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 in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

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. It’s unclear how, exactly, that plot point will be followed up on, but Eddie and Venom both find themselves on the run and in the crosshairs of powerful enemies. Moreover, with Venom: The Last Dance being the final Venom movie in the SSU, the stakes are high and the possibility is there that one or both of the pair doesn’t make it out alive.

Venom: The Last Dance Latest

On June 3, Sony released the first and hitherto only trailer for Venom: The Last Dance. While the trailer is full of action sequences and the iconic banter between Eddie Brock and Venom, it’s surprisingly light on actual plot details. However, the trailer sets up a conflict on two fronts: secretive government agents are determined to keep Venom and any other evidence of extraterrestrial life on Earth secret, and unknown forces from Venom’s homeworld are seeking him out. The trailer also confirms that Venom: The Last Dance is still on track to release on October 25, 2024.

Moreover, an official synopsis for Venom: The Last Dance has been revealed, which can be read below: Tom Hardy returns as Venom, one of Marvel’s greatest and most complex characters, for the final film in the trilogy. Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance

What exactly that devastating decision is remains to be seen, but it certainly doesn’t seem like a happy ending is in store for Venom: The Last Dance‘s titular hero duo. More information will presumably clarify the stakes as future trailers drop.

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. The film was originally slated for release on July 12, 2024, but was later pushed back to November 8 and later brought up a bit to its current and seemingly final release date of October 25, 2024.

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 was released in 2018.

Venom: The Last 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. However, from there, very little is known about which characters its stars will portray. The Venom: The Last Dance trailer spotlights Juno Temple and Chiwetel Ejiofor, who seem to be working together to research symbiotes and keep their existence secret from the general public. Ejiofor, who plays the sorcerer Mordo in the MCU, is a military man seen chasing down Eddie, and Juno (best known as Keeley on Ted Lasso) appears to run a secret lab where she’s attained symbiote samples.

Peggy Lu’s Mrs. Chen (the convenience store worker) appears again after small roles in the previous two Venom movies, but it’s Christine Fernandes’ unnamed bartender that’s the biggest surprise. He previously appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home as the bartender in Mexico when Eddie is temporarily pulled to the MCU. How he’s appearing in seemingly the same role in the SSU is a mystery.

Another mystery character is played by Rhys Ifans. Unsubstantiated rumors that the actor would appear as Curt Connors/Lizard, who he played in The Amazing Spider-Man have swirled, but he briefly appears in the trailer as a seemingly chill traveler playing guitar in the back of a van. Howevcer, given Connors was healed of his Lizard condition at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home and returned to his home universe, anything is possible. Alanna Ubach is confirmed for the movie but has not yet appeared in any footage, and Stephen Graham’s Detective Patrick Mulligan seems to be in a holding chamber in a lab after being exposed to a bit of symbiote in Vednom: Let There Be Carnage.

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. However, she’s absent from the first trailer.

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

Even though there is now an official trailer for Venom: The Last Dance, plot details remain slim. However, a few details have been revealed and more hinted at. First, Venom: The Last Dance seems to pick up moments after Spider-Man: No Way Home. Eddie doesn’t play a big role in the Web Head’s latest live-action outing, but he’s temporarily transported to the MCU and subsequently returned home (leaving a small bit of the symbiote behind). The trailer seems to open with Eddie newly returned to his reality and trying to get home. \

Beyond that, even the central antagonist of the film is difficult to judge Juno Temple and Chiwetel Ejiofor are positioned in the trailer as antagonists, experimenting with symbiotes and trying to hunty Eddie down. However, while Ejiofor’s military or paramilitary group hunts down Brock, Venom claims that his “world” has found him. Viewers know that Venom is from another planet of others like himself, and it seems as though they’re hunting him down for reasons unknown.

It’s unclear who the central symbiote enemy will be in The Last Dance, if any. A massive monster is shown in the trailer, but it’s unclear what this beast is. Some have guessed it’s a take on Grendel – a dragon-like being in Marvel Comics used as a sort of shock trooper and world-ender for the Symbiote god-like being Knull. Others have proposed that it’s a member of the Xenophage, an alien race that preys on symbiotes. It’s possible Knull, the symbiote god, is hunting down Venom or that Venom’s homeworld is calling him for help after being attacked by he Xenophage.

Moreover, in June 2023, 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. There aren’t any teases of werewolves in The Last Dance‘s trailer, but it’s possible Ejiofor’s military unit is a reimagined version of The Jury.

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

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.

Moreover, Venom: The Last Dance seems to show off an MCU connection. At the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Eddie Brock is pulled back out of the MCU, but he leaves a small splotch of symbiote behind in a bar in Mexico. In The Last Dance‘s trailer, Ejiofor’s undisclosed character is seen in that bar trapping the symbiote under a glass. It’s unclear how, but it appears his character may have the ability to hip between universes (or at least look into it). More details will presumably be revealed in the coming months.