Venom: Let There Be Carnage Director Andy Serkis Reveals Spider-Man Crossover in the Works

Yes, Venom and Spider-Man are set to appear together on the big screen for the first time since Sam Raimi’s 2007 Spider-Man 3. That’s according to Venom: Let There Be Carnage director Andy Serkis, who spoke with ComicBook about the surprising and tantalizing post-credits scene from the film, in which Venom (Tom Hardy) found himself seemingly transported to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where the Venom symbiote seemingly recognizes Spider-Man (Tom Holland) in a news broadcast featuring J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons). According to Serkis, Venom seeing “that guy” is just the beginning of a beautiful (?) friendship.

Their “collision,” as Serkis calls it, will mark the first official crossover between Marvel’s Spider-Man movies and Sony’s blockbuster Venom franchise, which is the cornerstone of its own Spider-Man universe. Sony has long held the film rights to Spider-Man and ancillary characters, allowing them to make these films with or without Marvel’s direct involvement.

“We wanted to leave the audience knowing that these universes are going to somehow collide and we wanted to do it in such a way that it still leaves so much open and we’re not timing anything,” Serkis told ComicBook. “The portal is not being crossed fully. It’s opening up more questions, I suppose, rather than sort of firmly saying [anything]….It is a tease. It’s a tease, in the fullest sense of the word.”

Directed by Lord of the Rings and Black Panther star Andy Serkis, Venom: Let There Be Carnage centers on a deranged serial killer suddenly getting access to a new symbiote spawned form Venom himself. As his name implies, the villain uses his newfound abilities to go on a killing spree. In the comics, Carnage’s first arc was pretty straightforward superhero storytelling, and while he was violent and sadistic, the blood and gore was mostly off-panel and implied. Still, his inclusion was another argument in favor of the R-rating that Sony has yet to embrace with their Venom movies…likely because the plan was eventually to hang out with Marvel heroes.

“100% we considered it,” star Tom Hardy told ComicBook.com about potentially giving the new film an R rating. “With all of these symbiotes, you know, you consider it. You read the comic books and it is extreme, but that’s not what we’re here to do. We came here to make a movie which, and correct me if I’m wrong, I mean, there’s a law and a rule into creating a movie that’s accessible to a lot of people, as well as that caters for everybody, including the hardcore fans. So I hope the hardcore fans at least take home that they look at Carnage and go, ‘Yeah, I recognize Carnage from the comic books. I’m happy with that.’ And yeah, no, we didn’t bite everybody’s head off, but we did stick a tongue down someone’s throat pretty… and managed to come in at a level of rating which is reputable so that grandma can come but also I’ll come watch it too.”

Spider-Man: No Way Home is set to swing into theaters on December 21, 2021. Venom: Let There Be Carnage is now in theaters.