The last hint of Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock and Venom came in a mid-credits scene in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and now they’re both returning for Venom 3.

Sony’s Spider-Man Universe will continue with Venom: The Last Dance, which has been confirmed to follow up the 2021 sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and the movie’s cast and plot details are sure to be consistent with the franchise. The SSU’s Venom series follows the antihero Marvel Comics character Eddie Brock and the alien symbiote affixed to his body, which sometimes takes him over, gives him super strength and other abilities, and occasionally bites people’s heads off. The last time Venom was seen on the big screen, though, was in a brief crossover with the MCU timeline.

After the Venom: Let There Be Carnage mid-credits scene, in which Eddie and the symbiote were transported to the MCU, Venom notably appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home’s end-credits tease. In that bonus scene, Eddie was sent back to his own universe, but not before leaving a piece of the symbiote behind, potentially setting up a significant part of the MCU. However, whether that will have any impact on Venom 3 is to be determined. For now, here is a breakdown of everything known about Venom: The Last Dance.

Venom: The Last Dance Latest News

The latest update for Venom: The Last Dance provided audiences with its official name – as the film was solely referred to as Venom 3 beforehand – and with an altered release date, as the third movie is now set to release on October 25, 2024, instead of its prior November release date. Both of these are exciting updates, as the Sony movie series works well into the Halloween season, and its new title of The Last Dance promises a dramatic conclusion to the trilogy, working into previous movie teases.

Venom: The Last Dance Confirmed

Tom Hardy has always been open about how he was writing the story for Venom: The Last Dance in tandem with Venom: Let There Be Carnage being shot, but he was also clear that no third film would be coming if Venom: Let There Be Carnage didn’t succeed. Then, in December 2021, Sony producer Amy Pascal tipped that Venom: The Last Dance was in the planning stages, but the studio’s focus at the time was on Spider-Man No Way Home.

Fortunately, for Hardy and Venom fans, Spider-Man: No Way Home and Venom: Let There Be Carnage were both massive hits. During the 2022 CinemaCom Panel that Screen Rant attended, Sony finally confirmed that Venom 3 was part of its upcoming slate of films.

Venom: The Last Dance Release Date

After a long period of uncertainty regarding its schedule, the Venom 3 release date is October 25, 2024, having been moved from its previous November 8, 2024 release date, which was itself tweaked from an initial July 12, 2024 release. This means Kraven The Hunter will release before it, and could well hint at a more connected Sony Spider-Verse for Venom: The Last Dance to capitalize on. This should also mark a six-year window for the overall Venom trilogy, as the first movie released in 2018.

Venom: The ast Dance’s release delays may be reflective of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, which delayed a number of projects in the works at this time, including a range of superhero movies and shows.

Venom: The Last Dance Cast

As star, writer, and producer, Tom Hardy will of course be returning to his role as Eddie Brock in the Venom 3 cast. While her casting has not been announced yet, Michelle Williams has indicated her interest in returning to the film series. She portrays Eddie’s ex-fiance, Anne Weying, in Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Anne and Eddie remain friends despite their break-up, and she is one of the few people who knows Eddie’s alter ego. She even briefly hosted the symbiote in the first two Venom movies, so there’s always the possibility She-Venom will have a larger part to play in upcoming movies.

Other returning cast members from the franchise could easily include Reid Scott, who plays Anne’s fiancé, Dan, and Peggy Lu, who always needs a scene to steal as convenience store owner Mrs. Chen. The most curious, however, would be Stephen Graham. He portrays Detective Patrick Mulligan, who becomes the villain Toxin in the comics. At the end of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Mulligan is shown to have absorbed part of the symbiote, hinting at him becoming an antagonist in the sequel.

Venom: The Last Dance is also confirmed to welcome two new cast members, with Juno Temple and Chiwetel Ejiofor joining the franchise in what may be its final foray. The characters the pair will play have not yet been revealed, but it’s still clear they will each be a welcome addition to the roster, given the positive reactions to both Juno Temple’s performance as Keeley Jones in Ted Lasso, and Chiwetel Ejiofor’s experience in both serious movies like 12 Years A Slave, and superhero movies with his role as Baron Mordo in the MCU.

Venom: The Last Dance Director

Andy Serkis won’t be directing Venom 3 despite his successful handling of Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Serkis is currently working on an animated adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, something he’s been working on for a long time, and he will be unable to do both. His replacement is Kelly Marcel, who wrote the first two Venom movies, and will be making her directorial debut. She certainly has a strong understanding of the character and the world to make sure Venom: The Last Dance stands on its own while still paying respect to the rest of the franchise.

Venom: The Last Dance Story Details

There have not been any story details released about Venom: The Last Dance, but speculation about Venom’s third outing has used Spider-Man: No Way Home and the comics as a jumping-off point. One note that has been made is that Venom 3 is described as “the final chapter” – something that ties in well to its official title of The Last Dance. Whatever happens in Venom: The Last Dance should tie up any remaining loose ends in the trilogy, specifically Eddie’s relationship with Anne as well as his connection with the Venom symbiote that he never wanted in the first place.

The plot of Venom: The Last Dance may have been hinted at by the events in Spider-Man: No Way Home, which featured a number of villains from past Sony Spider-Man franchises, any one of which could be aligned with Venom’s universe. Or, Green Goblin, Electro, or Doctor Octopus could have been sent to Eddie’s world by mistake, a la Vulture in Morbius. There are a number of Marvel characters Hardy could fight in Venom 3, including the SSU’s own Morbius and Kraven. The sequel could also introduce Prowler, Knull, or Black Cat, as each is historically a rival of the symbiote in the comics.

More recent teases for Venom: The Last Dance suggest the movie’s villain may go down a different line, though, as Tom Hardy shared an image on the set of the movie showing himself screaming at graffiti of a dog or wolf. Some have taken this to potentially mean Hardy’s Eddie Brock will be going up against the Lobo Cartel – who are a group of werewolves in the Marvel comics – though rumors have also spread that Venom will be facing The Jury, who are a group of supersuit-clad vigilantes who band together to try and take the symbiote down.

How Venom: The Last Dance Can Tie Into Sony’s Spider-Man Universe

Venom 3 can easily tie back into Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. The expanding universe has already been teased in the Morbius mid-credits scene, which shows the MCU’s Vulture (Michael Keaton), transported to the SSU. The Vulture’s suggestion that he and Morbius (Jared Leto) form a team is a clear nod towards the Sinister Six, a league of villains whom Spider-Man is often pitted against. There may be the chance these characters appear in Venom: The Last Dance, and after Kraven the Hunter is introduced in his own movie, he could be another potential Sinister Six member to make a cameo appearance.