'Venom: The Last Dance' Ending Explained: Say Hello to Sony's New Big Bad (2025)

Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Venom: The Last Dance.No one ever expected Venom to be a blockbuster movie franchise, but after two films and an impressive box haul later, the Lethal Protector's journey comes to a close with Venom: The Last Dance. After the events of Venom: Let There Be Carnage and a short pit stop in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and the Venom symbiote find themselves on the run. But it isn't just local law enforcement the duo has to worry about: the God of the Symbiotes, Knull (Andy Serkis), seeks to escape his symbiote-crafted prison — and Eddie has the key. Throw in a mysterious government agency determined to recapture the symbiote, and The Last Dance is chock full of story elements.

The question remains: is this truly Eddie and Venom's last dance? Trailers have hinted that one or both of them might not survive the events of The Last Dance, and the film finally answers that question. Here's how Venom: The Last Dance caps off the Venom trilogy.

Venom and Eddie Hold the Key to Freeing Knull

It turns out that Eddie has a "codex" within his body: a piece of symbiote matter that will act as a key to free Knull from the prison his symbiote locked him in. A codex can only be formed when a symbiote resurrects its host from certain death, which happened in the first Venom when the Venom symbiote bonded with Eddie after he was stabbed in the chest by Riot (Riz Ahmed). To make matters worse, Knull has sent symbiote hunters called xenophages that can track Eddie whenever he fully "Venoms" up, meaning that Eddie has to keep a very low profile.

Knull isn't the only person hunting Eddie; a government agency tracking the symbiotes that landed on Earth has him in its sights. Led by General Rex Strickland (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the project operates out of Area 51, and has captured Patrick Mulligan (Stephen Graham), who seemingly died in Venom: Let There Be Carnage. To save his life, Dr. Teddy Payne (Juno Temple) injects Mulligan with the Toxin symbiote; Toxin tells Payne and Strickland that if Venom and/or Eddie die, the codex will die with them. Strickland then decides to use lethal force to end the threat to Earth once and for all.

Venom Gains Symbiote Allies During ‘The Last Dance’

Strickland's forces eventually capture Venom and Eddie, and Venom saves Eddie from being shot by Strickland...but it draws the xenophages to the army base. To hold them off, Toxin sets the other symbiotes free and they bond with the base's personnel. Even Payne gets her own symbiote; Agony, who has the power of super speed. Using Agony, Payne saves one of her coworkers, gaining closure from the traumatic lightning strike that killed her brother and partially paralyzed her when she was younger.

But even with symbiote allies, the xenophages are too strong...leading the Venom symbiote to make the ultimate sacrifice. It detaches from Eddie and gathers the xenophages together before dumping highly corrosive acid on itself, effectively committing suicide. Strickland also chooses to go out with the symbiotes, pulling a grenade and blowing part of the base sky-high. In the aftermath, Eddie is cleared of all charges, and heads to New York, where he and Venom were going before the xenophage invasion. In The Last Dance's closing moments, Eddie visits the Statue of Liberty — where Venom had expressed a desire to go — and says "I won't forget you, buddy."

Is ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ the End of the Venom Saga?

Though the Venom symbiote is no more, The Last Dance hints that the symbiote saga isn't over. In a mid-credits scene, Knull reappears, staring straight at the viewer and promising to return. "The King in Black is coming," he growls, "and your world will burn." This is less of a threat and more of a promise, as The Last Dance writer/director Kelly Marcel has hinted that Knull will show up in future projects. "The King in Black is way too powerful for ‘one and done.'" she told IGN. "This film introduces Knull, but it just touches the beginnings of his story. Marvel's greatest film villains are developed over time. Here, Knull is the threat lurking behind the danger that tests the absolute limits of Eddie and Venom's partnership — but it’s their relationship that remains the heart of this story."

There's also the fact that the Venom symbiote is still alive...at least in another universe. During the mid-credits scene of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Eddie is teleported back to his own universe but leaves part of the Venom symbiote behind. If Tom Holland reprises his role as Spider-Man in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, the door is open for Peter Parker to gain a symbiote suit...especially considering the original Secret Wars maxiseries introduced said symbiote. Hardy also expressed his desire to fight Spider-Man during a panel at New York Comic Con, so he could potentially reprise his role as an alternate version of Eddie Brock.

And symbiotes still exist, as Payne holds onto the Agony symbiote. In Marvel Comics canon, Agony is one of five symbiotes pulled from Venom's body during the Venom: Lethal Protector miniseries by the Life Foundation, along with Phage, Riot, Scream, and Lasher. The Life Symbiotes have mostly appeared in video games and other media, but Agony's survival could open the door for Venom to return. Death is rarely the end in comic books, and with comic book-based franchises taking a similar approach, I highly doubt we've seen the last of the Lethal Protector.

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Venom: The Last Dance

Not Yet Rated

Adventure

Sci-Fi

Action

Superhero

Release Date

October 25, 2024

Director

Kelly Marcel

Cast

Tom Hardy , Peggy Lu , Stephen Graham , Cristo Fernández , Juno Temple , Alanna Ubach , Rhys Ifans , Chiwetel Ejiofor

Main Genre

Adventure

Writers

Kelly Marcel , Tom Hardy

Franchise(s)

Spider-Man , Venom

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