Is Venom 3 Clearing the Way for MCU Symbiotes?

Venom: The Last Dance seemed to wrap up the story Eddie Brock, but it may have set the stage for symbiotes to play a greater role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movie is technically not counted among the MCU’s official releases, but considering Tom Hardy made a cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home, it seems fair to speculate. Here are some of the ways symbiotes could become relevant to the Multiverse Saga going forward.

The Last Dance made no mention of Venom and Brock’s cameo at the end of No Way Home, and for fan theorists that may be a good thing. It means that this seed of a story may get a bigger payoff somewhere else down the line – possibly a big one. In Venom: Let There Be Carnage, we learned that symbiotes share a kind of hive mind that spans across different universes, and multiversal travel is the defining factor of this saga. If the symbiotes can share information across different realities, they could be essential later on – or they could be formidable opponents.

Of course, the post-credit scene in No Way Home showed a small piece of Venom left behind in the MCU’s primary universe, and that could be an easy way to bring him into the story. That would probably mean leaving Hardy behind for a new host – perhaps a re-cast Eddie Brock, or perhaps someone else. At the end of The Last Dance, we saw a cockroach carrying most of the Venom symbiote in that reality. Another multiversal cataclysm could bring these pieces back together and introduce Venom to the story that way as well.

If Venom takes shape in the MCU and Eddie is not his host, there are a few options. Obviously the symbiote could bond with Tom Holland at some point, but we can assume that would be temporary. It may also merge with Mag Gargan (Michael Mando) – a criminal introduced in Spider-Man: Homecoming that has yet to come back around in a big way. Gargan has carried Venom in the comic books before, and he even joined the Thunderbolts at one point. With Thunderbolts due out on May 2, 2025, his would be a great way for Marvel to strike while the iron is hot.

Venom could also attach to Flash Thompson (Tony Revolori), who has become a fan-favorite in the MCU’s Spider-Man series. There is a precedent for that in the comics as well, though it’s not as easy to tie into upcoming MCU releases. However, we don’t know much about the next Spider-Man movie at all, so anything is possible.

Of course, The Last Dance introduced us to a huge cast of symbiotes as well as their creator, Knull, so a creative team could come up with countless ways to introduce symbiotes into the main story. We can only speculate about whether Marvel would do so and how much of a priority it might be – the Venom movies are still under the Sony banner, and the Multiverse Saga has plenty of antagonists to juggle as it is. For those that want to speculate about the gritty details, Venom: The Last Dance is in theaters now.