As the box office continues to sag, all eyes are upcoming 2024 movies that can help studios dig out of their current hole. Naturally, analysts are circling superhero movies, a bankable brand that has suffered a few dips, but in general stands head-and-shoulders above the other genres. To that end, we’re all curious how Venom: The Last Dance will perform. The first Venom was a smash, though its sequel came back down to Earth – despite the inclusion of Venom’s most popular adversary, Carnage. This is due to be the third and final Tom Hardy / Venom movie, and the trailer so far makes it look really great:
But wait. We have to discuss all of the multiversal nonsense happening in this first trailer for Venom: The Last Dance. Because by the looks of this trailer, there are going to be some crossovers between the MCU, the Venom universe, and the existing Andrew Garfield-led Spider-Man universe. Is this teasing a possible return of Andrew Garfield to his Spider-Man role?
The tease in particular that we noticed is the presence of actor Rhys Ifans, spotted playing a guitar in a van. Look here:
Why is Rhys Ifans in Venom: The Last Dance? The last time that we saw his character in a Sony Spider-Man movie, he was only in his Lizard form as part of Spider-Man: No Way Home. But that’s mainly because Ifans wasn’t able to travel due to COVID restrictions, so he only lent his voice to the villain. Is he back playing Curt Connors in this movie? And if so, does that mean that Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and his Symbiote are in Garfield’s Spider-world?
I ask this because there’s at least one other shot in the trailer that informs us that Venom: The Last Dance will take place in several multiverses. As you can see in the below photo, we see Ted Lasso co-star Christine Fernandes reprising his role as the bartender who served Eddie in the MCU (again, at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home). This led to a dollop of symbiote being left in the MCU, and in this shot, Chiwetel Ejiofor appears to be capturing it.
So, what do you think is happening here? Is Venom: The Last Dance actually going to take place in the MCU, and also possibly Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Unverse (where Curt Connors would have been returned to after Spider-Man: No Way Home)? Has there been a plan in place this whole time for the Sony movies, where The Vulture (Michael Keaton), Morbius (Jared Leto), Kraven the Hunter (Aaron Taylor Johnson) and more fight Garfield’s Spider-Man? Because if so, I’m all in.
Venom: The Last Dance arrives in theaters on October 24. While you wait, read up on all the announced upcoming Spider-Man movies and TV shows. There are quite a few.