The final chapter of Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock and Venom seemingly comes to a close with Venom: The Last Dance—or does it?
For the last couple of weeks, Tom Hardy has been evasive about his future as Venom and whether or not he would tussle with Tom Holland's Spider-Man in the future. All he had to say was that "There are always possibilities" but that The Last Dance is "the last movie."
For fans who have seen his "last" entry in the Venom trilogy, there was indeed a sense of finality in Eddie Brock and Venom's story, but is it truly the end for them? Or does the Lethal Protector still have a shot at fighting against and alongside the famous Web-Slinger?
Venom 3's Ending and The Codex
To fully understand Venom: The Last Dance ending, one has to know what the Codex is and how it works. After narrowly escaping a Xenophage, one of Knull's monstrous minions, Venom exposits to Eddie that he has a Codex. It acts as a key to the prison of Knull, the King in Black, the creator of the Symbiotes (read more about Knull here).
A Codex can only be created when a Symbiote brings a host back to life, which Venom did in the first film's climax. However, a Codex can only be destroyed if either the host or Symbiote dies, leaving Knull trapped in his eternal prison.
Venom Makes the Sacrifice Play
After Knull's Xenophages finish picking off the last of the liberated Symbiotes, they close in on a gravely wounded Eddie Brock. Venom realizes that "they're just going to keep coming."
After a heart-to-heart, with Venom wishing he had the chance to see "Lady Liberty," the two of them decide that to be the Lethal Protector they wanted themselves to be, they must destroy the Codex, meaning themselves.
As the two corral the remaining Xenophages under a hyperacid dissolvent dispenser, Venom ejects Eddie from himself, telling his friend, "I'll never forget you" and for Eddie not to forget him, either.
After protecting Eddie with debris, Venom and Chiwetel Ejiofor's Rex Strickland destroy the acid tanks in a massive explosion, burning and dissolving themselves and the Genophages, along with the Codex, to Knull's fury. In the aftermath of the explosion, Eddie is left unconscious in the ruins of Area 51.
Visiting Lady Liberty
Eddie awakes in a medical bed, believing Venom's heroic sacrifice was a dream until a member of the United States Army informs him otherwise. However, for his service and bravery, Eddie's crimes in San Francisco and the past few days have been expunged from his record.
Free to start his life again, Eddie travels to New York to fulfill Venom's wish to see the Statue of Liberty. As he looks to the horizon, seeing Lady Liberty in all her glory, Eddie tells himself, "I won't forget you, buddy."
Will the Lethal Defender Return?
One obvious explanation for Venom's return is the piece of himself that he conveniently left behind in the MCU, which Holland's Peter Parker could pick up in Spider-Man 4. However, it might be a Groot situation with this piece of Venom being an offspring and not the same Venom fans have grown to love.
Another possibility is the tiny piece of Venom that Clark Backo's Sadie Christmas took and stored away. After all, the post-credits scene for Venom: The Last Dance teased a shattered vial that possibly held the last bit of Venom, which could find its way back to Eddie.
So, Sony left its options open for Venom's return in one universe or another. And as Venom said to Eddie before his sacrifice, "It's just bye for now."
Venom: The Last Dance is currently playing in theaters.
