There is a lot happening in the cinematic world of Spider-Man… even though we don’t really know what’s going on with Spider-Man 4. Sony Pictures recently dropped the trailer for Dakota Johnson’s upcoming Madame Web movie, which seems to introduce several important Spider figures in the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters, including Julia Carpenter (Sydney Sweeney), Ben Parker (Adam Scott), and the villain Ezekiel (Tahar Rahim). We’ve already see the first look at Aaron Taylor-Johnson playing Kraven the Hunter in what looks to be a very R-rated origin story. And now we might have our final “first look” at Tom Hardy working on a Venom movie.
Venom 3 has been in the works at Sony for a while now, ever since it was revealed that Hardy’s writing partner Kelly Marcel would be stepping into the director’s chair and continuing her collaboration with the actor. Like everything else, Venom 3 shut down during the SAG-AFTRA strike, but now appears to be back in production, which prompted Hardy to post the following on Instagram. Let’s discuss his wording after the post:
“The Last Dance” is how Tom Hardy begins the post. What does that mean? Is Hardy planning for this to be his final stint as Eddie Brock and his alien symbiote, Venom? A lot of franchises run in threes, so if you had told me that the Venom series was going to wrap after its third installment, I’d believe you. There are, however, a lot of plans in the works that should include Venom in the upcoming Spider-Man movies, so perhaps Hardy means something else.
People planning the ultimate Spider-Man movie marathon know that the last live-action story, so far, has been Spider-Man: No Way Home. And in that movie, there was a moment where Tom Hardy, playing Eddie Brock, left a drop of the symbiote in the MCU. Watch it here, to refresh your memory.
What if that brief moment sets up a path for a new Venom character in the MCU, facing off against Tom Holland without having to keep Tom Hardy around? Of course, if Hardy wants to keep playing Venom, he should be able to. Those movies make money (even if they are critically reviled). But when someone says “last dance,” we tend to think they have an eye on the exit.
Following up on Spider-Man: No Way Home is going to be a challenge. I ranked all of the Spider-Man movies, and it’s the best live-action Spidey film (behind the two Spider-Verse stories). There have been rumors that movies like Madame Web and Kraven are leading to the construction of a Sony Sinister Six team, and I assumed that would include Hardy’s Venom. But maybe not? We do have Jared Leto’s Morbius, Michael Keaton’s Vulture (now in Leto’s universe), and the hint that Kraven the Hunter will introduce a Rhino.
The villains are becoming plentiful, so maybe Venom 3 – one of many upcoming 2024 movies – can be Hardy’s last dance, after all?
