‘They are absolutely about to waste him’: A ‘Lord of the Rings’ genius is slated to play an upcoming Marvel villain and no one is having it

Venom: The Last Dance is about to waltz into theaters. The third installment in the Tom Hardy-led franchise is set to up the stakes from the previous two movies and introduce an essential character from Marvel’s tangled comic book symbiote lore.

Knull, the all-powerful creator of all symbiotes, is coming to Sony’s Spider-Man Universe in the film, and the mighty cosmic entity is set to be played by the brilliant Andy Serkis. The massively talented English actor and filmmaker, who directed 2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage, has already appeared in Marvel movies, having played Ulysses Klaue in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Avengers: Age of Ultron (2915) and Black Panther (2018), but his role as Knull looks to be far meatier and more impactful.

Serkis’ voice for Knull was recently revealed for the first time in a clip released online, and when Discussing Film posted it on X, it prompted a lively reaction from the platform’s movie-loving users.

How did X react?

The clip in question features Knull ominously saying, “I will annihilate your world,” offering a taste of what’s at stake in Venom: The Last Dance. Andy Serkis’ voice seems typically perfect for the character, which is no surprise, as he’s nailed so many voices throughout his career — Gollum in The Lord of the Rings franchise, Caesar in The Planet of the Apes reboot series, Baloo in Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, and Supreme Leader Snoke in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, for a few examples.

Bizarrely, one user was somewhat downbeat about the whole thing, saying Sony would “waste him.” Whether they were referring to Knull or Serkis isn’t clear. More optimistic people were quick to jump in and tell them why they were wrong to be so pessimistic about the character’s prospects with such a significant talent on board to portray him.

Other fans believe the unsubstantiated rumors he’s making the leap to the MCU for Spider-Man 4:

Most people, however, were simply thrilled that Serkis is playing the powerful villain and confident that he would do the role justice — a justified notion, given his undeniable talent and impeccable track record playing many intriguing and hugely versatile characters.

It remains to be seen how Serkis plays Knull, but the likelihood is he’ll be fantastic. Moreover, we don’t have long to wait before we find out, as Venom: The Last Dance hits theaters worldwide on Oct. 25, 2024.