Can't tell your Carnage from your Knull? No idea what a symbiote is? Fear not — here's everything you need to know about Eddie Brock and his lil' pal from outer space.
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00:00Can't tell your carnage from your gnoll? No idea what a symbiote is? Fear not! Here's
00:05everything you need to know about Eddie Brock and his little pal from outer space.
00:10While Venom and many of the characters in these movies are based on Marvel Entertainment
00:13properties, they don't inhabit the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Instead, the Venom trilogy
00:18takes place in a shared cinematic universe known publicly as Sony's Spider-Man universe.
00:23In addition to the Venom movies, the SSU includes 2022's Morbius, 2024's Madam Web, and the
00:29upcoming Kraven the Hunter.
00:31We are predators.
00:33Though set in the same universe, there has been little interplay, to date, between the
00:37characters and stories in each movie. Each of the characters starring in the SSU movies
00:42began in the comics as Spider-Man adversaries, but the current live-action Spider-Man, played
00:47by Tom Holland, lives in a totally different universe. There have certainly been references
00:51to Spider-Man in several of the SSU films, but Holland's Spider-Man still remains very
00:55much in the MCU. And while Venom may have some experience in the multiverse, The Last
01:00Dance appears to be firmly set in the SSU.
01:04Eddie Brock is depicted relatively close to the comic book source material in the Venom
01:07movies, with the character working as an investigative journalist when he's introduced in Venom.
01:12Eddie is based out of San Francisco, and when we first meet him, he's engaged to attorney
01:15Anne Wang. After reading classified documents from Anne's employer, the Life Foundation,
01:20regarding illegal human trials, Eddie decides to investigate.
01:23When Eddie confronts Life Foundation CEO Carlton Drake, however, Drake not only deflects
01:27all suspicion, but has both Eddie and Anne terminated from their jobs.
01:31We're not finished.
01:32Yes, you are, Mr. Brock.
01:33Is that a threat?
01:36Have a nice life.
01:38Six months later, Anne has broken up with Eddie and is dating someone else, while Eddie
01:41is stuck in a professional rut. Determined to expose Drake and have his journalistic
01:46credibility restored, Eddie begins secretly working with life scientist Dora Skirth, while
01:51examining one of the symbiotes that Life had been using on its test subjects, Eddie
01:55accidentally bonds with it. Eddie barely escapes the Life Laboratories with the symbiote, and
02:00Drake has Skirth killed for her betrayal.
02:03Back home, Eddie begins to act strangely due to his bond with the symbiote, including hearing
02:07a strange voice that identifies itself as Venom.
02:10Food.
02:11Who said that?
02:15The symbiote voice reveals to Eddie that it traveled to Earth via asteroid, and then spaceship,
02:20intending to find a suitable planet to conquer. When mercenaries hired by Drake attack Eddie
02:24to recover the symbiote, Venom forms around him, giving him the superhuman abilities necessary
02:29to defeat them. Venom agrees to help Eddie take on the Life Foundation in return for
02:33Eddie keeping the symbiote nourished with human victims.
02:36Discovering what happened to Eddie, Anne and her new doctor boyfriend, Dan Lewis, learn
02:40that Venom is causing Eddie's health to deteriorate. Concerned with what this is doing to Eddie,
02:45Anne uses an MRI machine to separate the symbiote from him, taking advantage of the symbiote's
02:49weakness to high-pitched noise. However, when a symbiote known as Riot bonds with Drake,
02:54Venom returns to Eddie to stop the new threat.
02:58With Eddie and Venom bonded together again, Venom informs Eddie he has gained a greater
03:02appreciation for Earth and humanity. Venom also finds a kinship with Eddie, revealing
03:06he was something of a social outcast among the symbiotes on his homeworld.
03:10Working together better than ever, Venom takes on Riot as the villain prepares to send a
03:14space probe to bring more symbiotes to Earth. After a prolonged battle, the probe is destroyed,
03:19along with Riot and Drake. No longer obstructed by Drake, Eddie is able to expose him and
03:24the Life Foundation for their crimes, restoring his journalistic integrity and career.
03:29Though Anne chooses to remain with Reed, she and Eddie reconcile. Eddie decides to not
03:33tell Anne and Dan that he is still bonded with Venom, continuing to operate in secret
03:38around San Francisco. To stabilize the bond and prevent Eddie's health from worsening,
03:41the two agree to consume dangerous criminals to keep Venom satiated.
03:46We are Venom.
03:49Decades before the events of Venom, aspiring serial killer Cletus Kasady terrorized the
03:54San Francisco area. Cletus' lover, Frances Bereson, possesses the ability to scream at
03:59sonic volumes, earning her the nickname Shriek. But she is soon sent to the maximum security
04:04facility known as the Ravencroft Institute. During the transfer, Shriek uses her powers
04:08to permanently damage the hearing of young cop Patrick Mulligan, who retaliates by shooting
04:13her in the eye. While Shriek is detained at Ravencroft, Cletus becomes a notorious murderer
04:18and is eventually imprisoned in San Quentin, where he is given the death penalty.
04:22There's gonna be carnage.
04:28In present day, Mulligan has since been promoted to a detective, but he's unaware that Shriek
04:32is alive and detained at Ravencroft. Cletus is kept alone in a cell separated from the
04:36rest of the inmates because of the threat that he poses to them. With Eddie's journalistic
04:41profile increasing as he resumes his career, Cletus decides that Eddie is the only person
04:45he is willing to let interview him prior to his execution. And as there are still a number
04:50of missing victims linked to Cletus, Eddie agrees to meet with the killer in his cell.
04:55After meeting with Cletus, Venom's extraterrestrial intuition helps Eddie locate the bodies of
04:59Cletus' missing victims. News from these revelations boost Eddie's career while heightening Cletus'
05:04unhealthy interest in the intrepid journalist. With Cletus' execution impending, Eddie visits
05:09the murderer at his cell one last time, where Cletus goads him into getting too close to
05:14the bars.
05:15Cletus bites Eddie's hand and ingests a portion of the Venom symbiote in Eddie's blood, quietly
05:19bonding with it, unbeknownst to Eddie. As Cletus' scheduled execution by lethal injection
05:24is about to begin, the Carnage symbiote emerges to protect him. Carnage breaks free and goes
05:29on a renewed killing spree across San Quentin. After killing a number of guards and prison
05:34officials before freeing his fellow inmates, Carnage arrives in San Francisco and begins
05:38plotting his next moves. Carnage already fosters a deep hatred towards his father's
05:43symbiote Venom, and the bonded duo plan their bloody retribution against him and Eddie.
05:49Oh, hell yes.
05:53Cletus and Carnage break shriek-free from Ravencroft Asylum, and together, the couple
05:57set fire to the orphanage where they met before setting their sights back on San Francisco.
06:02These developments make Mulligan suspicious, and he decides to arrest Eddie based on his
06:06strange behavior. Mulligan is shocked to learn that not only is Shriek alive, but she's
06:10also back with Cletus. Bolder and deadlier than ever, Carnage and Shriek decide to share
06:15a twisted marriage ceremony at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral. To commemorate the unholy
06:19matrimony, the pair kidnap Mulligan and bring him with them to the cathedral as a sort of
06:24witness.
06:25These developments come at a particularly inconvenient time for Venom, who has had a
06:28bitter spat with Eddie just as Cletus and Shriek's criminal activities were escalating.
06:33As Carnage is formed, the symbiosis between Eddie and Venom nearly irreparably ruptures
06:37just when they're needed the most.
06:40By the events of Venom Let There Be Carnage, the Venom symbiote has become increasingly
06:44restless being bonded to Eddie for so long. When Eddie keeps refusing to lessen the restrictions
06:48on the criminals they face, their relationship reaches a breaking point. The symbiote separates
06:53itself from Eddie and goes looking for a new host it can get along with, leaving Eddie
06:57without Venom's protection. After learning from Mulligan that Cletus is on the loose,
07:01however, Eddie contacts Anne for her help in locating Venom. At a rave, Venom shares
07:05his issues with Eddie to a supportive crowd, helping him regain a sense of self-worth.
07:09Anne eventually tracks down Venom after he bonds to Mrs. Chen, a local convenience store
07:19owner who knows Eddie. Anne convinces Venom to forgive Eddie and allows the symbiote to
07:23bond with her so she can bring him to Eddie while Mulligan has him detained.
07:27After united, Eddie and Venom decide to confront Carnage and Shriek at Grace Cathedral and
07:31destroy them together.
07:34Venom interrupts Carnage and Shriek's makeshift wedding at the cathedral, where Shriek hangs
07:38Mulligan with a chain, seemingly killing him. Carnage proves to be stronger and more vicious
07:42than Venom, nearly killing the hero before Venom starts fighting more strategically.
07:47Venom tricks Shriek into using her sonic scream to separate Cletus from the Carnage symbiote
07:51before devouring him. In a resulting destruction, falling rubble from the cathedral crushes
07:56Shriek, killing her.
07:57Though Mulligan appeared dead, he is revealed to have survived his hanging in the aftermath.
08:01He is last seen, opening his eyes which now glow blue. Given how we see him in trailers
08:06for Venom the Last Dance, it appears Mulligan has bonded with a symbiote himself. Mulligan's
08:11comic book history suggests he may become the supervillain Toxin, having taken on a
08:15symbiote offspring of Carnage that wants to kill Venom for destroying his father.
08:21Before moving on to The Last Dance, Venom and some of his friends experience some encounters
08:24with a couple of other universes. Because of a multiversal spell cast by Doctor Strange
08:29in Spider-Man No Way Home, Eddie is transported into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Watching
08:34a television broadcast by J. Jonah Jameson, Venom recognizes Spider-Man, with Eddie deciding
08:39that he should meet the web-slinger.
08:41Eddie's MCU visit, however, proves short, with Strange's reversal spell apparently sending
08:45him and Venom back to their own world, but not before leaving a piece of the Venom symbiote
08:49behind. Back in the SSU, Mrs. Chen meets the Spot during the events of Spider-Man Across
08:54the Spider-Verse.
08:55You're acting like weird stuff like this happens to you all the time. Can I have some gum?
09:02The trailers for Venom The Last Dance make it clear that Eddie and the symbiote are now
09:05being hunted by multiple parties. As the military tracks Eddie around the world, more symbiotes
09:10from Venom's world arrive on Earth. These symbiotes bond to all sorts of local fauna,
09:15leading them to transform and attack Venom. Given Venom's original mission to conquer
09:20Earth, this hints that the symbiotes may be angry that Venom hasn't achieved his goal.
09:24The Last Dance trailers also include Chiwetel Ejiofor playing a currently unnamed military
09:29officer hunting for Venom. Interestingly, the trailers contain footage of Ejiofor's
09:33soldier investigating the beachside bar from No Way Home, where he recovers the missing
09:38symbiote piece. This suggests that Ejiofor's character may have the ability to travel universes
09:43in his search for the Venom symbiote. Either that, or Sony haven't been paying attention
09:47to their own movies.
09:49There are a number of potential enemies who might appear in The Last Dance, with several
09:53already glimpsed briefly in trailers for the sequel. In addition to the military and invading
09:57symbiotes, Mulligan is slated to return. It's unclear how the toxin symbiote is affecting
10:02Mulligan, but a symbiote with a blue glow is seen menacing Venom in the trailers and
10:07promos. However, the final theatrical trailer for The Last Dance also teases an unholy antagonist
10:12to challenge Venom in the new movie.
10:15This trailer includes a long-haired figure sitting on a throne in a shadowy and rocky
10:19location. This has since been confirmed to be Knoll, god of the symbiotes and arguably
10:24Venom's most powerful enemy in the comic books. Knoll's role in The Last Dance is still being
10:28kept tightly under wraps, as is the actor who plays him. But given the symbiote's knowledge
10:33of the multiverse and Knoll's vast powers, Sony may have big plans in store for Venom
10:38and the greater SSU.
10:40Morbius, Madam Web, and Kraven the Hunter are all presumably set in the same universe
10:45as Venom. If Sony is hoping to bring its Marvel properties together, a cameo by these movies'
10:50characters could take place in The Last Dance. The most likely crossover would be Kraven
10:54the Hunter, as Sony would likely want to help promote the SSU movie's debut at the end
10:58of 2024. Then there's the matter of the MCU's Spider-Man and the long-teased meeting between
11:03Hardy's Venom and Holland's Spider-Man.
11:06Hey, everyone."
11:07Sony has been talking about the SSU Venom and MCU Spider-Man meeting each other for
11:11years. There were even plans for Venom to appear in the climactic battle of No Way Home
11:15instead of a brief post-credits scene appearance. With the sequel to No Way Home in development
11:20and Knoll slated to surface in The Last Dance, Sony could well be setting up another crossover.