Spider-Man Dies Gruesomely in Venom: Let There Be Carnage Crossover Teased by Tom Hardy

Venom: Let There Be Carnage star Tom Hardy published, and then quickly deleted, a second gruesome image depicting Venom tearing into Spider-Man (Tom Holland). The art, created by fan-favorite digital artist Yadvender Singh Rana (@ultraraw26), was removed from Hardy’s Instagram page Sunday days after the actor shared different artwork showing Venom — one-half Eddie Brock, the other half an extraterrestrial symbiote with a taste for human flesh — sinking his teeth into the red and blue costume worn by Holland’s Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, now adjoined by the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters home to 2018’s Venom and the upcoming Morbius movie.

The original artwork, published by Rana on Instagram, shows Venom devouring Spider-Man headfirst. Hardy shared the fan-made poster on Instagram with the caption “good tune [ultraraw26] 💯” before removing it moments later. Hardy’s deleted post and Rana’s artwork can be found below.

A relation between the Disney-owned Marvel Cinematic Universe and Sony’s Spider-Man universe was first revealed in the trailer for Morbius, where Michael Morbius (Jared Leto), hunted by the law after an experimental cure for his rare blood disease infects him with a form of vampirism, encounters Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton). The jailed Toomes operated as the Vulture before his plans to steal priceless equipment developed by or belonging to Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) was thwarted by Spider-Man in Sony and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Months ago, Hardy seemingly hinted at a looming collision with the wall-crawler when he posted — and subsequently quickly deleted — an image of himself dressed as Spider-Man. The photo came months after it was rumored Sony wanted to crossover its Spider-Man and Venom franchises by including Hardy’s anti-hero in the untitled Spider-Man 3.

Another connection between Sony and Marvel’s universes was spotted in Morbius when the living vampire was seen passing posters labelling Spider-Man a “murderer” following the apparent death of Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) in Spider-Man: Far From Home.

“I can say that we’ve had a fantastic partnership and you never know what’s going to happen,” Spider-Man and Venom franchise producer Amy Pascal previously told Fandango of the partnership between Sony and Disney-owned Marvel. “We have a lot of stories to tell about Spider-Man, in every facet.”

Pascal’s comments came just weeks before it was learned Sony and Disney engaged in a months-long spat that pulled Holland’s Spider-Man out of the shared MCU following the expiration of the original five-movie deal that ended with Far From Home, which became Sony’s highest-grossing movie ever. By late September, the public and messy divorce was resolved and a new pact was arranged: Disney will finance 25% of Spider-Man 3 and the character will appear in at least one more Marvel Studios movie.

Spider-Man 3 was recently shifted from July 16, 2021, to November 5, 2021, taking the date formerly held by Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Venom sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage was similarly bumped from October 2020 to its current date of June 25, 2021, amid the coronavirus pandemic.