Well, we’ve done it. Collectively, we have survived Sony’s Venom trilogy. While the movies had some fun moments and a few bright spots, overall they were not exactly the best superhero movies in recent years. And now the franchise appears to be all wrapped up. Or does it? Venom: The Last Dance has two post-credits scenes that would make it seem as though Sony might not be done with the symbiotes just yet.
Venom: The Last Dance spoilers ahead!
The King in Black is Awake
As you might have expected, the film concludes with some self sacrifice by the hero and the day being saved. Knull, the absentee primary antagonist of the film, is kept from ever being released from his cage and is thought to be trapped forever.
That’s where the mid-credits scene comes in. We return to Klyntar, the symbiote home planet that is actually just a cage created by millions of symbiotes to imprison Knull. We hear the voice of Knull, as we had multiple times throughout the movie. This time, he says “Your champion has fallen. The planets will be mine. The King in Black is awake. I will kill your world, everyone will burn and you will watch.” This brief monologue is fairly satisfying to comic fans as it is not unlike Knull’s words from the comics (as seen in the image above).
As far as visuals go, we get by far our best look at Knull’s face in this mid-credits scene and it is pretty terrifying. The nightmarish space god looks up with glowing red eyes and monstrous teeth as the screen goes black. Before that though, we can also see that he is holding the All-Black. This sword was actually the first symbiote created by Knull and was used as a weapon to sever the head of a celestial. It would eventually fall into the hands of Gorr the God Butcher during his attempt to rid the world of gods. The weapon can also be seen in Thor: Love and Thunder, though it is only referred to as the Necrosword.
So what does this scene mean? Well it certainly appears as though Sony has plans for Knull in the future. The character was given a massive story arc in the comics (one of the best in recent years) and could absolutely serve as the big bad for multiple films. However, it would be disappointing if Knull is limited to the Sony universe of films, which seems likely. This could mean we would see him as sort of the Thanos for a series of films that would see him take on… Venom or any other remaining symbiotes, Morbius, Kraven the Hunter… Madame Web? Oh boy. I would almost rather him stay in his symbiote cage.
Best case scenario? Sony admits defeat. I know, this is highly unlikely but it would make for a much more compelling story to watch Knull obliterate this universe, leaving one character to arrive on Earth-616 and warn its heroes of Knull’s impeding arrival. The character deserves to be seen on screen with some A-list heroes. Don’t hold your breath though.
One last takeaway from this scene: Knull is (at least) voiced by Andy Serkis! Rumors of the villain’s casting swirled for a few months up to the film’s release, but the actual result is pretty much perfect. Perhaps Marvel Studios will want to work with Serkis again!
Venom is life!
Yes, Cristo Fernandez, best known for his role as Danny Rojas in Apple’s Ted Lasso, returns for this third film. We again see the Earth-616 version of the character, as we saw in the Spider-Man: No Way Home post-credits scene. However, when Eddie and Venom are pulled back to their own universe, we see their version of the bartender there. That character is later abducted by Rex Strickland and his team and brought to Area 51.
After the climactic battle at Area 51, the post-credits scene sees Fernandez’s bartender character emerge from a cave and run off, hopefully to safety.
While the scene seems to largely be a joke, we do also get something of some importance. The Venom symbiote appears to have survived by attaching itself to a cockroach. We see the little critter approach the broken test tube that once contained the symbiote that would bond with Juno Temple’s Dr. Teddy Payne, sparks still igniting inside. That symbiote appeared to resemble a character known as Agony, though due to some unnecessary lightning strike subplot, it gave Payne super speed powers, a trait Agony does not share in the comics.
So what do we take away from this? This one is much less clear than the mid-credits scene. Obviously the big takeaway is that Venom is alive. However, is he going toward that electricity for any particular reason? Will we see Venom with super speed next time we see him? If so… why? It will also be interesting to see what other symbiotes survived and might pop up in the future.
Sony’s Venom: The Last Dance is in theaters now.