While Venom: The Last Dance is the last film in the Venom trilogy, Avengers: Secret Wars could bring back Venom and Knull without Tom Hardy, according to one MCU theory. Hardy’s portrayal of Eddie Brock/Venom was a hit with audiences and a highlight of Sony’s Spider-Man universe. However, the English actor clarified that The last dance is the last in this series. He could return as the character in another project, but he won’t star in another film as Eddie. That being said, there are still some doors open for these characters.
A small part of Venom remains in the MCU and Sony has plans for Knull, the villain who created the symbiote, following Poison 3. Sony’s plans are still unknown, and these characters could return in their own universe or in the MCU. Sony knows that audiences want to see Venom and Spider-Man in the same project, and Knull is an excellent villain who could unite the two. Fortunately, there is a way for Sony to get Knull and Venom into the MCU without Hardy, and that could be Avengers 6.
Venom 3 establishes that Knull cannot escape his prison without a codex
Knull is still trapped on Klyntar
Poison 3 opens with an exposition sequence, explaining Knull and his connection to the symbiotes. Knull is the King in Black, a dark deity who is the father of the symbiotes. However, the symbiotes betrayed him and imprisoned him on Klyntar, preventing his dark reach from extending to multiple universes. Knull can only escape with a codex, a key formed when a symbiote revives its human host by fusing their life forces. A codex formed between Eddie and Venom in the first film, which explains why the Xenophages (symbiote hunters) pursue them Poison 3.
The codex can only be destroyed if Eddie or Venom dies, and Venom sacrifices himself during the third film’s climax. Knull is once again trapped in his prison, but the Poison 3 the post-credits scene suggests there will be more of him in the future. However, it’s difficult to know when this will happen, especially since the codex has been destroyed. However, there is a chance another codex could be formed, thanks to a tease from Venom in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Spider-Man and Venom could form a new codex in Avengers: Secret Wars
A piece of Venom is still in the MCU
When Eddie and Venom returned to the Sony universe in No way homethey left a piece of Venom in the MCU. This caused a lot of speculation among viewers, theorizing how Marvel will incorporate Venom into the MCU. The easiest connection is with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, as the duo has a history in comics and cinema. The first connection between Venom and Spider-Man was in 1984 Secret Wars storyline when Peter Parker receives his symbiote suit on Battleworld and brings it back to Earth. Spider-Man 4 releases on July 24, 2026, between Avengers: Judgment Day and Secret Wars.
Spider-Man and Venom could team up in the upcoming fourth film, giving Peter his black costume and paying homage to the iconic costume from the comics. This would also give him a power upgrade before fighting Doctor Doom, but Doom would still have the upper hand. Peter could die fighting Doom on Battleworldforcing Venom to revive him and form a new codex. The emergence of a new codex would awaken Knull and possibly trigger his arrival as the next Avengers-level threat. Secret Wars.
Marvel may still introduce Eddie Brock into the MCU later
Eddie could still return, whether it’s Tom Hardy or someone else
The MCU multiverse has a lot of confusing rules, but one of them is clear: variants do not have to be exactly the same as each other. Each Spider-Man actor is different from the others, but they are still variants of Peter Parker, and the same can be said of the different Loki in the Void and the Wolverine featured in Deadpool and Wolverine. The MCU can feature Eddie Brock in its universe, and he doesn’t need to be played by Hardy. He doesn’t have to be Topher Grace either. There could be a completely new actor playing the character.
Additionally, introducing Eddie later would also follow the story of the comics. In Amazing Spider-Man #258, Peter took his costume to the Fantastic Four, where Reed Richards discovered that an alien symbiote was bonded to it. Reed used a sonic blaster to remove it from Spider-Man’s suit, but the symbiote escaped and found Eddie Brock, leading to the birth of Venom. Since the Fantastic Four will be coming to the MCU soon, this could be how the MCU will introduce Eddie to its universe. Hopefully this leads to the showdown between Spider-Man and Venom that viewers want to see, sooner rather than later. Avengers: Secret Wars.
- Release date
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May 7, 2027
- Cast
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Kathryn Newton, Jonathan Majors, Mark Ruffalo, Benedict Wong, Hailee Steinfeld, Dominique Thorne, Anthony Mackie, Brie Larson, Simu Liu, Benedict Cumberbatch, Iman Vellani, Chris Hemsworth, Xochitl Gomez