Venom: The Last Dance may be the last movie in the series, but its after-credits teases seem to indicate that Sony Pictures plans on keeping its story going in some fashion down the line.
The new film follows Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock on the run from the law following his big showdown with Cletus Kasady in Let There Be Carnage. It doesn't take long for the hero to also catch the eye of Knull, the King in Black—a celestial evil who is looking to be set free from his prison.
Venom: The Last Dance Ending Explained
After a trip to Las Vegas, where Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock meets Peggy Lu's Mrs. Chen, the Symbiote host is captured by Chiwetel Ejiofor's Rex Strickland.
Not long after arriving in the secret Area 51 base, Knull's Xenphages attack the facility and start slaughtering everyone—including Stephen Graham's Detective Mulligan, who had just bonded with a new symbiote (who is not Toxin like everyone previously thought).
To combat the extraterrestrial threat, the many Symbiotes in the facility start to bond with the base's personnel. While they try to combat the threat, most end up getting shredded to pieces and killed fairly quickly.
Venom realizes that the only way to keep the creatures from coming is for either him or Eddie to die. So, the Symbiote takes on the responsibility and sacrifices itself.
Going to the acid tanks, Venom contains the beasts and drags them in just the right spot so that Rex Strickland can bathe them all in acid—killing both Knull's hunters and the loveable titular alien.
Eddie lives through the ordeal, and is eventually able to make it to New York City and see the Statue of Liberty, the dying wish of Venom.
Knull's Wrath In Mid-Credits Scene
In the first mid-credits scene for Venom: The Last Dance, Andy Serkis' Knull is seen on this throne, not having moved an inch.
Angry at the destruction of the codex, he coins himself the King of Black, and threatens that the universe will be his. He even seems to be addressing the audience themselves, claiming that he "will kill your world" and "everyone will burn," and audiences will watch it all happen.
Though, that's a lot of talk to someone who can't get off of his chair—or out of his prison since the codex was destroyed.
The movie's mid-credits scene also gives viewers the first proper look at Knull's face, which, honestly, looks a little bit like an alternate Morbius.
A Post-Credits Symbiote Tease
Then there's the post-credits scene, which catches viewers up with Cristo Fernandez's bartender, whom fans first saw an alternate version of in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
A more grizzled, tired version of the same character was seen at the start of The Last Dance as Venom is thrown back into his home universe.
Following his arrest by Rex Strickland, who never got the chance to interrogate him properly about his encounter with Eddie Brock, he's now escaped, only to be met by the post-apocalyptic landscape that is the ravaged Area 51 base following the film's final act.
As he runs away, the camera focuses on a broken symbiote containment vial, which may or may not contain something in it.
Viewers then see a cockroach start to crawl inside as the camera cuts to black.
What's Next for Knull?
With Knull plotting his revenge, the obvious question remains: What exactly is next for the huge Spider-Man villain?
Well, supposedly, Venom: The Last Dance is the last movie in the series. But, given the teases, it's obvious that Sony Pictures intends to keep the story going in some fashion.
Perhaps Sony Pictures thinks they can keep the Symbiote story alive with June Temple's Dr. Payne, who is now wearing a symbiote vaguely resembling Scream. To make it even more interesting, it seems that she also has the powers of a speedster.
Another possibility, as evidenced by the rumor mill, is that Knull's story will carry over into Tom Holland's Spider-Man 4. With the movie's likely placement between Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars, a Multiverse story is almost certain, so a big crossover story with Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock and Venom could be a perfect fit.
Venom: The Last Dance is now playing in theaters worldwide.
