A new look at Venom: The Last Dance's villain sets up what could be an underwhelming finale for Sony's Spider-Man villain trilogy. Sony's Spider-Man Universe is not in a good spot right now. Morbius was a critical and box office flop, and Madame Web was even more of a disaster. The film bombed at the box office and its questionable creative decisions became meme-worthy jokes among Marvel audiences. Many are still wondering when Spider-Man will join this universe, but it's unclear when, or if, that will ever happen.
Custom image by Debanjana Chowdhury
The SSU might be floundering, but the Venom films have been a bright spot in this universe. While they aren't critical darlings, audiences enjoy them, and they succeed at the box office. Venom grossed over $856 million worldwide, and Let There Be Carnage garnered $506.9 million, a nice jolt to the box office after the COVID-19 pandemic. Venom: The Last Dance is the final film featuring Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock/Venom, and it should deliver the same entertaining ride as the last two. However, a new image of the film's villain suggests this trilogy could end in underwhelming fashion.
New Venom: The Last Dance Image Shows The Villain Could Be Toxin Or Lasher
An international TV spot for Venom: The Last Dance featured a quick glimpse at a new symbiote debuting in the film. It's unclear which symbiote it is, but many comic book readers believe there are two possible options. The first is Toxin, whose appearance was teased at the end of Let There Be Carnage. Toxin wasn't seen in his full form, but the symbiote merged with corrupt police officer Pat Mulligan after Venom and Carnage's fight.
The other popular choice is Lasher, a symbiote that more closely matches the color of the one featured in this image. Lasher was first introduced in Venom: Lethal Protector #4 and was created by the Life Foundation, who hatched him out of "seeds" from Venom. The trailer suggests that Earth is being invaded by Venom's home planet, so there is a chance that multiple symbiotes will appear. Lasher and Toxin could both be featured in this film, along with many others of Venom's "friends" from his world.
Another Symbiote Villain Is A Boring Way To End The Venom Trilogy
While the Venom movies have mixed reactions from audiences and critics, many agree that the villains have been a weakness of these films. The first Venom movie featured Riot, a slightly lighter symbiote than Venom, and the second film featured Carnage, a red symbiote. Besides the different colors, the villains have similar powers to Venom, but are more evil and therefore need to be stopped. The final battles between Venom and these symbiotes are entertaining, but it can be hard to tell what's going on through all the symbiote goo, and it follows a tiresome superhero movie trope.
Many superhero films feature villains who have a similar appearance and almost identical powers as the main hero. Venom has already done this trope twice, and it would be disappointing if this franchise did this a third time. There are endless examples of Marvel villains that Venom could fight in Venom: The Last Dance, and another symbiote battle doesn't seem like an exciting finale for this trilogy.
