Moviegoers are always eager to know – does the latest superhero flick offer those tantalizing extra scenes after the credits roll? For fans heading into Venom: The Last Dance, the answer is a resounding yes! You’ll want to remain seated for both a mid-credits scene and a final sting right at the very end of the credits.
Warning: Spoilers for Venom: The Last Dance follow. If you haven’t experienced the movie yet, perhaps delve into our review first to stay spoiler-free!
The curtain closes on the Venom trilogy with The Last Dance, seemingly wrapping up the saga of Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and his ever-hungry symbiote partner. However, the Marvel universe rarely stays neatly tied, and tendrils still reach out into Sony’s broader web of Spider-Man-adjacent films. Even Tom Hardy himself has hinted at being open to future Venom portrayals, leaving the door ajar for more. But before we speculate on what’s next, let’s dissect what unfolds in Venom: The Last Dance, particularly those crucial after-credits sequences.
So, how does The Last Dance conclude, and what do these extra scenes tell us? Let’s dive in.
Knull’s Shadow and the Codex Threat
The film begins by introducing audiences to a formidable entity familiar to comic readers: Knull, the symbiote god, brought to life by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman. Interestingly, Andy Serkis, who directed Venom: Let There Be Carnage, embodies Knull. Knull is confined to a void on the symbiote homeworld, Klyntar, seeking escape through a conduit called the Codex – an element that might evoke Man of Steel parallels.
The Codex mechanism isn’t explicitly detailed, but it’s established that Venom possesses one due to Eddie’s brief death in the first Venom movie. This attracts Knull’s monstrous hounds, the Xenophages, to Earth, tasked with hunting Venom. Intriguingly, the Xenophage can only perceive the Codex (and thus Venom) when Eddie is fully transformed. When Eddie is in human form or only partially symbiote-bonded, he becomes invisible to these predators.
Alt text: Close-up on Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock in Venom: The Last Dance, partially transformed with black symbiote tendrils, emphasizing the Codex vulnerability.
A critical rule is established early on: the Codex’s survival is contingent on the life of both the symbiote and its host. If either Eddie or Venom perishes, the Codex ceases to exist. This precarious balance makes Eddie and Venom fugitives, not only from the Xenophage but also from the government. Eddie is wrongly implicated in deaths from a previous incident, adding a double layer of pursuit.
Enter Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Rex Strickland and Juno Temple’s Dr. Teddy Payne, agents of Area 55. This clandestine extraterrestrial research facility, operating beneath the already secretive Area 51 (currently being decommissioned), becomes a key location. Dr. Payne’s lab houses a collection of symbiotes, including Toxin, bonded to Stephen Graham’s Patrick Mulligan (who survived the previous film). Toxin reveals the cosmic threat of Knull to Strickland and Payne, uniting them in a common goal: preventing Knull from acquiring the Codex.
Venom: The Last Dance Climax and Sacrifice
The narrative crescendos at Area 55, where the Xenophage breaches security and unleashes chaos. Toxin and Mulligan meet their end, but the captive symbiotes are liberated. They bond with facility staff, demonstrating a surprising lack of malice towards humanity and actively aiding Strickland’s forces against the Xenophage onslaught. The battle spills outdoors, revealing that the initial Xenophage is just the vanguard of a larger invasion force.
Eddie and Venom, along with newfound allies – a family of alien enthusiasts led by Rhys Ifans as Martin (who, despite speculation, is emphatically not Curt Connors from The Amazing Spider-Man) – become entangled in the escalating conflict. Dr. Payne herself bonds with a symbiote during the fighting, one that, based on appearance and powers, resembles Agony from the comics. Payne’s symbiote form gains super-speed, attributed to a childhood lightning strike – a touch of comic-book logic.
Alt text: Juno Temple transformed into a purple symbiote character resembling Agony in Venom: The Last Dance, highlighting her super-speed ability with motion blur.
Despite their efforts, the Xenophages, possessing remarkable regenerative abilities, overwhelm most of the symbiotes. Faced with an insurmountable threat and realizing the Codex must be eliminated to stop Knull, Venom makes a heroic sacrifice. He separates from Eddie, ensnaring the Xenophages in a sticky, bubblegum-like mass and plunging them, along with himself, into an acid shower used for destroying Area 51 materials. The acid eradicates Venom and the Xenophages, vaporizing the Codex in the process. Knull, sensing this cosmic setback, unleashes an enraged scream of “No!!!!” from his void. Payne, utilizing her newfound super-speed, saves her coworker Sadie from the ensuing chaos.
In the aftermath, with Venom seemingly gone, Eddie recovers in a hospital. A general informs him that his criminal record is expunged, contingent on his silence about the symbiote events. Eddie travels to New York City, gazing at the Statue of Liberty – a shared aspiration with Venom – vowing to remember his symbiotic partner.
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Unpacking the Post-Credits Scenes: What They Mean for Venom’s Future
As promised, Venom: The Last Dance delivers two post-credits scenes that provide glimpses into the potential future of the franchise, even as this chapter of Venom’s solo journey concludes.
The mid-credits scene returns us to Knull, who, despite the immediate defeat of his Xenophage hounds, declares, “Your champion has fallen, the King in Black is awake. Your world will burn, and you will watch!” This chilling message confirms Sony’s intention to feature Knull as a significant antagonist in future projects. Director Kelly Marcel reinforced this in an interview with IGN, stating “this is just the beginning for Knull.”
Alt text: Andy Serkis as Knull in Venom: The Last Dance mid-credits scene, with dark, cosmic background, delivering a threatening monologue about his awakening.
The very final post-credits scene revisits the bartender, played by Cristó Fernández, whom we first encountered in the post-credits scene of Spider-Man: No Way Home. This Sony universe variant, sporting longer hair, was abducted by Strickland’s forces earlier in the film. He emerges from the wreckage of Area 51, disoriented and calling out. The camera then focuses on a broken vial, emitting a faint purple glow (suggesting it contained the Agony symbiote), as a cockroach approaches. This scene ends abruptly.
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The burning question remains: Is Venom truly dead? Likely not. Earlier in the movie, when Strickland captures the bartender, he retrieves a small piece of symbiote left behind by Venom. Strickland secures this fragment in a vial – strikingly similar to the one in the post-credits scene – and it’s never explicitly addressed again. This loose thread could be the key to Venom’s resurrection in future Sony projects. With Knull’s looming threat and more Sony Marvel films in development, it’s improbable that such a popular character would remain permanently sidelined.
Another lingering plot thread involves Strickland’s shadowy superior, briefly glimpsed but never clearly identified. This figure is credited as Doctor Dan Lewis, Anne Weying’s fiancé from previous films, played by Reid Scott. His motives remain unclear, but his evident interest in symbiotes suggests a potential role in Kraven the Hunter or another Sony Marvel movie.
What are your thoughts on Venom: The Last Dance? Do you believe it provides a satisfying conclusion to Eddie and Venom’s intertwined narrative? Share your opinions in the comments below!
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Note: This article was updated with full spoilers on October 25, 2024. It was originally published on October 24, 2024.
