Venom: The Last Dance hit theaters in October 2024, but discussion around Sony Pictures' Spider-Man spin-off reignited in late February 2025 after the movie came to Netflix.
What Happened to Venom at the End of Venom: The Last Dance
Venom: The Last Dance introduced a new concept with the Codex, which is created when a symbiote resurrects its host. As Venom brought Eddie Brock back to life in the original 2018 movie's climax, he therefore holds a Codex.
In terms of why the Codex is so important, that comes back to Knull, the king of the symbiote who had been trapped in an eternal prison. A Codex offers the key to that prison, which could free Knull and allow him to unleash darkness upon reality.
The Codex can only be destroyed when the symbiote or host dies as their life forces are intertwined, meaning Eddie or Venom must die to stop Knull.
Throughout The Last Dance, the Xenophages are hunting Venom and Eddie in the hopes of freeing Knull, which ultimately brings about the symbiote's death. In a showdown taking place at Area 51, Venom realizes the Xenophages are "just going to keep coming," and the Codex needs to be destroyed.
Ultimately, Venom makes the sacrifice to save Eddie, absorbing the remaining Xenophages and sitting below an acid shower, killing him with it.
The Last Dance's post-credit scene indicated part of Venom may have survived as a black symbiote-bonded cockroach crawled through Area 51 wasteland. But this isn't the only Venom goo crawling around the Multiverse, as a slither of him was left in the MCU after Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Read more about Venom: The Last Dance's ending and post-credit scene, along with what that might mean for the future of the MCU.
Is Venom Really Dead After 'Venom 3?'
While shutting down rumors of a Spider-Man cameo, Tom Hardy acknowledged Venom 3 is the "last movie" of the saga. As such, a fourth Venom movie seems unlikely to happen, especially given The Last Dance was the lowest-grossing yet, despite bringing in a respectable $474.5 million worldwide.
Furthermore, Sony appears to be hitting pause on its Spider-Man spin-off universe as reports stated Kraven the Hunter marked the end of the franchise. While Venom could certainly be an exception to that rule given the trilogy's solid box office results, there is no indication of a sequel happening anytime soon.
But there's every reason to think Venom will be back, as The Last Dance left the dangling thread of Knull coming to engulf the world in darkness. There were rumors the symbiote king would return as Spider-Man 4's villain, possibly uniting Tom Holland's Peter Parker with Hardy's Eddie Brock.
For now, the tale of Eddie Brock and his symbiote companion appears to be over, but there are certainly enough dangling threads to pick it back up later. It's tough to imagine the fight with Knull being fought without the help of Brock and Venom, so whenever that comes about, he may well be back.
There's also the matter of the chunk of Venom that went crawling through the MCU after Spider-Man: No Way Home. One day, that black goo will inevitably reach Peter Parker to commence the iconic black suit storyline, and perhaps when it does, Hardy could continue giving a voice to the symbiote.
Venom: The Last Dance is streaming now on Netflix.
