Six years ago, Tom Hardy returned to the world of superhero movies following his time as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises to lead Venom, the first entry in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (SSMU). Now we’re just days away from Hardy’s time as the Marvel antihero concluding, as trilogy-capper Venom: The Last Dance arrives onto the 2024 movies schedule later this month. For the end of an era like this, you need one hell of a big bad, and as revealed in the final Venom 3 trailer, that role will be filled by Knull, creator of the symbiotes. That’s a big enough deal on its own, but director and writer Kelly Marcel’s comments on Knull’s involvement have me even more psyched for what’s coming up.
Although we apparently won’t be seeing more of Hardy’s Eddie Brock after The Last Dance, Marcel, who also wrote the previous Venom movies, shared with IGN that things are just getting started for the cinematic Knull. In her words:
We were always aware of Knull, but knew that we needed to lay the foundation of the Venom character, and his relationship with Eddie, before introducing him. This is just the beginning for Knull.
Created by writer Donny Cates and artist Ryan Stegman, Knull was introduced in 2018’s Venom #3 as a primordial entity who created the symbiotes from the head of a Celestial that he killed with his weapon All-Black the Necrosword. Although that weapon was featured in Thor: Love and Thunder, it had no ties to Knull in the MCU, whereas now the time has come for Knull to shine on the big screen. Per Kelly Marcel, whatever goes down in Venom: The Last Dance, this powerful antagonist will be sticking around for future SSMU stories, and I’m glad to hear it considering what a powerhouse he is.
Obviously Kelly Marcel couldn’t go too deeply into spoilers considering that Venom: The Last Dance hasn’t been released to the public yet. However, she did say the following about how this movie will set up Knull as a larger threat, as well as shared that it was always the plan for Eddie Brock’s story to conclude after three movies:
We're in spoiler territory now and we hope some of the fun of watching this movie is not knowing what will happen, but trust me, we know full well how important Knull is to the fans, so just as we laid a foundation for Venom, we hope we are doing the same for Knull. The King in Black is way too powerful for ‘one and done’. This film introduces Knull, but it just touches the beginnings of his story. Marvel's greatest film villains are developed over time. Here, Knull is the threat lurking behind the danger that tests the absolute limits of Eddie and Venom's partnership — but it’s their relationship that remains the heart of this story. … From the beginning, Tom and I always envisioned that this particular Eddie/Venom story would be told in three parts and the story arc would climax with the third film for reasons the movie will reveal.
Now considering how important Knull was to Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman’s run on the Venom comic book, one might be wondering why the SSMU would bring back the villain for more movies if Eddie Brock won’t be seen again in this world. Well, whatever Kelly Marcel is setting up will be accomplished with other characters. As she put it:
As the fans know there are many, many more symbiote stories — the universe is wide and rich, and one movie could never do justice to Knull. Beyond this trilogy, there are more stories to explore – God is coming.
Keep in mind that just because Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock is heading out doesn’t mean the Venom symbiote is going away. My guess is that someone else will bond with the symbiote either by the end of The Last Dance or in a future story, and that person will be the one who clashes with Knull down the line. But like Kelly Marcel teased, there are many more symbiote stories, so both a new human protagonist and a symbiote we haven’t seen yet, like Scream or Mania, will come into play. Whatever’s being cooked up, count on seeing a lot more of Knull.
Venom: The Last Dance opens in theaters on October 25. The first Venom movie can currently be streamed with a Disney+ subscription, and Venom: Let There Be Carnage is available on Sling TV.
