Venom: Let There Be Carnage is the highly-anticipated sequel to the 2018 film, Venom. Let There Be Carnage is full of easter eggs that reference other Spider-Man films, as well as other films in general. However, most movie-goers on their way to see this Venom sequel are Marvel fans. This means there will be a lot of easter eggs referencing the source material and comics.
Some of those easter eggs are hidden a little better than others, and most viewers may have missed them on their first watch. Here are just a couple that might have slipped under the radar.
Warning: Spoilers ahead for Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
10 Daily Bugle
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The Daily Bugle is a well-known tabloid newspaper that is connected to the Spider-Man comics. Peter Parker is a photographer for the Daily Bugle, where J. Jonah Jameson is an owner and chief editor. Meanwhile, Eddie Brock himself is a photojournalist for the newspaper. In Venom: Let There Be Carnage, there are many instances of characters reading physical and online Daily Bugle newspaper articles.
In Venom (2018), Eddie was not a writer for the Daily Bugle but instead a host of his own online news show. However, Eddie Brock becomes a writer for the newspaper in the sequel.
9 Lethal Protector
There are a couple of times in Venom: Let There Be Carnage where either Venom or Eddie uses the term "Lethal Protector." This term may not yield much from the average viewer, but Marvel fans may recognize this as a reference to the Marvel Comics series about Venom of the same name.
Venom: Lethal Protector is a limited comic series that showcases Venom as officially making the change from villain to antihero. This series also introduces Carlton Drake, the villain who bonds with the Riot symbiote in Venom (2018). The Life Foundation, the organization run by Carlton that houses other symbiotes, also makes its introduction in Venom: Lethal Protector.
8 Dead Spider
When Eddie receives a postcard from Cletus Kasady before he is scheduled to be executed, the scene flashes between Eddie reading it and Cletus writing it. Throughout the scene, viewers may notice a strange, dark stain on the backside of the postcard. It isn't until Cletus finishes writing that the stain is revealed to be a dead spider that Cletus kills.
Right before Cletus kills the spider, he writes in the postcard, "Every hero has an origin story." This line paired with the death of a spider is most likely a reference to Spider-Man's origin story in which a radioactive spider bites Peter Parker, turning him into the web-slinging hero.
7 Venom's Species
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Klyntar is the name of Venom's symbiote species. In the comics, the Klyntar are a race with a history that goes back even before the Big Bang. The creator of the Klyntar is a being named Knull who lived in the pre-Big Bang void. Knull created the symbiote hivemind, so he could control all of the symbiotes, making them servants. The symbiotes eventually turned against Knull, imprisoning him.
While Knull and the name, Klyntar, and other details are not revealed in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Venom does reveal a little bit to Eddie about the symbiote hivemind in the end-credits scene.
6 Stan Lee Cameo
As Marvel fans know, Stan Lee passed away in 2018. The Marvel visionary made his last on-camera cameo in Avengers: Endgame. However, in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, the first cameo since Avengers: Endgame makes an appearance.
The scene starts with Eddie Brock walking into Mrs. Chen's convenience store. As Eddie walks in, Venom comes out from Eddie's back and adjusts a magazine with Stan Lee featured on the cover. This cameo also appears in the trailer for the Venom sequel. It's a clever way to include a cameo even after the legend's death.
5 The Peter Parker Proverb
"With great power comes great responsibility." This is one of the most iconic lines in all of Marvel history, and has been dubbed The Peter Parker Proverb. It has been quoted multiple times across multiple Marvel films.
In Venom: Let There Be Carnage, there is a scene where Eddie and Venom are arguing about what they should do. Eddie says that they have a responsibility to avoid hurting others, to which Venom responds, "Responsibility is for the mediocre." This is most likely meant to degrade the proverb and is also a potential reference to the animosity that Venom feels towards Spider-Man in the comics.
4 St. Estes
St. Estes Home for Unwanted Children is where Shriek and Cletus first meet in Venom: Let There Be Carnage. However, in the comics, Cletus and Shriek first meet in Ravencroft where Cletus, now bonded with Carnage, performs a prison break with Shriek.
Though Cletus and Shriek do not first meet at St. Estes in the film, it is the place where Cletus first meets another character. In the comics, Spider-Man and Carnage encounter each other for the first time at St. Estes Home for Boys, which Cletus supposedly burned down. In the movie, Cletus and Shriek burn down St. Estes together.
3 Carnage, The Computer Hacker
In the comics, Carnage used his symbiotic powers to hack into his computers and play the video game that was made about him. He then began to travel through the internet in order to attack other players of the Carnage game. As a result, a fight ensued between Venom and Carnage that took place within a computer game.
While this conflict in cyberspace does not take place in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, the crimson symbiote is still able to use his computer hacking abilities. In the movie, Cletus uses Carnage to hack into a gas station computer to find the location of Ravencroft and more specifically, his love, Shriek.
2 Toxin
In Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Patrick Mulligan is the detective that shoots Shriek in the eye in the beginning flashback. Marvel fans will recognize Patrick Mulligan as the name of the detective that bonds with the symbiote Toxin, in the comics. Toxin is the offspring of Carnage, making him a grandchild to Venom.
Toxin also becomes an antagonist to Venom in many ways, even teaming up with Spider-Man at some points in the comics. At the end of the movie, there is a scene where Patrick Mulligan wakes up after Shriek knocks him out. He opens his eyes and says, "Monsters." This is a potential piece of foreshadowing for the introduction of Toxin.
1 The End-Credits Scene
The end-credits scene of Venom: Let There Be Carnage is a huge talking point. Not only does it reveal a little about Venom's species, but it also thrusts Venom into the MCU, adding excitement to the Venom and Spider-Man confrontation. However, tere is one aspect of the end-credits scene that most fans may have missed.
When Venom looks at the TV after being teleported to the MCU, he licks the TV when Peter Parker's face pops up. This is a reference to comics, in which Venom possesses great disdain and animosity towards Spider-Man. While this version of Venom has not interacted with Spider-Man yet, the instinct still remains.