The Sony Spider-Man Universe is no stranger to cameos and Easter eggs, often scattering fan favorite characters throughout their films. With Venom: The Last Dance bringing an end to Tom Hardy's villainous trilogy, fans are hoping to see more comic characters join the screen to set up the future of the franchise.
The Venom franchise has already seen popular comic characters such as Carnage, Shriek, Riot, and even Spider-Man make their appearances over the first two films, but has the opportunity to explore so many more. With the upcoming October 2024 release of the third and final installment in the Venom trilogy, there is only a small amount of time left to speculate what characters may make their cinematic debut.
10 Xenophage
The Xenophage is a wild alien species that hunts for symbiotes. First making their appearance in Venom: The Hunted #1, the Xenophage have been antagonizing Venom in the comics since 1996. They are in search of symbiote brains, as the longer the host has been bonded with the symbiote, the tastier the brain.
The Trailer Hints at Xenophage's Appearance
Within the first few seconds of the trailer, a creaturethat closely resembles a Xenophage is seen launching itself towards Venom. This led many fans online to speculate that they would make an appearance in Venom: The Last Dance, rewarding comic readers with one of the more obscure, non-symbiote characters in the Venom universe. After sporting symbiote villains in the first two Venom films, fans have been wanting to see the adaptations expand into new, unknown villains, and the Xenophage would be just that.
9 The Hood
The Hood begins his criminal career in unassuming fashion, a regular human by the name of Parker Robbins committing ordinary crimes. That is, until one heist, when he defeats a Nisanti demon, taking its hood and boots. These accessories gave him levitation and invisibility superpowers, allowing him to become the infamous figure known as The Hood, forming his own crime syndicate within the New York criminal underworld.
The Criminal Underworld on Full Display
Despite his focus on his own criminal doings, his participation in that world opens the door for his appearance in Venom: The Last Dance. The parallels between him with his cloak and Eddie with his symbiote could be explored in the film, as Parker is one of the few humans in their universe who can relate to Eddie's situation. With recent footage released of Tom Hardy on the streets of New York filming The Last Dance, this could lead the way to Venom running into The Hood, as he will undoubtedly encounter the criminal underworld of New York City.
8 Lasher
Lasher is one of the five symbiotes that is spawned from the Venom symbiote by order of the Life Foundation, under the hope that they could create superhuman peacekeepers. Ramón Hernández, a security force officer with the Life Foundation, merged with this green symbiote, creating Lasher. These symbiotes attack their creator, forcing Eddie to remerge with the Venom symbiote to fight back.
Who Is the Green Symbiote?
In the Venom: The Last Dance trailer, a green symbiote is shown, leading some fans to believe that Lasher will appear in the film. Although they have taken issue with the addition of large, Venom-like teeth, fans are excited to see one of the coolest looking symbiotes appear on-screen. With the possibility of Lasher joining this cinematic universe, the other four symbiote spawns would likely be close behind, giving fans even more comic character representation and leading to the biggest showdown yet in a Venom film.
7 Silver Sable
Silver Sable is a deadly mercenary who has crossed paths with Venom several times, both as an adversary and as an ally. In the comics, she is hired by Bolivar Trask, the creator of the symbiote suit, to capture Eddie. Having been trained by her Nazi-hunting father, her deadly skills combined with her alluring appearance led to Silver Sable becoming a fan-favorite.
The Future of Silver Sable
With a Silver Sable standalone film recently scrapped, the future for her cinematic character is unknown. Venom: The Last Dance could be the perfect opportunity for Sony to reintroduce the character and use it as a way to test her popularity, which could lead to the studio renewing production on her solo film. After the recent failure of Madame Web, fans want to see passion behind a female-led superhero film, and the storied history of the Silver Sable project would give them the chance to right their wrongs. As one franchise ends, another could look to take its place.
6 Toxin
Venom: Let There Be Carnage introduced fans to the character of Pat Mulligan, the dedicated police detective. Viewers were quick to recognize the connection to the comics, in which Pat Mulligan becomes Toxin, the most feared symbiote. An offspring of Carnage, Toxin becomes a danger to Venom and Mulligan himself. After being presumably killed by Shriek in the last Venom film, Mulligan survives, waking up at the end of the film with his eyes glowing blue, one of Toxin's suit colors.
Lasher Is One of the Most Powerful Symbiotes
In the trailer of Venom: The Last Dance, we see a green symbiote, who many fans presumed to be Lasher. However, some fans noted that Mulligan's eyes seem to have switched to a shade of green in the trailer, leading there to be a belief that Sony may have changed Toxin's color to green, in accordance with the nature of his name. Although fans have been expecting his appearance ever since the introduction of Mulligan, it is still greatly anticipated, as it will showcase a symbiote villain much more powerful than Carnage, forcing Venom to fight harder than ever and exhibit the extent of his powers.
5 Scream
Another symbiote created at the hands of the Life Foundation, Scream has been a fan favorite character since her first appearance in Venom: Lethal Protector #4. Sporting her iconic, lengthy red and yellow hair, Scream is a result of one of the symbiote offspring merging with Donna Diego, a mercenary with schizophrenia.
Scream Is an Unpredictable Symbiote
The mental aspect of this character drew many fans to want to see more of her, as a symbiote with schizophrenia made its actions even more unpredictable, creating a never-before-seen terror. With some speculation of Lasher joining the field, this would pave the way for Scream and the other symbiote siblings to face off with Venom, a sight that fans have been waiting to witness on the big screen. Not to mention, a series lacking in female villains would get the chance to showcase an absolutely terrifying one.
4 Agent Anti-Venom
Agent Anti-Venom has one of the most intertwined origin stories of this universe, with ties to Spider-Man and Venom. Born Eugene "Flash" Thompson, he was the high school bully of Peter Parker, better known as Spider-Man. After returning from war, Flash became the host of the anti-venom symbiote, a similar yet unique version that contains distinctive powers, such as repelling other symbiotes.
A Throwback to a Post-Credits Scene
Although Flash Thompson is currently portrayed by Tony Revolori in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Venom: Let There Be Carnage post-credits scene lets us know that these two universes may be connected. The possibility of a new variant of Flash Thompson existing in Venom's universe is a compelling premise, and could be used to explore this antagonistic character. With his symbiote-repelling power in play, Eddie could be forced to fight without his partner, supporting his individual character growth.
3 Crime-Master
Born Bennett Brant, the Crime-Master had a normal life before he was taken by a criminal organization and anointed to the head role, just the third man to don the infamous name. In the comics, the Crime-Master assembles a supervillain team known as the Savage Six, consisting of Death Adder, the Human Fly, Jack O'Lantern, Megatak, and Toxin. This team directly targets Venom, going after him and his family.
The Crime-Master Is a Fan Favorite
The Crime-Master is a character that fans have been pleading to see, as he would open the door to introduce so many additional characters. Venom: The Last Dance, while the final film in this series, still has the potential to set up future films. With the introduction of Brant, Sony would create a timeline for the Savage Six to debut in this cinematic universe. Fans have been waiting to see the notorious supervillain team be developed, and this film is the perfect opportunity to put the building blocks in place.
2 Knull
Knull, the creator of symbiotes, provides the ultimate antagonist for Venom. The eldritch god of darkness, Knull is reluctantly freed by Eddie Brock, leading him to come to Earth and face against the planet's mightiest heroes. One of the most powerful supervillains in the Marvel Universe, it would take a lot more than Venom alone to stand a chance.
The Introduction of a Supernatural Villain
The Venom series has yet to explore a supernatural villain, and a literal god would be the biggest threat that Venom has ever encountered. With Insomniac's recent Spider-Man 2 video game release, many players were upset about the absence of Knull. The mark of Knull's symbol during Spider-Man's symbiote arc had fans expecting his appearance, but they were ultimately let down. If an Easter egg in a video game is able to draw such a pull from fans, the desire for a Knull screen appearance is undeniable, and Venom: The Last Dance should capitalize on it.
1 Spider-Man
Last, but not least, is none other than Spider-Man. After appearing in the post-credits scene of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, the possibility of a multiverse storyline sparked, as it was previously thought to be impossible due to the split between Sony and Marvel's cinematic universes. On top of that, the post-credits scene of Spider-Man: No Way Home displayed Eddie Brock in a bar learning about the Avengers before being zapped back to his own universe. Recent photos on set of Venom: The Last Dance revealed Tom Hardy wearing the same outfit, meaning the events of the film couldpick up directly after his Spider-Man cameo.
A Connection Between the Cinematic Universes
With this connection made, there is clearly an idea to merge the worlds in some capacity. Sony has yet to make a Spider-Man movie since Andrew Garfield suited up in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and while they may not make another feature film, they have the opportunity to reincorporate the character through the increasingly popular multiverse plot. Even if Tom Holland may not be the man to wear the suit in Venom: The Last Dance, the friendly neighborhood web-slinger could still appear.
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