Venom: The Last Dance

Venom: The Last Dance is a 2024 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Venom. It is the sequel to Venom (2018) and Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), and the fifth film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU). Written and directed by Kelly Marcel, it stars Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock and Venom, alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Stephen Graham, Peggy Lu, and Alanna Ubach. In the film, Eddie and Venom are on the run from both of their worlds.

Hardy revealed in August 2018 that he was signed on to appear in a third Venom film and Sony Pictures began development by December 2021 after the second film was released. Marcel and Hardy were writing the script by June 2022, and Marcel was set to make her directorial debut with the film that October. New cast members, including Ejiofor and Temple, joined in mid-2023 and filming began at the end of June 2023 in Spain. Production was halted the next month due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, and resumed that November after the strike ended. The film was completed by the end of February 2024.

Venom: The Last Dance premiered at the Regal Times Square theater in New York City on October 21, 2024, and was released in the United States on October 25. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with some praising Hardy's performance. Despite being the lowest-grossing film in the trilogy, it was still a box-office success, grossing $478.9 million worldwide.

Plot

After being transported to Earth-199999 by Doctor Strange's spell, Eddie Brock and the Venom symbiote are drunk in a bar in Mexico. As the bartender fills them in about Thanos and the Infinity Stones, they are forced back to their home universe on Earth-688, to their world's version of the same bar. Still on the run after their recent battle with Carnage, the apparent murder of Patrick Mulligan makes international headlines with Eddie, who is falsely branded a prime suspect. He decides to set out for New York City to meet an old acquaintance in an attempt to clear his name — not before unwittingly leaving a bit of Venom at the bar. Meanwhile, a creature known as a Xenophage has begun tracking Eddie and Venom.

Soldier Rex Strickland oversees Imperium, a government operation at the site of the soon-to-be-decommissioned Area 51 for the capture and study of other symbiotes that have fallen to Earth. Mulligan, revealed to have survived his encounter with Carnage, is captured by Strickland. He is bonded with one of many contained symbiotes and questioned by Imperium researchers Dr. Teddy Paine and Sadie "Christmas" to learn about the symbiotes' purpose on Earth.

While traveling via the side of an airplane bound for New York City, Eddie and Venom are attacked by the Xenophage and forced to drop into the Nevada desert. Venom explains that Xenophages were sent to Earth by symbiote creator Knull to retrieve a Codex, forged when a symbiote resurrects its host; the Codex will free Knull from the prison the symbiotes trapped him in long ago. Having previously revived Eddie, Venom and Eddie are now carrying a Codex. After escaping both the Xenophage and Strickland and his team, Eddie hitches a ride to Las Vegas with a family of alien enthusiast hippies. Mulligan's symbiote informs Strickland of Knull's intentions with the Codex, which can only be destroyed if either Eddie or Venom dies.

In Las Vegas, Eddie and Venom are ambushed by both the Xenophage and Strickland's team. The pair are separated and taken to Area 51. Sadie, sympathetic to the symbiotes, frees Venom, who re-bonds with Eddie after Strickland shoots him. This attracts the Xenophage, which devours Mulligan in the battle. Venom has the other confined symbiotes released, which bond with Sadie and the other scientists to fight off the Xenophage. Knull is signalled that the Codex has been found and sends more Xenophages to Earth, overwhelming the symbiotes. Realizing he must sacrifice himself to destroy the Codex and save the universe, Venom merges with the Xenophages, leads them to the acid tanks, and bids Eddie farewell. A mortally wounded Strickland has a change of heart about the symbiotes and sets off his grenades to destroy the Xenophages. Teddy bonds with a symbiote to save Sadie from the resulting explosion.

Eddie wakes up in a hospital, where a military official informs him that his brave actions at Area 51 have earned him an expungement, under the condition of keeping the events a secret. Eddie travels to New York City and visits the Statue of Liberty to honor Venom, who had desired to see the statue. In a mid-credits scene, Knull declares that the universe is no longer safe from him now that Venom has fallen. In a post-credits scene, the Mexican bartender—who was taken into custody by Strickland after Eddie left—escapes the burned remains of Area 51. Nearby, a black cockroach crawls out next to a broken vial that previously contained a sample of the Venom symbiote.

Cast

• Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock / Venom: An investigative journalist who is the host of Venom, an alien symbiote that imbues him with super-human abilities.
• Chiwetel Ejiofor as General Rex Strickland: A commander for Imperium who is tracking Eddie and trying to capture Venom.
• Juno Temple as Dr. Theodora "Teddy" Paine: A scientist for Imperium, haunted by the death of her brother from a lightning strike that also paralyzed her left arm.
• Rhys Ifans as Martin Moon: A hippie and an alien enthusiast.
• Stephen Graham as Patrick Mulligan: A former police detective who was infected with a symbiote after encountering Carnage, but is left for dead by it before he is captured by Imperium. Graham also voices an unnamed green symbiote with whom Mulligan bonds.
• Peggy Lu as Mrs. Chen: A convenience store owner who befriended Eddie and Venom.
• Clark Backo as Sadie "Christmas": A researcher for Imperium. She is nicknamed "Christmas" by Strickland due to her Christmas tree badge.
• Alanna Ubach as Nova Moon: Martin's wife and fellow hippie.
• Andy Serkis as Knull: The creator of the symbiotes, who seeks Eddie and Venom's codex to free himself. Director Kelly Marcel said about choosing Serkis, who directed Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), to play the character: "We knew on Venom 2 that he was going to be this [Knull] character, we should be able to bring the character into this movie."

Additionally, Hala Finley and Dash McCloud portray Martin's children Echo and Leaf Moon, respectively. Cristo Fernández reprises his role as the bartender from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), as well as a version of the character from Venom's universe. Jared Abrahamson portrays Captain Forrest, a member of Imperium. Jack Brady portrays Jim, an Imperium security guard who bonds with a brown-colored symbiote, while Jade Nicholson-Lamb portrays Jade Clark, an Imperium lab technician who bonds with a violet-colored symbiote. Reid Scott, who previously portrayed Dr. Dan Lewis in the first two Venom films, returns as the shadowy head of Imperium.

Production

Development and pre-production

Star Tom Hardy stated in August 2018 that he had signed on to star in three Venom films. In September 2021, Hardy noted that the producers would have to continue to develop Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) in future films but said they were also interested in crossing over with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) more. Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) director Andy Serkis expressed interest in returning to direct another Venom film, and felt there was more to explore with Venom in future films before the character could meet Spider-Man in a future crossover film, including further exploration of the Ravencroft Institute and other potential villains being held there. In October, Tom Holland said he and producer Amy Pascal had discussed him potentially reprising his MCU role as Peter Parker / Spider-Man in future Venom sequels, after he made a cameo appearance in Let There Be Carnage via footage from the MCU film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). Neither Holland nor his character appeared in the finished film. Adam B. Vary clarified in December 2024 that, according to one Sony source, The Walt Disney Company never precluded Sony from using Holland for their films; it simply never happened due to the studio feeling that audiences wouldn't accept Holland's Spider-Man appearing in non-MCU films, especially after the releases of No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) and the MCU's multiverse.