According to a new report, Venom's future in the MCU may be on the back-burner as the plan for Tom Holland's Spider-Man gets shaken up.
Fans are itching to see what could happen in Spider-Man 4 with the Venom Symbiote after a small bit of the alien substance was left behind by Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock at the tail-end of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The next Tom Holland Spidey movie is still years away, as a new deal for the actor is still - at least officially - yet to be signed. But behind the scenes, planning has been going on for years, for Marvel Studios' young wall-crawler's next adventure.
One place, many expect the next string of web-slinging blockbusters to go is down the line of the Spidey's black suit story arch, especially after No Way Home's end-credit stinger. But that might not be the case, as Marvel Studios takes it slow with the Symbiote.
Marvel Studios' Upcoming Venom Plans
Youtuber Heavy Spoilers reported that Marvel Studios was initially planning to slowly build up to a black suit storyline with Tom Holland's Spider-Man. However, those ideas shifted after the release of Sony Pictures' Venom in 2018, so much so, that the Symbiote won't even play into Holland's next wall-crawling adventure.
He revealed that "Marvel originally had this big plan" to "slowly build up towards the black suit" in Tom Holland's Spidey movies, but "Sony [starting] up their Venom franchise" caused " a lot of trouble behind the scenes."
The breadcrumbs for the Symbiote suit story have started to be laid, but Heavy Spoilers noted that Spider-Man 4 "won't actually focus on the black suit" and that "they're saving it for a film further down the line."
When will Black Suit Spidey hit the MCU?
So it seems Sony's non-MCU Spidey adventures threw a bit of a wrench into Marvel Studios' plan for the character. The black suit storyline is such an important arc for Spider-Man, something that has already been brought to the big screen in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3. So, it would make complete sense that the MCU brain trust would want to bring that story to life in their universe.
With the success that Sony is seeing with the Venom franchise, it would make sense that Marvel Studios would not want to confuse audiences by going full Symbiote in the MCU. But it is bound to happen, especially seeing as the Symbiote exists in the MCU after No Way Home.
Yes, fans are eager to see what an MCU black suit story would look like, and it feels closer than ever, the studio is going to take its time on this one. It's not the first post-credit scene set to sit in limbo for a while, and it certainly will not be the last.
Right now, it is just important to get Spidey back on screen, away from high school, and in a place where they can build on the solid foundation left by the Jon Watts trilogy. The symbiote will be there when they need it, as at some point in the future they surely will.