This article contains major spoilers for Venom: Let There Be CarnageThe sequel to the 2018 Venom film, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, has finally been released in theaters, continuing the story of Eddie Brock and the Venom Symbiote (both portrayed by Tom Hardy). And while the bulk of the film is focused on the simplistic hero-versus-villain conflict between Venom and Carnage, the movie’s mid-credits scene sets up some much more exciting developments for Venom in the near future.
The scene begins right where the ending of the movie leaves off — Eddie and Venom have defeated Carnage, but their existence has been revealed to the police in the process, making them fugitives. After all, despite their good intentions, the Venom Symbiote still prefers to stop criminals by eating them alive. So rather than attempt to keep fighting crime while evading capture, they instead decide to retire to an unnamed tropical island, spending their days relaxing together.
At first, the mid-credits scene is remarkably casual in tone. Eddie and Venom are sitting in a beach house watching an unnamed telenovela, discussing the tangled web of secrets and lies between the show’s characters. As the conversation progresses, the Symbiote admits that despite how close he and Eddie have gotten, he’s still been keeping a few secrets of his own. “We all have a past, Eddie,” the Symbiote tells his host, indicating that there’s more to Venom’s history than what the first two movies have shown.
When Eddie inquires further as to what the Symbiote’s been hiding, he casually drops a major bombshell: “80 billion lightyears of hive knowledge across universes would explode your tiny little brain.” That’s right, not only does the Symbiote species have some form of hive mind just like in the comics, but it apparently encompasses the entire multiverse as well. It’s unclear whether this is a true hive mind where all Symbiotes share a single consciousness — except Venom, who’s freed himself from the hive just like in the comics — or if it’s simply a means for Symbiotes to share information mentally while still retaining individuality. However, the scene doesn’t spend much time dwelling on this revelation, because it’s immediately followed up by an even bigger twist.
After Venom says that he’ll share a tiny bit of his knowledge with Eddie, the world around them begins to warp and distort. Space bends as a bright golden light shines in from the background, accompanied by a booming noise. The Symbiote cries out in surprise, indicating that whatever’s happening is completely removed from what he was about to do. When the distortion clears up, everything remains the same as it was before… with the sole exception of the TV, which is now playing a news report from the Daily Bugle, complete with J.K. Simmons appearing as J. Jonah Jameson — specifically, the Marvel Cinematic Universe version as seen in Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Eddie is naturally scared and confused by whatever reality-warping event has just occurred. The Symbiote insists that he isn’t to blame, but quickly begins to growl with hostility as he notices the newscast. Venom forms around Eddie and approaches the TV — and the face he sees on the screen is none other than that of an unmasked Spider-Man, aka Peter Parker, as played by Tom Holland. Yes, there’s no doubt about it, Tom Hardy’s Venom has arrived in the MCU. Venom is clearly bitter towards Peter from a single glance, calling him “That guy…” as he menacingly licks the screen.
Needless to say, this one short scene has absolutely massive implications for the future of Tom Hardy’s Venom. Fans have theorized for years about Venom crossing over into the MCU, but few suspected that it would happen so quickly. It’s possible that this unexpected arrival is the result of Doctor Strange’s spell in Spider-Man: No Way Home, accidentally transporting a classic Spider-Man villain from another universe just like Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus. If that’s the case, we very well could be seeing Venom again very soon in No Way Home, either as a brief cameo or as a member of what’s shaping up to be the Sinister Six — especially likely considering the recent photo of Tom Hardy wearing a production hat for the film. Of course, with Doc Ock and Green Goblin already in No Way Home, balancing all three of Spider-Man’s main villains in one movie would be quite the task, so it’s equally likely that Venom is being saved for another time. Fans could potentially be seeing Peter and Eddie cross paths in a future Spider-Man or Venom solo movie.
Of course, regardless of when they’ll be facing off, it’s still unclear why Venom is so immediately hostile towards Peter. Judging by the scene’s previous dialogue, it’s easy to assume that Spider-Man is part of Venom’s mysterious past. But even so, Eddie and the Symbiote’s home reality doesn’t seem to have a Spider-Man of its own, so it’s unlikely that Venom would have any past encounters with Peter Parker. However, that doesn’t mean that Venom isn’t familiar with the web-slinger. After all, he also stated that the Symbiote hive mind grants him knowledge from other universes. So with that being the case, it’s entirely plausible that Venom knows of other Symbiotes in other worlds who have fought their local Spider-Man variants. In fact, with the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies already confirmed to be part of the MCU’s multiverse, Tom Hardy’s Venom might even have access to the memories of Topher Grace’s Venom from Spider-Man 3.
This is all just speculation for now, of course. Currently, there’s no way of knowing for sure how Venom got to the MCU, when he’ll be showing up again, or why he hates Spider-Man. For all anyone knows, Venom might just distrust Peter on instinct alone. But while this mid-credits scene has created plenty of unanswered questions, one thing is clear — a showdown between Spider-Man and Venom is heading to the MCU in the near future, and that alone is a reason for fans to be hopeful for the future of Tom Hardy’s Venom.