or how little) Marvel creators make when their creations are adapted into other media.

Donny Cates also got some jokes off, writing, “You guys, I just had the weirdest dream….,” and following that up with the word “MONEY” written in the Venom logo font. It’s worth mentioning that Knull has not officially been confirmed for Venom: The Last Dance, but if this is going to be the last Venom movie for the time being, there’s no better way to go out than by battling the King in Black.

Who is playing Knull in Venom: The Last Dance

While the actor playing Knull hasn’t been confirmed, the cast list for Venom: The Last Dance includes Rhys Ifans, who looks a lot like the Knull we quickly saw in the Venom 3 trailer. Ifans is no stranger to taking on comic book roles, having also portrayed Dr. Curt Connors / The Lizard in Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man.

Venom: The Last Dance stars Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach and Stephen Graham. 

What is Venom: The Last Dance about?

In Venom: The Last Dance, Tom Hardy returns as Venom, one of Marvel’s greatest and most complex characters, for the final film in the trilogy. Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance.

Directed by Kelly Marcel, Venom: The Last Dance opens in theaters on October 25th.

The post Venom: The Last Dance: Knull Creators “Didn’t Know” Marvel Character Was in Sony Sequel appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Venom: The Last Dance’s latest clip hints that the Sony Marvel movie might end up closing the loop on an MCU plot thread. Tom Hardy and Venom are back for one last ride and maybe it can open the door to that showdown with Spider-Man. The trailer shows both the humans in the Sony Marvel universe and Knull, a symbiote deity, trying to get a hold of Venom. If the villain gets Eddie Brock’s best friend, it will be the end of his world. However, there’s one little quirk that should prove to be a problem for Knull, all of Venom isn’t in that reality.

2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home concluded with Peter Parker all on his own. Tom Holland’s Avenger is staring down some serious loneliness now that he has no friends. In addition, we know the Venom symbiote is just crawling across the MCU looking for him as it had a relationship with other Peter Parkers in the multiverse. This is all going to bring him into direct conflict with both Eddie Brock and Knull. If the villain succeeds at the end of the new Venom movie, he’ll set his sights on the MCU to get the remaining symbiote to rule over every reality.

Spider-Man 4 Director Announcement Comes Into Focus

Earlier this week it was reported that Marvel Studios and Sony had tabbed Dustin Daniel Cretton to helm Spider-Man 4. Tom Holland is set to return as Peter Parker in the first movie of his new tenure with Marvel. Picking the director of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings seems like a curious choice. After all, he’s already got chunky too and Naruto on his plate headed into 2025. But, if Knull is the main villain of the movie, Spider-Man’s probably going to need some help.

Having Shang-Chi, and possibly Captain Marvel, there to lend a helping hand at his lowest point would satisfy the Marvel fans that feel like these heroes haven’t gotten a chance to meet each other yet. In addition, it sets the table for more multiversal villains to get on their Avengers’ radar ahead of Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars. Maybe most importantly, It helps kick off the black suit saga for the inevitable moment in Secret Wars where Reed Richards helps Spider-Man revert back to his old costume.

A popular tweet from Alex Perez over at My Cosmic Circus seems to argue that Knull isn’t going to be a one-and-done villain for Sony’s projects. So, we’ll have to see how that shakes out. If Knull is really going around universes taking Symbiotes, you could have the motivation for Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man variants to enter the fray again as well. (Poor Peter 3’s first tussle with aliens could result in his world ending!)

Spider-Man 4 Tapping Into The Multiverse Again

Not to kick up the dust from old fandom wars at this point, but these developments would lend credence to the idea that Sony liked the idea of Spider-Man 4 as a multiverse adventure. Knull is a big enough deal in the comics to be an “Avengers-level threat.” So, summoning multiple Spider-Men and these other MCU heroes isn’t all that far-fetched. In addition, get ready for this scale of spectacle in the Marvel movies with Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom just lurking around. 

It’s been a phase and a half of Marvel movies with a significant number of online commenters asking where the Avengers have been. No, it’s not the street-level story focusing on Daredevil and a street war against Kingpin. (Yes, we know that is a popular pick for what people argue for Spider-Man 4 being. But, the tea leaves are murky at best on what the plan is at this point.) This route would give you a rollicking battle with all the Avengers ready for things to hit the fan during the later conflicts.

Also, Spider-Man: No Way Home’s big post-credits scene gets paid off in wild fashion that would cross that cliffhanger off the list. People going to these movies have been waiting to see Venom fight Spider-Man and they might be closer to that reality than they could have possibly dreamed. Tom Hardy has been pushing for it himself and with the multiverse wide open, it’s time for the back suit saga to get a little twist.

Do you think Knull will be in Spider-Man 4? Check out all the pop culture conversation at @ComicBook!

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King in Black. Lord of the Abyss. God of the Symbiotes. He is Knull, the dark god and progenitor of the symbiotic alien race spawned from the blackness of the Living Abyss: the Klyntar. Billions of years before Spider-Man’s alien costume bonded with Peter Parker and then Eddie Brock as its host, the symbiote was part of a symbiote hive mind — and its master is making his first live-action appearance in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. 

As shown in the new Venom 3 trailer, Tom Hardy’s Lethal Protector will have his Last Dance when Venom’s homeworld threatens Eddie’s as Knull leads an alien invasion that could potentially spill over into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

But who is Knull and how will he enter the SSU? Just as the symbiote gave Eddie a taste of 80 billion light-years of hive knowledge across universes in 2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage — where they were briefly pulled through the multiverse and into the MCU — here’s what to know about the villain before Venom: The Last Dance waltzes into theaters on October 25th.

Knull first appeared in 2018’s Venom #3 by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman, although issue #4 of that same series tied his origin to a 2013 issue of Jason Aaron’s Thor: God of Thunder. (That series revealed that Knull’s first born — his god-slaying living blade, All-Black the Necrosword — was taken by Gorr the God Butcher.) During the primordial stages of space, Knull’s abyss was bathed in light when the Celestials Arishem, Jemiah, and Ziran — god-like cosmic beings as ancient as space and time itself — birthed the Seventh Cosmos, a.k.a. the prime Marvel Universe known as Earth-616. He forged All-Black from the fires of a fallen Celestial, explaining why the proto-symbiote’s spawn have an aversion to fire.

Symbiosis began on Gorr’s homeworld, where the black-armored god dwelled for a century. His hunger manifesting as black tendrils, Knull bonded his Living Abyss with lesser creatures to survive, allowing him to draw on the host’s strength and pilot their forms as new vessels. Knull became the god-host of the symbiote hive mind, and his horde spread darkness across the galaxy with his swarm of winged Grendels: symbiote dragons.

During the dark centuries, Knull came to Earth in Scandinavia, where his symbiote army was thwarted by Thor, the god of thunder. With his connection to his children severed by the Asgardian, Knull’s swarm unraveled, and the symbiotes sought new hosts who infected the symbiote hive like a parasitic infection — like a venom. After spawning millions of symbiotes untethered from his control, Knull was consumed by the Abyss and drowned in darkness.

Knull’s symbiotes became the Klyntar — not a symbiote planet as once believed, but their word for “cage.” In his first appearance, Knull sought the missing pieces of his Grendel to free him from his prison, and he told Eddie Brock and Miles Morales that he would finish what he began eons ago: rid his dark kingdom of light by destroying Earth.

Cates and Stegman’s Marvel Universe-spanning King in Black storyline saw Knull unleash his symbiote army on the planet, an invasion that brought together Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and Doctor Strange and the Avengers to stop it. Knull killed Eddie, but the Silver Surfer — who once battled the God-King of the Symbiotes at the dawn of time — resurrected him with the Enigma Force, a cosmic entity born of light.

As the temporary God of Light, Venom defeated the All Black-wielding Knull. “The void is eternal,” Knull told Eddie/Venom. “The darkness has teeth.” But so does Venom, who ended Knull’s reign as the King in Black by burning him to death in the Sun. Knull’s death freed the symbiote hive, and Eddie Brock became the host of the symbiote hive mind as the god of the symbiotes: the new King in Black.

The post Who Is Knull, the Villain of Venom: The Last Dance? appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Venom: The Last Dance’s brand-new trailer has already begun placing breadcrumbs for Spider-Man and Eddie Brock to cross paths again. Tom Hardy’s anti-hero is back in his Sony Marvel universe. A lot of this trailer is spent teasing the end of the road for Venom and Brock’s partnership. But, that split would mean that Hardy might watch his friend sacrifice everything to save the world and keep him safe. If he’s unsatisfied with that end, it might be up to Brock to find another way to reunite with Venom. The only real path forward would be to go find a piece of the symbiote he left in the MCU.

Things have changed since Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Venom is being pursued by the “god of the symbiotes”, Knull. The villain needs Eddie’s best friend to complete his conquest of this world and everyone’s favorite Lethal Protector has to avoid getting captured. Over the course of today’s trailer, Venom takes a beating from rival monsters and humans alike. By the time the confrontation with Knull occurs, the deity might be too much for the symbiote to overcome. There would be no choice left but for Venom to sacrifice itself to save Brock and his adoptive home. Of course, Hardy’s character would be crushed about this.

Then, things would get interesting. Even if Knull succeeds at getting a hold of Venom, he will not have claimed the entirety of the symbiote. In the same way Eddie Brock will also have a path to getting a reunion with his friend because there’s still a bit of the black goop left in the MCU. Some fans might have forgotten but Spider-Man’s world still has a segment of the symbiote skulking around. At the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Eddie is transported back from that weird bar that he’s been sitting in for the entire runtime of the movie and leaves behind a little gift for Tom Holland’s Web-Slinger. We could be on the way to a Venom and Spidey showdown.

The Venom Series Has Been Teasing A Spider-Man Crossover For A While

Since the first Venom movie proved to be a smash hit, fans have been asking whether a Spider-Man crossover is in the works. Series star Tom Hardy and Andy Serkis have done little to quiet those questions in their time with this universe. Before Venom: Let There Be Carnage hit theaters, Serkis talked to IGN about a possible crossover. “Look, that’s the question on everyone’s lips,” the director explained. “They want to know if Venom is gonna meet Spider-Man, but personally, it’s never gonna happen. I’m only joking, of course it’s gonna happen…” We’re now closer than ever to that fateful meetup.

“Look, it depends when you want to get there, and also, what the appetite is,” Serkis explains. “If people want more Venom stories, then, to jump straight to Spider-Man, you could be missing out on so many great supervillain characters in between now and then. So, in a way, by rushing to it, you might be closing the door.”

Of course, Serkis also knew his film would have a post-credits scene that directly teased a confrontation between these two characters. They didn’t directly meet in Spider-Man: No Way Home. That film laid all the groundwork and now, it seems like Venom: The Last Dance is doing the same. So, Tom Holland better get in the gym, because Spider-Man 4 could really feature that knockdown, dragout battle that fans have been waiting for.

Do you think Spider-Man 4 will feature Venom? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

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Marvel fans get the first look at live-action Knull in the latest trailer for Venom: The Last Dance. The final chapter in Sony Pictures’ Venom trilogy is bringing out the creator of the symbiotes for Tom Hardy and the Lethal Protector to face off with. We’ve seen Venom tangle with the Life Foundation and its symbiote Riot in the 2018 film, with its sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, introducing the psychotic serial killer Cletus Kasady / Carnage. The third Venom movie is teasing an end to the symbiote saga, and what better way to go out than by having the King in Black invade Earth.

Around the 50-second mark in the Venom: The Last Dance trailer offers our first look at Knull. Eddie Brock asks Venom who sent one of the symbiotes after them, with Venom replying, “My creator.” We see a hive of symbiotes all surrounding a mysterious figure who appears to be sitting on a throne. While their identity is somewhat hidden, the long white hair and taloned fingers suggest that it’s Knull, the King in Black and creator of the symbiotes. Eddie asks what’s his name, with Venom shushing Eddie and wrapping a tendril around his mouth to keep him from uttering Knull’s name.

Who is Knull?

Knull was created by Ryan Stegman and Donny Cates, and made his comics debut in 2018’s Venom #4. Part of the duo’s run on Venom involved expanding the Lethal Protector’s mythos, setting up Knull as the “Big Bad” of their multiple story arcs. Knull actually has connections to the very beginnings of the Marvel Universe, and has crossed paths with figures such as the Celestials, Silver Surfer, Ego the Living Planet, and Thor. 

One of Marvel’s big crossover events, King in Black, saw Knull and his symbiotes invade Earth. Eddie Brock and Venom ultimately defeated Knull, with Eddie taking on the King in Black mantle. One of the lead-ups to King in Black was Absolute Carnage, which saw Venom team up with the Avengers to battle a much deadlier Carnage.

Who is playing Knull in Venom: The Last Dance

While the actor playing Knull hasn’t been confirmed, the cast list for Venom: The Last Dance includes Rhys Ifans, who looks a lot like the Knull we quickly saw in the Venom 3 trailer. Ifans is no stranger to taking on comic book roles, having also portrayed Dr. Curt Connors / The Lizard in Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man.

Venom: The Last Dance stars Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach and Stephen Graham. 

What is Venom: The Last Dance about?

In Venom: The Last Dance, Tom Hardy returns as Venom, one of Marvel’s greatest and most complex characters, for the final film in the trilogy. Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance.

Directed by Kelly Marcel, Venom: The Last Dance opens in theaters on October 25th.

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It’s time to giddy-up for the ride of Venom: The Last Dance. On Thursday morning, Sony Pictures officially released the second trailer for the highly-anticipated new film, ahead of its theatrical debut in October.

The latest film in Sony’s Venom franchise, Venom: The Last Dance already released its first trailer earlier this year, briefly breaking the Internet for its wacky scenarios and “Venom horse.” While a lot of plot details surrounding the film remain under wraps, fans can safely assume some wild adventures for Eddie Brock / Venom (Tom Hardy).

What Is Venom: The Last Dance About?

In Venom: The Last Dance, Hardy returns as Venom, one of Marvel’s greatest and most complex characters, for the final film in the trilogy. Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance.

Venom: The Last Dance stars Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach and Stephen Graham. The film is directed by Kelly Marcel from a screenplay she wrote, based on a story by Hardy and Marcel. The film is produced by Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal, Kelly Marcel, Tom Hardy and Hutch Parker.

Will There Be a Fourth Venom Movie?

The subtitle The Last Dance has naturally led to the question of whether or not another Venom movie will be in the cards, especially given the financial success of the previous films. Hardy has heavily hinted that the film will be his last foray as the character, with Sony Pictures’ Tom Rothman also confirming it will be the final film.

“These things [usually] come in threes,” Hardy explained in a previous interview with Digital Spy. “If there’s going to be a new one – and they depend heavily on the success of each individual one, so you can’t count on them ever happening again – every one has got to be as if it was the last one. But I think it’s really important, if you go into something, thinking that one, two and three are the same… the same story, the same film. So that you don’t surprise yourself by being caught out by suddenly having to do a third from nowhere. There’s got to be some continuity into a third and fourth and fifth, and if somebody says ‘no’, that’s fine. Let it go, and you move on to something else.”

Venom: The Last Dance will be released exclusively in theaters on October 25th.

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Venom is going for the three-peat this fall. After being a surprise hit franchise for Sony, Tom Hardy’s Venom films have established themselves as steady box office performers and genuine romps for movie fans. Venom: The Last Dance is the third installment in the series, and it’s set to hit theaters just before Halloween, on October 25th. To start ramping up the advertising efforts, Sony has revealed some new footage from the upcoming Marvel sequel, in addition to announcing the release date of its final full trailer.

The Venom social media accounts shared a short teaser on Sunday night, offering about 30 seconds of footage from The Last Dance (some new, some previously released). The posts also confirmed that the final trailer would be released on Thursday, September 12th. You can check out the new teaser below!

While we now know what day the trailer for Venom: The Last Dance is dropping, there hasn’t been any word about what time of day to expect it. So anyone on the lookout for the trailer will need to keep their eyes peeled.

What Is Venom: The Last Dance About?

As the title indicates, this movie will be the final adventure for Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock and his Symbiote counterpart. The duo of Eddie and the Symbiote will be forced to put the bond they’ve worked so hard to build on the line, to potentially save the rest of the planet.

You can check out Sony’s official synopsis for Venom: The Last Dance below!

“In Venom: The Last Dance, Tom Hardy returns as Venom, one ofMarvel’s greatest and most complex characters, for the final film in thetrilogy. Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worldsand with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastatingdecision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s lastdance.”

Venom: The Last Dance stars Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, JunoTemple, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach and Stephen Graham. KellyMarcel, who co-wrote the previous Venom, directs the third installment from a screenplay she wrote, which was based on idea she and Hardy came up with together. In addition to serving as the star and writer/director of the new Venom, Hardy and Marcel also produce alongside Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal, and Hutch Parker.

The post Venom: The Last Dance Reveals New Footage, Confirms Final Trailer Premiere Date appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The ComicBook Nation crew previews the Fall TV and Movie schedules and share their hype levels for some of the most highly anticipated releases! There’s also a review and discussion of The Crow reboot starring Bill Skarsgård!

PLUS: Deep-dive discussion about the status of Star Wars after The Acolyte‘s cancelation, and a debate about Marvel’s Blade reboot and what kind of film it should be.

The Crow Reboot Review

This is what ComicBook Nation host Kofi Outlaw had to say in his 2-star review of The Crow:

Under the direction of Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman) and the genuine effort made by stars Bill Skarsgård and FKA Twigs, The Crow isn’t a total failure – but it is a messy mismatch of high-art aspirations and bloody, brutal, B-movie action-horror. It’s both vibrantly alive with creative spark and passion – and a listless, muddled attempt at telling a cinematic story.

…It’s not impossible that, despite its flaws, The Crow will follow the path of the original and grow into a cult hit in years to come. If nothing else, it’s one of the biggest showcases yet of Bill Skarsgård’s potential as a leading man (and not just the lineup of odd creatures and/or creeps he’s played). But, after more than a decade of trying to get this reboot off the ground – and all the creative talent that’s been attached to it along the way – it’s almost amusing that middling effort is the end result.

FALL PREVIEW 

MOVIES

• BEETLEJUICE 2 (9/6)
• TRANSFORMERS ONE (9/13)
• THE WILD ROBOT (9/20)
• JOKER 2 (10/4)
• VENOM 3 (10/25)
• RED ONE (11/15)
• GLADIATOR 2 (11/22)
• MOANA 2 (11/27)
• WICKED PT. 1 (11/27)

TV

• RINGS OF POWER S2 (8/29 – Prime Video)
• TERMINATOR: ZERO (8/29 – NETFLIX)
• PENGUIN (9/19 – HBO)
• AGATHA ALL ALONG (9/18 – Disney+)
• ZACK SNYDER’s TWILIGHT OF THE GODS (9/19 – Netflix)
• CITADEL: DIANA (10/10 – Prime Video)
• CITADEL: HONEY BUNNY (11/7 – Prime Video)
• SILO SEASON 2 (11/15 – Apple TV+)
• JAMES WAN’S TEACUP (10/10 – Peacock)
• LIKE A DRAGON: YAKUZA (10/24 – Prime Video)
• STAR WARS: SKELETON CREW (12/3 – Disney+) 
• KOFI: ST. DENIS MEDICAL – IMAGE
• MATT: MATLOCK – IMAGE 

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After years of being in the works and multiple release date changes, Kraven the Hunter is finally headed to the big screen later this year. The new film, which will be centered around the Marvel Comics villain of the same name, is an entry in Sony’s ever-evolving Spider-Man Universe of movies — and it sounds like the studio has positive feelings about the project. A new report from Deadline, which dives into Kraven the Hunter director J.C. Chandor having lined up his next movie with Sony Pictures, provides a bit of insight into his work on the studio’s upcoming Marvel film. According to the report, the project was delayed to December 13th of this year in order for Chandor “to sharpen the characters and tighten the plot, and some strategic reshoots which were effective.” The report also claims that after undergoing these reshoots, Sony is “optimistic” that Kraven will be on par with their Venom franchise of films, following the underwhelming performance of Madame Web earlier this year.

“I’m extremely proud of the work we have all done together on Kraven, and when the movie finally gets its chance to be seen I think it’s gonna surprise the hell out of a lot of people,” Chandor confirmed to the outlet. “As for what’s next for me, as always that’s up to the moviemaking gods.”

What Is Kraven the Hunter About?

In Kraven the Hunter, Russian immigrant Sergei Kravinoff is on a mission to prove that he is the greatest hunter in the world. The film will star Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Sergei Kravinoff / Kraven, Arana DeBose as Calypso, Alessandro Nivola as Aleksei Sytsevich / Rhino, Christopher Abbott as the Foreigner, Russell Crowe as Nikolai Kravinoff, and Fred Heichinger as Dmitri Smerdyakov / Chameleon.

“He is a hunter and from that world of hunting and there’s so many aspects,” Taylor-Johnson told ComicBook.com in an interview last year. “What I love about that character is that what is he humanizing is that he has flaws, right? Kraven is a beautiful character. Sergei Kravinov is a beautiful character because it’s someone who’s really understanding themselves and has flaws. This is a character that was built ages ago and it’s in a new time and era, but yeah, is he going to be the hunter that we all want to see? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.”

As mentioned above, Kraven the Hunter is currently scheduled to be released exclusively in theaters on Friday, December 13th.

The post Kraven the Hunter Was Reportedly Delayed for “Strategic Reshoots” appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Venom: The Last Dance‘s latest set photos show off Eddie Brock on the run. Re-shoots are currently happening for the Sony Marvel movie, and Tom Hardy is on the ground, making the magic happen. On social media, accounts, like @Tom_Hardy_Itali have showed the actor in character close to Peter Parker’s home base in New York City. Now, we don’t have any concrete confirmation of Spider-Man appearing in the venom sequel. But, fans have wanted the two to cross paths for a while now. Sony itself has been teasing this interaction for years at this point, so anything that gets fans closer to that reality is probably a good thing.

It would be hard not to point toward Deadpool & Wolverine absolutely smashing the box office. Putting popular characters on-screen together seems to be working right now. Marvel has to be thinking about pairing the beloved Spider-Man villain and the Wall-Crawler at some point during Avengers: Secret Wars, or maybe before that? There’s a lot of backstory to be covered during Venom: The Last Dance and that exploration of the alien’s lore might not allow a lot of time for Spider-Man fisticuffs. But, as always, hope springs eternal among Marvel fans. We’ll have to see if their faith is rewarded this time around.

Tom Hardy Rides Again As Venom

Yes, Venom: The Last Dance brings back Tom Hardy and the cast of characters from all over this Sony marvel universe. In addition to the Eddie Brock actor, Juno Temple, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rhys Ifans, Clark Backo, Stephen Graham, and Peggy Lou are all back in the fold. Kelly Marcel is handling the directors duties for Venom’s swan song. This has been the most surprising Marvel trilogy of the last decade. What does that do to affection for the 90s or Tom Hardy’s excellent rendition of this class of character, audiences are still showing up. Talking to Collider, Marcel had plenty of praise for the leading man.

“Tom and I have had a long collaborative history with each other. We love each other and love working with each other. Both of us are passionate about the Venom franchise,” Marcel explains. “It’s just really a joy for us to be able to get to do this third one together. I can’t really tease you anything about it other than it’s going to be amazing. Tom and I genuinely just have a blast with each other whenever we get to work together. There’s a lot of laughing that happens.” 

Do you think we’ll see Spider-Man in Venom: The Last Dance? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

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The Simpsons is bringing “Treehouse of Horror XXXV” to its now in the works Season 36 this Fall, and the first look at the new Halloween special has revealed Homer Simpson taking part in a new Venom parody. The Simpsons Season 36 will be airing with Fox beginning later this September, and the team behind it all took the stage during San Diego Comic-Con 2024 weekend to share a preview of what fans can hope to see from the new season. One of these first looks was revealed to be the next Treehouse of Horror special, which features a new take on Venom. 

During the San Diego Comic-Con 2024 panel (as reported by Variety), The Simpsons series creator Matt Groening, showrunner Matt Selman and producers Rob LaZebnik, Jessica Conrad and Tim Bailey promised that Treehouse of Horror XXXV is “the scariest 35th Halloween special ever.” For the first of the segments revealed for the upcoming Halloween special, “Denim,” The Simpsons has shared a first look that teases a bit of how it will be included stop-motion elements. Check it out below: 

Venom Parody in The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror XXXV

Partnering with Stoopid Buddy studios (the studio behind projects such as Robot Chicken), Stoopid Buddy’s Seth Green and Harv Harvatine shared some of the denim puppets they used for the animation in the special and noted that “It was a few months of shooting it. Showrunner Matt Selman further teased the upcoming special with Variety as following a “deep relationship with a simple alien symbiotic pair of jeans. It’s a really funny, silly segment about the jeans are going to be actual actual stop motion denim created by the Stoopid Buddies animators that do the ‘Robot Chicken’ shows.”

The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror XXXV is currently scheduled to release sometime around Halloween, and is also teased to feature segments with giant monsters created by political rage threaten to tear the town apart, and a Victorian Mr. Burns being jump-scared on Thanksgiving by the ghosts of his abused workers. 

The Simpsons Season 36 is currently slated to kick off with Fox beginning on Sunday, September 8th. If you wanted to catch up with The Simpsons Season 35, you can now find the latest episodes of the animated series now streaming with Hulu, and the first 34 seasons of the series and The Simpsons Movie now streaming with Disney+.

HT – Variety

The post The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror 35 Shares First Look at Venom Parody appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Venom: The Last Dance‘s Juno Temple knows that big franchise movies come with a ton of pressure. But, she’s not concerned with any expectations being heaped upon the Sony spinoff movie. The Hollywood Reporter sat down with Temple recently to talk about what the actress has coming up. With Venom: The Last Dance being the next Sony Marvel film after Madame Web, there’s a reasonable question of how well this movie will do. But, for Temple, none of that really concerns her. She’s just doing a great job and hopefully people turn out to see it like the cast hopes. Yes, Sony’s Spider-Man universe has been a little bit all over the place. But, the Venom films always seem to pull their weight when called upon. Check out what else the star had to say about her dance with Tom Hardy down below!

“I can honestly say that I’m not programmed to think about it like that. It’s quite new for me to be a part of a movie of this size. I’m just hoping that I did the best job I could on a [movie] that was a really amazing thing to be involved in. I hope that whether the five people go to see it or whether 500 go see it, or more, I hope that they enjoy it and it takes them out of their everyday lives for a minute.”

Venom: The Last Dance Teases Fans 

Venom: The Last Dance pairs Hardy with a wide cast of characters. Joining Temple are names like Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rhys Ifans, Clark Backo, Stephen Graham and fan-favorite Peggy Lu. In the director’s chair for Venom’s swan song is Kelly Marcel. The director gets a shot at directing a smashing finale for the little Marvel trilogy that could. You can say a lot of things about the Venom movies. But, in every case they’ve never underachieved. 

Call it 90s nostalgia or a testament to Tom Hardy, however, the fact remains that audiences will sit down and watch basically two hours of the franchise star argue with himself. (It’s one of the many charms of these movies.) Here’s what Marcel had to say about the leading man in an interview with Collider.

“Tom and I have had a long collaborative history with each other. We love each other and love working with each other. Both of us are passionate about the Venom franchise,” Marcel told the outlet. “It’s just really a joy for us to be able to get to do this third one together. I can’t really tease you anything about it other than it’s going to be amazing. Tom and I genuinely just have a blast with each other whenever we get to work together. There’s a lot of laughing that happens.” 

How do you think Venom 3 will go? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!

The post Venom 3: Star Addresses Spider-Man Movie Pressure appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Bikeriders is heading to theaters later this month, and the upcoming project was written and directed by Jeff Nichols (Mud, Midnight Special) and based on photography by Danny Lyon. The film follows a motorcycle club in the 1960s with some big-name actors making up the gang, including Venom star, Tom Hardy. ComicBook recently had the chance to chat with Hardy, who explained how some of his real-life tattoos now belong to his characters, including Johnny, the leader of The Vandals in The Bikeriders. Hardy also spoke about how layered his character is in the film.

“Well, a vulnerability to somebody who externally projects themselves as being something that internally they’re not,” Hardy explained. “I think that’s true of all people. They’re a paradox of conflicting drivers. So it is just something that I’ve noticed for me. Some people, the more exterior, they seem to be frosty or whatever, but lies, sometimes, a much softer and vulnerable sensitive center. Those who disport themselves as sensitive may fall foul of the complete opposite.”

You can watch our interview with Tom Hardy at the top of the page.

Who Stars in The Bikeriders?

In addition to Hardy, The Bikeriders stars Austin Butler (Dune: Part Two), Jodie Comer (Killing Eve), Michael Shannon (Midnight Special), Mike Faist (Challengers), Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead), and Boyd Holbrook (Logan) as Cal. You can read the official synopsis below: 

“THE BIKERIDERS captures a rebellious time in America when the culture and people were changing. After a chance encounter at a local bar, strong-willed Kathy (Jodie Comer) is inextricably drawn to Benny (Austin Butler), the newest member of Midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals led by the enigmatic Johnny (Tom Hardy). Much like the country around it, the club begins to evolve, transforming from a gathering place for local outsiders into a dangerous underworld of violence, forcing Benny to choose between Kathy and his loyalty to the club.

When Does Venom 3 Come Out?

Venom: The Last Dance is expected to be Tom Hardy’s final feature film as Eddie Brock/Venom. The upcoming threequel is being directed by Kelly Marcel (Fifty Shades of Grey), who wrote and produced the first two Venom movies alongside Hardy. Marcel is also writing the script for the third film. Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal, and Hutch Parker will all produce alongside Marcel and Hardy. The film is currently expected to hit theaters on October 25th.

“Tom and I have had a long collaborative history with each other. We love each other and love working with each other. Both of us are passionate about the Venom franchise,” Marcel said in a prior interview. “It’s just really a joy for us to be able to get to do this third one together. I can’t really tease you anything about it other than it’s going to be amazing. Tom and I genuinely just have a blast with each other whenever we get to work together. There’s a lot of laughing that happens.” 

The Bikeriders opens in theaters on June 21st. Stay tuned for more from our interview with Hardy. 

The post The Bikeriders Star Tom Hardy Breaks Down His Character appeared first on ComicBook.com.

What a week for comic book news! Deadpool’s new trailer puts his book back in the top ten but also brings a well-known variant with him. Venom also released a trailer for the final movie in his trilogy, causing a villain’s first appearance to gain popularity. Gambit is still the celebrated X-Men hero and has the sales to prove it, but the Hellverine’s new host is not too far behind. Doom’s solo series is still a top hit, scoring two spots on our top ten. A recent set photo from Captain America: Brave New World has caused a villainous key to reemerge. In other comic book news, Superman has a confirmed casting that took our number one spot. Finally, an indy book, with a mass of positive reviews, needs no rumors to make it a hot book of the week!

Want to know what comic books are trending each week and why? COVRPRICE.COM uses live sales analytics to identify and compile the most robust market price guide, highlighting the weekly top trending comics. No opinions. Just data. Each week, they present a newly updated list of the TOP 10 COMICS trending in the aftermarket. These trends are due to rumors, fan-favorite covers, story-driven content, and content-related news.

Top 10 Comic Books Rising in Value for the Week of 06/10/24

1: Superman Vol.35 #264 | DC | June 1973: It is a wild thought to think that James Gunn and Peter Safran were appointed co-chairs of DC Studios 2 years ago. We’re only one year away from the debut of Superman, set to launch DC Studios’ plans for the new DC Cinematic Universe. Time flies! As the film progresses, expect the related key comic books to light up on the aftermarket. That is what happened to this book! James Gunn himself confirmed his casting of SNL actor Beck Bennett as rival Daily Planet reporter Steve Lombard. The movie has all eyes on it, and every decision Gunn makes has been scrutinized by those who are weary of past DC movies. However, it looks like this casting was a hit, and the aftermarket responded in kind. We tracked it at a high sale of $290 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a current FG raw FMV at $12.

2: Captain America Vol.1 #310 | Marvel | October 1985: Captain America: Brave New World has undergone numerous changes. The latest changes were massive rewrites to the script, resulting in reshoots to redirect the film’s plot. From those changes, rumors began circulating that the original villains, Serpent Society, would take a much smaller role. Some rumors even went as far as to say that the MCU would remove them entirely. However, just this past week, a leaked image of the film set showed Rosa Salazar in hot pink hair, seemingly portraying the villain Diamondback. Whether this picture is from previous filming or the reshoots is unknown, but it was enough to send her first appearance to the top of every collector’s list! We tracked it at a high sale of $25 for VF raw copy and a current FN raw FMV at $14.

3: Venom: The Hunted #1 | Marvel | May 1996: Fans of Sony’s non-MCU Venom series were delighted to see the debut of the trailer for the latest movie. Rumored to be Tom Hardy’s final appearance as Venom, the trailer to Venom: The Last Dance showcased a wealth of symbiote goodness. It also teased a storyline that spoke to fans of the comic books. In one scene of the trailer, it looks like a Xenophage is attacking Venom while battling on top of a plane. Although the creature was never named in the trailer, the appearance to its comic book counterpart is uncanny. In fact, it is so similar that fans are hitting the aftermarket for the first appearance of the Xenophage. The book has built up tons of speed on the aftermarket! We tracked it at a high sale of $51 for CGC 9.4 copy and a current NM raw FMV at $17.

4: The New Mutants Vol.1 #98 – Regular | Marvel | February 1991: In case you didn’t know, the summer’s most anticipated film is set to debut in just one month. The road to Deadpool & Wolverine has been littered with rumors and fan theories. Many of those have caused a book to go up in price and begin trending. Sometimes, those books dropped as fast as they rose. However, this first appearance of Deadpool has been a classic since before the movie hype. That’s not to say that the movie isn’t hyping this book up even more, shooting it straight onto the top ten list this week! We tracked it at a high sale of $1,226 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a current NM raw FMV at $377.

5: Doom #1 – Sanford Greene – Regular | Marvel | May 2024: Doom continues to make waves in the aftermarket! The book debuted to tons of hype and had strong aftermarket sales. Those sales were amplified when fans discovered that the first lines of the book were a tribute to the late rapper MF Doom. This book continues to be a hot item and has strong trends this week! We tracked it at a high sale of $150 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a current NM raw FMV at $39.

6: Falling in Love on the Path to Hell #1 – Rian Gonzales (1:10) | Image | June 2024: If you haven’t heard of this book, you’re missing out! Gerry Dugan and Garry Brown deliver a double-length first issue of this new series. The reviews on this recent release have been overwhelmingly positive. Everything from the artwork to the storyline has been receiving high praise. The book is already taking off, but what makes this retailer incentive really pop is the striking artwork by Rian Gonzales. Gonzales has had a ton of hot variant covers, and her popularity is ever-soaring. This book is just another one to add to his highly collectible portfolio. We tracked it at a high sale of $25 or NM raw copy and a current NM raw FMV at $22.

7: Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth #7 | Marvel | January 2010: Move over, Dazzler; Lady Deadpool is the latest talk of the town! As we get closer to the debut of Deadpool & Wolverine, fans are eyeing all footage thoroughly. A couple of days ago, a Best Friends Day trailer was released, and Lady Deadpool was thought to have been spotted. The moment happens in the blink of an eye, right after a scene of a running Dogpool. While it isn’t entirely clear, the legs of the character seem female, which was enough for fan theories to sprout. Some Taylor Swift fans still believe she is in this film and will debut as Lady Deadpool instead. However, some believe the cameo could go to Ryan Reynolds’ lovely wife, Blake Lively. It could be neither of these two, but the theories are going off, and so is this book! We tracked it at a high sale of $320 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a current NM raw FMV at $106.

8: The Uncanny X-Men Vol.1 #266 | Marvel | August 1990: Gambit returns to the top ten! This book swings back and forth between the top ten and runner-ups. What originally started as rumors from Deadpool & Wolverine have propelled the character to new heights of popularity. Instead of being boosted by unconfirmed rumors, Gambit is a memorable character with an epic story from the latest hit series, X-Men ’97. Since his storyline concluded, Gambit-related comic books have seen an increase in interest while we wait for the second season of X-Men ’97. We tracked it at a high sale of $660 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a current NM raw FMV at $139.

9: Doom #1 – Maria Wolf (1:25) | Marvel | May 2024: Doom continues to be a popular book! The book appealed to fans of the villain but also fans of rapper MF Doom. The book had a subtle tribute to the late rapper on the first page, increasing the desirability of this book. The first page/text are direct lines from one of his tracks. This particular cover is a retailer incentive, making it a hotter collector cover! We tracked it at a high sale of $96 for an NM raw copy and a current NM raw FMV at $63.

10: Hellverine #1 – Joshua Cassara – Spoiler | Marvel | May 2024: There weren’t too many eyes on this book when it first debuted. This cover was a spoiler cover that remained hidden both from fans and retailers. The first appearance of Hellverine took about a month to show up on our top ten list, but Daken’s Hellverine was only a fraction of that time. The Hellverine was a popular character when Wolverine took on the mantle. Here we are, nearly a year later, and his son now wields the flame. This book also has an additional key moment. It is also the first appearance of the Hellfire Warriors, an experimental group of rogue soldiers. Fans of the Hellverine storylines are going to enjoy the lore-building around this new age of Wolverine! We tracked it at a high sale of $15 for an NM raw copy and a current NM raw FMV at $8.

And that’s your TOP 10 COMICS OF THE WEEK for 06.04.24!!

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With a free 10-day trial and several affordable price tiers, discover the value of your comics and sign up today! CHECK OUT THE TOP 10 ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL. PLEASE LIKE & SUBSCRIBE!

The post Top 10 Comic Books Rising in Value in the Last Week Include Superman, Doom, and Deadpool appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Bikeriders is heading to theaters this month, and the new film is set to star Tom Hardy and Austin Butler as members of a motorcycle club in the 1960s. Hardy’s character Johnny has some prominent tattoos in the film, which include Hardy’s real-life ink. At the junket for the movie, members of the press were able to get some permanent ink, including the same swallow Hardy has on his hand. During our interview with the actor, we brought up how people were getting Hardy’s tattoo, and wondered if Hardy assigns new meanings to his ink from the perspective of the characters he plays.

“No, I don’t even think about it,” Hardy shared. ” But the thing is, is that that tattoo now belongs to that character. That’s when it becomes tricky. So I think Eddie Brock [from Venom] owns this one … and then Tommy Conlon in Warrior owns more. Johnny [from The Bikeriders] owns that one.  I loan them out to these characters, but then I have to cover them up in other things. It’s really trying to not spend so much time in the makeup chair.” 

You can watch our interview with Tom Hardy at the top of the page.

When Does Venom 3 Come Out?

Venom: The Last Dance is expected to be Tom Hardy’s final feature film as Eddie Brock/Venom. The upcoming threequel is being directed by Kelly Marcel (Fifty Shades of Grey), who wrote and produced the first two Venom movies alongside Hardy. Marcel is also writing the script for the third film. Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal, and Hutch Parker will all produce alongside Marcel and Hardy. The film is currently expected to hit theaters on October 25th.

“Tom and I have had a long collaborative history with each other. We love each other and love working with each other. Both of us are passionate about the Venom franchise,” Marcel said in a prior interview. “It’s just really a joy for us to be able to get to do this third one together. I can’t really tease you anything about it other than it’s going to be amazing. Tom and I genuinely just have a blast with each other whenever we get to work together. There’s a lot of laughing that happens.” 

The Bikeriders is heading to theaters on June 21. Stay tuned for more from our interview with Tom Hardy. 

The post The Bikeriders and Venom Star Tom Hardy Says His Tattoos Now Belong To His Characters appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Venom: The Last Dance‘s trailer gave Marvel fans a new breakout star in “Venom Horse,” the result of Eddie Brock’s (Tom Hardy) Venom symbiote bonding with a wild horse. The sequence perfectly conveys everything Venom movie fans love about the series: the wild Jekyll-and-Hyde hijinks between Eddie and Venom – as well as having fun with the symbiote’s malleable nature. 

As you can see below, Venom 3 has, at the very least, hooked a number of people into checking out the film – if only to see Venom Horse in its glory! 

That’s the Tweet

Venom Horse. ‘Nuff said. 

GOES SO HARD!!!

I mean… that is a fact. 

Hate These Movies – Love The Horse

People are really taking time to say that the Venom movies aren’t good – while they also get excited by Venom Horse. 

Odd Couple – With A Horse

If you didn’t think the Brock/Venom dynamic was entertaining enough – wait ’til you see the horse. 

Well That Was Unexpected…

No one – we mean NO ONE – had a “symbiote horse” on their 2024 bingo card. 

Next Trilogy Unlocked

Sony just found the next Venom Trilogy, and it’s all about Venom Horse. 

This Redeems It All

For some fans, Venom Horse is enough to redeem the entire Venom Trilogy. Even Let There Be Carnage. 

Bronies Called It

Apparently, My Little Pony did its own version of Venom Horse (the Pony of Shadows) and the Bronies knew Venom could use such a creature. 

SOLD.

That Venom 3 trailer sold a considerable amount of tickets with that Venom Horse reveal. 

Making Comic Book Movies Fun Again

Venom: The Last Dance is asking comic book movie fans everywhere: Why so serious? 

Let’s see if that answer comes in box office returns. 

Venom: The Last Dance opens in theaters on October 25th. 

The post Venom: The Last Dance Has Found a New Star in Venom Horse appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The ComicBook Nation crew reviews Bad Boys: Ride or Die and the new horror-thriller The Watchers. They also share first reactions and theories about Star Wars: The Acolyte, and do a breakdown of new trailers for Alien: Romulus and Venom: The Last Dance! 

PLUS: Marvel Gives X-Men’s Krakoa Era an epilogue to tie up loose ends and launch the new “From the Ashes” reboot.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die Review

Here’s what show host Kofi Outlaw had to say in this 4-star review of Bad Boys: Ride or Die: 

Bad Boys: Ride or Die plays like a confident step forward for a re-invigorated franchise, rather than the last bits of gas leaking out of a dying one. It proves that Will Smith and Martin Lawrence can keep driving the characters forward – no matter what life and age bring their way – and it’s still some of the most fun movie audiences can have, riding along with them. And a good ride it is – all the way to a gut-busting ending. 

Star Wars: The Acolyte Review

ComicBook critic Jamie Lovett had this to say in his 3 (out of 5) star review of The Acolyte:

Star Wars: The Acolyte stands apart from other Star Wars projects for its unique setting and for bringing new influences into the universe. It isn’t executed to perfection, and there are moments when it can feel lifeless. However, there are others when it succeeds at showing that there are still unexplored corners of this Star Wars universe worth investigating. As a series built on mysteries – likely another polarizing point – much of its value will come from whether it has satisfying answers. We won’t know that until the final episode. For now, it’s an uneven experience likely to appeal most to those already swimming in the deep end of the Star Wars pool.

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It seems Doctor Strange’s memory-erasing spell has affected our dimension.

The first trailer for Sony’s Venom: The Last Dance was released Monday, and it appears to pick up from where we left symbiote host Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy): blipping between Sony’s Spider-Man Universe and Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe in the end credits sequences linking 2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man: No Way Home. (Also revealed: new Venom 3 plot details.)

To recap: Let There Be Carnage ended with Eddie magically transported across the multiverse and into the MCU, where he watched J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) expose an unmasked Spider-Man’s (Tom Holland) secret identity on live television. In No Way Home, a mid-credits scene showed Eddie drunk in a bar in Mexico (where he apparently spent his entire spell in this alternate universe). It was the sorcerer Stephen Strange’s (Benedict Cumberbatch) magic that made everyone forget Spider-Man is Peter Parker, only for the spell to go haywire and, instead, pull in everyone who knows Peter is Spider-Man from every universe into one.

Ultimately, Strange sent villains like Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) and Electro (Jamie Foxx) back to their respective universes. Spider-Man and Strange prevented cataclysmic spillover from the multiverse with a sacrifice: a second spell erased all memories of Peter Parker as if he never existed in the MCU (and it certainly seems that the wall-crawler doesn’t exist in Sony’s Spidey-adjacent universe where Venom, Morbius, and the upcoming Kraven the Hunter take place).

The last we saw him, Eddie disappeared in a flash of white light, leaving a bartender (Ted Lasso‘s Cristo Fernández) grumbling about an unpaid bill and no tip. But Eddie did leave something behind: a small glob of the inky-black alien symbiote. Picking up where the Spider-Man: No Way Home mid-credits scene left off, Venom 3 trailer shows an unnamed military man (played by Doctor Strange‘s Chiwetel Ejiofor) at that same bar using a glass to contain the symbiote goo before the bartender — once again played by Fernández — can touch the alien parasite. 

This raises some questions. First, if Eddie left a piece of the Venom symbiote in the MCU in Spider-Man: No Way Home, how is it that the scene now seems to be set in the SSU in Venom: The Last Dance? Does the bar and the bartender exist in both the MCU and the SSU, and Eddie left identical pieces of symbiote when blipping back and forth between universes? Does any of this have anything to do with the multiversal switcheroo that brought the Vulture (Michael Keaton) face to face with the titular living vampire (Jared Leto) in Morbius?

Confusing matters further: Rhys Ifans, who played the Lizard in 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man, and who was one of the villains blipped to the MCU in Spider-Man: No Way Home, also appears in The Last Dance — not as one-armed scientist Dr. Curt Connors, but as a banjo-strumming bus hippie who gives the fugitive Eddie a lift to Las Vegas. While it’s common for actors to hop between cinematic universes, fans on X (formerly Twitter) are pointing out what seem to be discrepancies between the SSU and the MCU (which have become connected, albeit loosely, through the multiverse to which the Venom symbiote hivemind is connected).

All should be explained when Sony’s Venom 3 dances into theaters October 25.

The post Venom 3 Trailer: Spider-Man Mistake or Multiverse Madness? appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Is Rhys Ifans stepping back through the Marvel Multiverse? The first trailer for Venom: The Last Dance revealed that Ifans has a role within the threequel, one that is currently listed as simply “hippie.” The Venom franchise is somewhat of familiar territory for Ifans, as the BAFTA winner previously portrayed Dr. Curt Connors, best known by his villainous alias The Lizard, opposite Andrew Garfield in 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man. Ifans returned to the role in a vocal capacity in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). While the Venom films do not have an explicit tie to The Amazing Spider-Man movies, Tom Hardy’s titular symbiote did briefly appear in the No Way Home post credits scene, fading back to his universe within moments of The Lizard doing the same.

Considering Ifans’s Venom: The Last Dance character remains nameless, fans have begun to speculate whether or not the mystery man will be revealed to be a familiar face.

Spider-Man PS4 Connection?

It’s Really Him!

What Is Happening?!

Continuity Concerns?

Theories Theories Theories

Sinister Six Loading…?

MCU Canon?

Starting Lineup?

Just Someone Else?

Random Hippie… And Peter Parker?!

The post Venom: The Last Dance: Rhys Ifans’s Role Is Making Marvel Fans Confused appeared first on ComicBook.com.

It takes two to tango — and Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and his alien symbiote other half are doing just that in Venom 3.

Sony Pictures on Monday revealed the first Venom: The Last Dance trailer, and it teases the final act for the brain-munching, head-devouring, long-tongued alien anti-hero of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. After Brock bonded with the parasitic symbiote as its human host in 2018’s Venom, and then became a full-throated lethal protector in 2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage, the dysfunctional duo are back… and as dysfunctional as ever.

According to the official plot synopsis, “In Venom: The Last Dance, Tom Hardy returns as Venom, one of Marvel’s greatest and most complex characters, for the final film in the trilogy. Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance.”

Set to David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” the trailer shows Eddie/Venom pursued by heavily-armed forces, led by a mysterious military man (played by Doctor Strange‘s Chiwetel Ejiofor). “We always knew it was impossible that we were alone in the universe,” scientist Dr. Payne (Juno Temple) is seen telling Ejiofor’s character, “and it’s our job to make sure that remains a secret.”

Over its three-minute runtime, the trailer includes an ominous warning from San Francisco Detective Patrick Mulligan (Stephen Graham), who absorbed a piece of the inky-black symbiote to become Toxin in Let There Be Carnage. “As long as Venom lives, everyone, everything will end,” he says from inside his glass cage. Meanwhile, a fugitive Eddie and Venom travel to Las Vegas; an alien creature that appears to be a symbiote-eating Xenophage wreaks havoc on Earth; and finally, the trailer signals the arrival of an alien invasion: hivemind symbiotes from Venom’s home planet, Klyntar.

“We may not make it out of this alive, buddy,” Eddie tells his symbiote from inside the wreckage of a crashed helicopter. Says Venom: “Eddie… the time has come.”

Venom: The Last Dance stars Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach and Stephen Graham. Kelly Marcel, who co-wrote the Venom trilogy, directs from a screenplay she wrote based on a story by Hardy and Marcel. They also serve as producers with Avi Arad (Morbius), Matt Tolmach (The Amazing Spider-Man), Amy Pascal (Spider-Man: No Way Home), and Hutch Parker (Logan). Sony will release the Venom threequel into theaters on October 25. 

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Sony Pictures has released the first official teaser trailer for Venom: The Last Dance, Tom Hardy’s third and final feature film in the lead role as Eddie Brock/Venom, the antihero most closely associated with Spider-Man before now. The teaser gives fans their first look at the threequel, about which we know shockingly little. Last time around, just the title — Let There Be Carnage — gave fans a pretty clear sense of what the movie was going to be about, but this time around, it’s more like something Hugh Jackman would have said three Wolverine movies ago.

The first two Venom movies have been the only big hits Sony has produced with its live-action Spider-Man franchise yet, earning a combined $1.3 billion at the box office while both Morbius and Madame Web were critical and commercial disappointments. Hardy’s Eddie Brock also had a brief cameo in the mega-hit Spider-Man: No Way Home.

You can see the trailer above.

“These things [usually] come in threes,” Hardy had told Digital Spy shortly before Venom 3 became official. “If there’s going to be a new one – and they depend heavily on the success of each individual one, so you can’t count on them ever happening again – every one has got to be as if it was the last one. But I think it’s really important, if you go into something, thinking that one, two and three are the same… the same story, the same film. So that you don’t surprise yourself by being caught out by suddenly having to do a third from nowhere. There’s got to be some continuity into a third and fourth and fifth, and if somebody says ‘no’, that’s fine. Let it go, and you move on to something else.”

Venom 3 will be directed by Kelly Marcel (Fifty Shades of Grey), who wrote and produced the first two Venom movies alongside Tom Hardy; Marcel is also writing the script of the third film. Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal, and Hutch Parker will all produce alongside Marcel and Hardy. 

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As the live-action Spider-Man franchise is leased to Marvel Studios, Sony Pictures has built its own spider-based cinematic universe centered around one of Peter Parker’s greatest adversaries: Venom. The multi-decade idea eventually came to fruition in 2018 with Tom Hardy in the titular role. Venom (2018) crushed at the box office, bringing in $856 million on a $100 million budget. This was enough to fast track a sequel, as Venom: Let There Be Carnage commenced production roughly one year after the first film was released. Despite some pandemic obstacles, Venom: Let There Be Carnage released in Fall 2021 and raked in half a billion dollars.

With back to back hits on its hands, Sony Pictures gave the green light for a third Venom film. Hardy was confirmed to be back in the leading role while Juno Temple (Ted Lasso) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Doctor Strange) joined the cast in undisclosed roles. Filming began in June 2023 and wrapped earlier this spring, as the SAG-AFTRA strike last summer delayed planned production in the remaining 2023 months.

Venom: The Last Dance Ends Tom Hardy’s Franchise

Eddie Brock is riding off into the sunset this October.

Speaking to Deadline, Sony Motion Pictures Group chairman Tom Rothman confirmed that Venom: The Last Dance is the franchise’s “third and last” installment.

“[It] is going to be huge,” Rothman teased.

All involved in Venom: The Last Dance are looking to go out with a bang. The threequel has Kelly Marcel in the director’s chair, making her feature film directorial debut. While this role is new to Marcel, the Venom franchise is not. She previously worked on the scripts for Venom (2018) as well as Venom: Let There Be Carnage and is also penning The Last Dance‘s screenplay.

“Tom and I have had a long collaborative history with each other. We love each other and love working with each other. Both of us are passionate about the Venom franchise,” Marcel said in a prior interview. “It’s just really a joy for us to be able to get to do this third one together. I can’t really tease you anything about it other than it’s going to be amazing. Tom and I genuinely just have a blast with each other whenever we get to work together. There’s a lot of laughing that happens.” 

Venom: The Last Dance hits theaters on October 25th.

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Venom is trending thanks to the latest Marvel rumors. Noted scooper Daniel Richtman says that although the upcoming Venom: The Last Dance will be Tom Hardy’s final solo movie as Eddie Brock, that might not be the end of the character. His sources indicate that Kevin Feige is open to finding somewhere for Hardy and his symbiote to go in the MCU. Naturally, the talk on social media indicates the fans wan to see Venom in Avengers: Secret Wars. If that weren’t enough, there is still a version of that black goop roaming around the MCU after Spider-Man: No Way Home. We’ll all have to wait and see.

Thinking about The Last Dance, Variety caught up with Juno Temple to talk about production. They’re almost at the end of the road. “We’re coming close to an end at the moment,” Temple revealed during the SAG Awards. “It’s been a wild, wonderful ride. It’s so new to me. It’s a big set! This is crazy. It’s been so much fun and I got to work with such cool people. I’ve been so lucky in my career to just have the most incredible casts. I can’t wait for it to get out into the world. I think it’s going to be a good one.”

Do you think we’ll see Venom in Secret Wars? Check out what the net has to say down below!

This is the biggest hope

Now you’re thinking

All of it tracks

Would blow the lid off the theater

That’s a long road.

Let’s focus on getting through Part 1

Weird moments ftw

A good bit of staging.

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Sony’s third Venom movie just got a major update. On Tuesday night, Columbia Pictures announced that the full title of Venom 3 will be Venom: The Last Dance. Additionally, it was confirmed that Venom: The Last Dance will debut two weeks earlier than initially planned, opening on October 25th instead of November 8th. Venom: The Last Dance will screen on premium large formats and IMAX.

In November of last year, franchise star and producer Tom Hardy had previously used the phrase “The Last Dance” in one of his social media captions about the film’s production. This comes amid speculation from fans that Venom: The Last Dance could be Hardy’s final outing as the titular Eddie Brock / Venom. 

What Is Venom 3 About? 

Venom: The Last Dance will be directed by Kelly Marcel (Fifty Shades of Grey), who wrote and produced the first two Venom movies. In addition to Hardy, Juno Temple and Chiwetel Ejiofor are both joining the cast. Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal, and Hutch Parker will all produce alongside Marcel and Hardy. Plot details for Venom 3 are currently unknown at this time, but fans have suspected that it will follow up on Eddie’s multiversal-hopping in the post-credits scenes of Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man: No Way Home. 

“These things [usually] come in threes,” Hardy explained in a previous interview with Digital Spy. “If there’s going to be a new one – and they depend heavily on the success of each individual one, so you can’t count on them ever happening again – every one has got to be as if it was the last one. But I think it’s really important, if you go into something, thinking that one, two and three are the same… the same story, the same film. So that you don’t surprise yourself by being caught out by suddenly having to do a third from nowhere. There’s got to be some continuity into a third and fourth and fifth, and if somebody says ‘no’, that’s fine. Let it go, and you move on to something else.”

What Are Sony’s Marvel Movies?

Venom: The Last Dance is just one of three Sony’s Spider-Man Universe movies released this year, including February’s debut of Madame Web. The franchise will also expand with Kraven the Hunter, which is set to debut on August 30th after a nearly year-long delay due to last year’s Hollywood strikes.

Kraven the Hunter is directed by J.C. Chandor and stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the titular big-game hunter and Ariana DeBose as Calypso. The cast also includes Christopher Abbott, Alessandro Nivola, Russell Crowe, Fred Hechinger, and Levi Miller. 

What do you think of the newest updates surrounding Venom: The Last Dance? Are you excited for the upcoming film? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

As mentioned above, Venom: The Last Dance will now be released on October 25th.

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Venom 3 star Tom Hardy’s latest set photo contains a nod to Spider-Man: No Way Home. As Marvel fans will remember, Eddie Brock was actually in Tom Holland’s last Spider-Man adventure briefly. His pit stop in a bar ended up leaving a souvenir for the MCU hero. On Instagram, Hardy posted a picture along with Sony brass with him still wearing the same clothes from the Venom: Let There Be Carnage post-credits scene and Spider-Man: No Way Home. His button-up shirt and Golden State Warriors t-shirt have been through the wringer. But, there he is standing in the same getup he wore when he was tossed through realities.

This new photo lets us in on a little secret. Namely, Venom 3 takes place directly following his return trip in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Back when Venom 3’s principal photography began, fans noticed that Hardy was in these clothes for another sequence. If he’s been back in his home reality for a while, why have Eddie Brock wearing the same clothes. (Especially if they look like they could use a wash after a massive MCU bender that had him learn about all that universe’s heroes.) Fans are still waiting on Venom to square off with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man at some point. Until then, we wait and digest the latest set photos.

What Happened With Venom In No Way Home?

Spider-Man: No Way Home was a massive crowd-pleaser. But, some Marvel fans wish that Venom could have had a bigger role in the movie. At one point, that was actually the case. Eddie Brock had an extended sequence in one draft of the film according to co-writer Chris McKenna. He told Empire Magazine that in one configuration fo that Statue of Liberty fight, Venom is right there with the other villains fighting Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. However, it was never meant to be when the movie finally made it out into the world.

“So Eddie Brock makes it to the MCU but he never makes it out of a bar. But there were versions where he shows up earlier,” McKenna explained. “We were going to try to have him show up at the Statue of Liberty [for the final fight], and we were even toying with having him stuck in the Lincoln Tunnel.” 

When asked about a future crossover between Hardy’s Venom and Holland’s Spider-Man, the writer had no answers for the publication. “I have no idea. That is above our pay grade. We are part of a bigger, larger universe that we are not the gods of, we’re just mortals in,” McKenna allowed. “I think it was a fun idea that the sixth [member of] the Sinister Six gets stuck in a bar and doesn’t get out of there, but maybe he leaves a little something behind. Again, we’re not masters of that course of that next adventure.” 

Venom 3 Nearing The End Of Filming

Just this week, Juno Temple revealed that Venom 3 is almost done with filming. At the SAG-Awards Gala, the actress talked to Variety about the road up until this point. She’s clearly enjoyed the experience working on Venom 3. Temple stressed the cast couldn’t wait to see the public reaction to this finale.

“We’re coming close to an end at the moment,” Temple said on the red carpet. “It’s been a wild, wonderful ride. It’s so new to me. It’s a big set! This is crazy. It’s been so much fun and I got to work with such cool people. I’ve been so lucky in my career to just have the most incredible casts. I can’t wait for it to get out into the world. I think it’s going to be a good one.”

Will we ever get that Hardy and Holland crossover? Let us know down in the comments!

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It’s a busy year for Sony’s superhero output, and the studio’s release slate is just getting started. Now that Madame Web has entered theaters, both Kraven the Hunter and Venom 3 will enter theaters. While the former has been wrapped for quite some time, the cast and crew of Venom 3 are putting the finishing touches on the threequel in the coming days. In fact, Venom 3 star Juno Temple says she’s nearly done filming on the Marvel film.

“We’re coming close to an end at the moment,” Temple told Variety at Saturday’s SAG-AFTRA Awards gala. “It’s been a wild, wonderful ride. It’s so new to me. It’s a big set! This is crazy. It’s been so much fun and I got to work with such cool people. I’ve been so lucky in my career to just have the most incredible casts. I can’t wait for it to get out into the world. I think it’s going to be a good one.”

Virtually nothing is known about Venom 3, other than it’s being directed by Kelly Marcel, who also wrote the film’s script alongside franchise lead Tom Hardy. Hardy also serves as a producer on the project.

“These things [usually] come in threes,” Hardy previously said of the feature in an interview with Digital Spy. “If there’s going to be a new one – and they depend heavily on the success of each individual one, so you can’t count on them ever happening again – every one has got to be as if it was the last one. But I think it’s really important, if you go into something, thinking that one, two and three are the same… the same story, the same film. So that you don’t surprise yourself by being caught out by suddenly having to do a third from nowhere. There’s got to be some continuity into a third and fourth and fifth, and if somebody says ‘no’, that’s fine. Let it go, and you move on to something else.”

Venom 3 is set to hit theaters on November 8th. Venom is streaming on Disney+ while Venom: Let There Be Carnage can be seen on Hulu.

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Clark Backo, best known for her roles in Letterkenny and The Changeling has been cast in Venom 3. There’s no word yet on who she will play, but Backo will join a cast that also includes Tom Hardy, Juno Temple, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Directed by Kelly Marcel from a screenplay by Marcel and Hardy, the movie is set for a theatrical release this fall. Backo earned an Independent Spirit Award for her role on Changeling, a series that was overseen by Marcel, so it’s no surprise that the two ended up working together again.

Backo played Rosie from season two of Letterkenny all the way up through its twelfth and final season in December. Before that, she had appearances in shows like Supernatural, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Designated Survivor.

The first two Venom movies have been the only big hits Sony has produced with its live-action Spider-Man franchise yet, earning a combined $1.3 billion at the box office while both Morbius and Madame Web were critical and commercial disappointments. Hardy’s Eddie Brock also had a brief cameo in the mega-hit Spider-Man: No Way Home.

“These things [usually] come in threes,” Hardy had told Digital Spy shortly before Venom 3 became official. “If there’s going to be a new one – and they depend heavily on the success of each individual one, so you can’t count on them ever happening again – every one has got to be as if it was the last one. But I think it’s really important, if you go into something, thinking that one, two and three are the same… the same story, the same film. So that you don’t surprise yourself by being caught out by suddenly having to do a third from nowhere. There’s got to be some continuity into a third and fourth and fifth, and if somebody says ‘no’, that’s fine. Let it go, and you move on to something else.”

Hardy and Marcel will produce the film alongside Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal and Hutch Parker. Sony recently unveiled a logo for the movie, which suggests it won’t have a subtitle like Venom: Let There Be Carnage did, during a panel at the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show.

Venom 3 is expected in theaters on November 8.  

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Madame Web is officially a critical and box office failure. Madame Web had a worse box office opening than Morbius or the 2015 Fantastic Four reboot, which has been considered the worst comic book movie release ever… until now. Critics have not been kind to the film, either; Madame Web has the franchise’s worst score on Rotten Tomatoes after nearly 200 reviews – and the audience average is barely over 50% with over 500 ratings – a sure sign that even the dedicated fans didn’t really like the film.

At this point, after four films, questionable box office returns, very little love from fans, and no real cohesion to speak of, it’s time to ask: Is Madame Web the final nail in the coffin for Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (SSU)? 

First of all, calling this series of film releases (Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Morbius, and Madame Web) a “Universe” of any kind is being generous. None of these films has bade any significant connection with one another – nor have any of them established any major connections to Spider-Man. Thanks to the post-credits scene of Morbius, the SSU has messed up good material established in Marvel Cinematic Universe Spider-Man projects  – namely by having characters like Michael Keaton’s Vulture and Tom Hardy’s Venom inexplicably hopping the fence between the MCU and SSU. It’s messy as messy gets. 

NOTE: We can certainly separate the animated Spider-Verse movies from this conversation: few people (if anyone) ever associate those Oscar-caliber successes with anything the live-action SSU has produced – and rightly so. And yet, the final ember of hope that Sony’s Spider-Man Universe has left is that most mainstream moviegoers probably don’t consider it a franchise universe, to begin with, and don’t look for Spider-Verse, Madame Web, or Venom to offer that same experience as the MCU. It’s all about the a la carte approach. 

Going forward, it’s pretty wild to think that Sony has two more Spider-Man Universe films to release this year:  Kraven the Hunter hits theaters on August 30th, while Tom Hardy’s Venom 3 will be in theaters on November 8th. 

The Venom series has built out its own section of a fandom, with people loving the schtick of Hardy playing both Eddie Brock and voicing the Venom symbiote, creating a bizarre one-man-show appeal. At this point, fans who stuck with the franchise will likely be back to finish it out with Venom 3; even a one-off ending or post-credits cameo from any of the Spider-Man actors (or just the CGI character) would cement Venom’s place in a comedic way. But even if Venom 3 hits different for the SSU (meaning, making the franchise look good to fans), it’s still the end of that series, leaving the larger SSU with the same franchise-building challenges.

What’s really on the bubble is Kraven the Hunter. The character has gotten a recent boost thanks to Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 video game, where he was a primary villain; Kraven movie star Aaron Taylor-Johnson already has appeal with Marvel fans thanks to his MCU role as Quicksilver, and the rest of the cast (Russell Crowe, Ariana DeBose, Alessandro Nivola, etc.) come with enough star power to appeal to a sizeable range of viewers. Kraven also has the most pronounced ties to Spider-Man with its imagery of a forest of spiders dangling overhead, or characters like “The Rhino” that moviegoers have seen before onscreen, and know to associate with the Wall-Crawler. 

However, if Kraven the Hunter does as poorly as Madame Web or Morbius, counting on Venom 3 afterward would be (as stated) a moot point. Kraven’s failure wouldn’t be an SSU death-sentence because fo the fans – it would more be a question of whether Sony even greenlights more of these blockbuster-sized spnioffs, once the pipeline has been cleaned out. Madame Web arguably set the stage for four different characters to be breakouts – and not one of them seems like a good bet. Maybe that’s all the future Sony accountants need to see. 

Madame Web is in theaters. Kraven the Hunter has a release date of August 30th. Venom 3 has a released date of November 8th. 

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Venom 3 is set to arrive in theaters later this year, and fans are excited to see the latest adventure for Tom Hardy’s Marvel symbiote. Venom 3 added a number of new additions to its ever-growing franchise, with both Juno Temple and Chiwetel Ejiofor cast in the upcoming Sony Pictures film. In a recent interview with Variety, Temple spoke about the filming experience of Venom 3, and hinted at how excited she is to see the film’s finished product.

“I’m learning lots,” Temple explained. “It’s fun and interesting, because there are so many things that you film that when the movie finally comes out will look different to what they were when we were filming them. I’m excited to see the creations that happen off camera, too.”

What Is Venom 3 About? 

Venom 3 will be directed by Kelly Marcel (Fifty Shades of Grey), who wrote and produced the first two Venom movies. In addition to franchise star Tom Hardy, Juno Temple and Chiwetel Ejiofor are both joining the cast. Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal, and Hutch Parker will all produce alongside Marcel and Hardy. Plot details for Venom 3 are currently unknown at this time, but fans have suspected that it will follow up on Eddie’s multiversal-hopping in the post-credits scenes of Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man: No Way Home. 

“These things [usually] come in threes,” Hardy explained in a previous interview with Digital Spy. “If there’s going to be a new one – and they depend heavily on the success of each individual one, so you can’t count on them ever happening again – every one has got to be as if it was the last one. But I think it’s really important, if you go into something, thinking that one, two and three are the same… the same story, the same film. So that you don’t surprise yourself by being caught out by suddenly having to do a third from nowhere. There’s got to be some continuity into a third and fourth and fifth, and if somebody says ‘no’, that’s fine. Let it go, and you move on to something else.”

What Are Sony’s Marvel Movies?

Venom 3 will be just one of several movies set in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe scheduled to arrive in theaters in 2024. First is Madame Web, which is scheduled to be released on February 16th. The film is directed by S.J. Clarkson, with a cast that includes Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Emma Roberts, Celeste O’Connor, Isabela Merced, Tahir Rahim, Zosia Mamet, Mike Epps, and Adam Scott. 

After a nearly year-long delay, Kraven the Hunter is also scheduled to be released on August 30th. The film is directed by J.C. Chando and stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the titular big-game hunter and Ariana DeBose as Calypso. The cast also includes Christopher Abbott, Alessandro Nivola, Russell Crowe, Fred Hechinger, and Levi Miller. 

Are you excited for Venom 3? What do you think of Juno Temple’s new comments? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Venom 3 will be released exclusively in theaters on November 8th.

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The tapestry of superhero movies is continuing to grow and evolve, turning the wide swath of characters within them into household names. Sony’s Spider-Man Universe of movies has definitely done that in spades, thanks to projects like Morbius and the forthcoming Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter — but unfortunately, one of their previously-announced comics has not yet come to pass. The live-action film adaptation of El Muerto was originally scheduled to be released in theaters this weekend, January 12, 2024.

Obviously, that did not end up being the case, as El Muerto — which was only announced in April of 2022 with actor and musician Bad Bunny attached to star — has not begun production at all, and is currently stuck a unique status.

What Is the El Muerto Movie About?

Created by Peter David and Roger Cruz, El Muerto first debuted in 2006’s Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #6. Also known as Juan-Carlos Sanchez, El Muerto is a super-powered wrestler who fought Spider-Man in a charity wrestling match, where he nearly unmasked Spider-Man before being stung with a paralyzing poison. The two later teamed up to take down El Muerto’s nemesis, Dorado. It might be an understatement to say that El Muerto is a relatively obscure part of Marvel Comics history, with only two comic appearances to his name — but Sony was excited about the possibility of the film being a vehicle for Bad Bunny.

“Sometimes we get lucky with perfect casting,” Sony Motion Picture Group president Sanford Panitch said when the film was first announced. “We think audiences are going to be excited by where these Marvel characters are headed.”

Will the El Muerto Movie Happen?

Shortly after El Muerto was announced, pieces surrounding the film began to fall into place — Chupa‘s Jonas Cuaron was brought on to direct, with Blue Beetle‘s Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer attached to write the film’s script. The aforementioned January 2024 release date was subsequently set. Unfortunately, the updates surrounding El Muerto began to dry up around April of 2023, before it was confirmed in September of 2023 that Bad Bunny had dropped out of the film altogether.

At the time of this writing, there is no indication of if El Muerto will continue with a new star, or if work on the film has fizzled out entirely now that he is no longer attached. Either way, one of the (for better or for worse) most distinct films announced for Sony’s SSMU has not come to fruition yet.

What Are Sony’s Spider-Man Movies?

Sony has three Spider-Man Universe movies scheduled to debut in 2024 alone, with February’s Madame Web, August’s Kraven the Hunter, and October’s Venom 3. In Madame Web, Cassandra “Cassie” Webb is forced to confront her past while trying to survive with three young women with powerful futures who are being hunted by a deadly adversary. The film will also star Tahar Rahim as Ezekiel Sims, with Mike Epps, Emma Roberts, Adam Scott, and Zosia Mamet cast in currently-unknown roles.

“It’s really the story of Madame Web,” producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura previously told ComicBook.com. “So, in that respect, if you’re a Spider-Man fan, you’re gonna love the character because you know it from the comic books, which she doesn’t really have that big a character in the comic books, we’re doing the origin story of Madame Web. And so you meet her before she’s actually the person that you know in the comic book and you come to understand how she becomes that person. So, I think that’ll be a really fresh new terrain for the fans.”

Are you sad that production has been stalled on the El Muerto movie? Do you hope the film eventually becomes a reality? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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The first look at two of Sony’s most-anticipated upcoming movies has officially arrived. On Monday, during Sony’s presentation at the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show, the company unveiled their slate of 2024 theatrical films. Among the slate are the first logos for Venom 3 and the new Karate Kid movie, which had both been dated for this year but have not gotten any sort of official look from the studio.

Venom 3 is currently scheduled to be released on November 8, while Karate Kid will debut on December 13th.

What Is Venom 3 About? 

Venom 3 will be directed by Kelly Marcel (Fifty Shades of Grey), who wrote and produced the first two Venom movies. In addition to franchise star Tom Hardy, Juno Temple and Chiwetel Ejiofor are both joining the cast. Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal, and Hutch Parker will all produce alongside Marcel and Hardy. Plot details for Venom 3 are currently unknown at this time, but fans have suspected that it will follow up on Eddie’s multiversal-hopping in the post-credits scenes of Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man: No Way Home. 

“These things [usually] come in threes,” Hardy explained in a previous interview with Digital Spy. “If there’s going to be a new one – and they depend heavily on the success of each individual one, so you can’t count on them ever happening again – every one has got to be as if it was the last one. But I think it’s really important, if you go into something, thinking that one, two and three are the same… the same story, the same film. So that you don’t surprise yourself by being caught out by suddenly having to do a third from nowhere. There’s got to be some continuity into a third and fourth and fifth, and if somebody says ‘no’, that’s fine. Let it go, and you move on to something else.”

What Is the New Karate Kid About?

Plot details are currently unknown about the new Karate Kid, which was first announced to be in the works late last year, outside of that it will be “the return of the original Karate Kid franchise.” The film will be directed by Jonathan Entwistle, and will see the return of both Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan from their previous roles in the franchise.

“I know no other information,” Cobra Kai star Ralph Macchio said in an interview at the time. “It’s too early to tell what that story is [with the movie]. This is all, like, happening in real-time as you’re asking me this question.” The actor revealed that he has not been contacted about the project. “I think that [will be figured out] in the near future, or I may have nothing to do with it,” he explained with a laugh. “We’ll talk when I know what’s going on.”

What do you think of the logos for Venom 3 and the new Karate Kid movie? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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