Besides the various MCU films, there was another Marvel project outside that world that did quite well last year: Venom: Let There Be Carnage. The Sony Pictures endeavor saw Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock once again trying to deal with co-existing alongside Venom, a murderous symbiote. This time around, however, they had to take on an even deadlier alien in Woodie Harrelson's Carnage.
The general reception of the Venom movies has been somewhat mixed, but they have done well enough for Sony to make two of them and have already started work on a third. Even more, the character made his way across universes when he popped up in the post-credits scene for Spider-Man: No Way Home.
In that stinger, the unexpected happened. While many assumed the character would stick around at least long enough to get a few minutes of screen time, instead, he was quickly teleported back to his homeworld along with everyone else who had made the original trip. The twist? This version of Eddie Brock may have exited stage left, but he left a parting gift: a little piece of the Venom symbiote.
But what does that mean for its future in the MCU?
The Future of Venom in the MCU
In an interview with IGN, Spider-Man: No Way Home writers Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna were asked what the possible future for that symbiotic gift was, which was left behind by Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock, also known as Venom.
Sommers noted that "it leaves the door open for possibilities" and exciting happenings in the future:
"It leaves the door open for possibilities. As opposed to just seeing him go back and not seeing any symbiote. So it just allows for some exciting possibilities in the future."
As for what those could be specifically, McKenna made it clear how that knowledge was "above [their] pay grade," and that the duo are "not masters of [the] course of that next adventure:"
"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. 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."
All the Symbiotic Possibilities
Spider-Man: No Way Home presents a lot of possibilities with its ending. Peter Parker has basically had his entire life reset, and now anything is possible. Thanks to that post-credits scene, so is an entirely new take on Venom.
Many fans were thrilled to be presented with the opportunity to have the MCU adapt the Venom symbiote without being dragged down by what Sony has done in its Tom Hardy films. Others were sad the star didn't stick around for longer. Either way, there's no future where Marvel Studios doesn't take the symbiote and run with it.
Even the writers themselves exude confidence in the alien's future in Peter's story—they just don't know what its future is. But then again, Andrew Garfield wasn't in No Way Home.
The negative influence, and general corruption, that the symbiote is known to bring would be the perfect foil to bring into Spider-Man's next adventure. The hero is at a low, with no one he loves, and likely still harboring plenty of guilt regarding May. That doesn't just go away after all.
Hopefully, this means the MCU is that much closer to giving Tom Holland the symbiote suit he deserves.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is playing in theaters worldwide.
