One day, in the not-so-distant future, once the superhero movie boom has well and truly imploded — maybe sometime after Spider-Man 19 but before Marvel finally makes Blade — we’ll discover the sinister truth behind Sony’s increasingly bizarre Spidey-vere plans: some exec watched The Producers and thought “huh, what if we made an entire cinematic universe that’s doomed to fail?”
That’s the only explanation that makes sense for a franchise that has brought us not one, but two global embarrassments that would usually kill a movie series stone-dead and yet this one is still blindly stumbling along. Sony isn’t even trying to hide its obvious self-sabotage with these films anymore. Almost two weeks before it hits theaters, Venom: The Last Dance‘s director is already spoiling not just the end of their own movie, but — very possibly — the plot of Spider-Man 4 to boot.
While speaking to IGN, Kelly Marcel — first-time director but three-time screenwriter of the Venom trilogy — addressed how the mysterious villain Knull fits into proceedings. As glimpsed in the trailers, Knull aka the King in Black is the most dangerous villain Venom has ever faced in the comics mythology, on account of him being the all-powerful god of the symbiotes.
Marcel assured fans that Sony will be treating Knull right, by confirming that the intention is for the character to return in future films after this one. “One movie could never do justice to Knull,” Marcel promised, before teasing (or maybe threatening) that “this is just the beginning.” She continued:
“We’re in spoiler territory now and we hope some of the fun of watching this movie is not knowing what will happen, but trust me, we know full well how important Knull is to the fans, so just as we laid a foundation for Venom, we hope we are doing the same for Knull,” she said. “The King in Black is way too powerful for ‘one and done.’”
Venom 3 director pulling a Morbius paints a worrying picture for Spider-Man 4
Filmmakers using the press circuit for their project to tease their hopes for more or what the franchise could deliver down the road is nothing new, but telling us that Venom 3‘s main villain is definitely going to survive Venom 3 feels like jumping the gun just a tad. Especially given rumors that Knull might just end up being the main villain of Spider-Man 4 as well.
One potential title for Tom Holland’s much-anticipated return as the webslinger that’s being whispered online is Spider-Man: King in Black, which would supposedly see Peter Parker finally team up with Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock to battle Knull together. This would fit with other reports claiming the film will be cosmic rather than street-level, and naturally it’s no secret that Sony has wanted to get these characters together for the longest time.
We wish this was the first time the director of a Sony Marvel movie had spoiled their own efforts, but Morbius‘ Daniel Espinosa infamously detailed all about the Jared Leto bomb’s post-credits scene in the week before the 2022 flick entered cinemas. That turned out to be an epic display of hubris on Sony’s part, as that awkward cameo from Michael Keaton’s Vulture — presumed to set up a Sinister Six team-up — led precisely nowhere.
History suggests, then, that maybe we shouldn’t bet on Knull making it into another film after this one, despite the grand things Sony has in mind. One thing’s for sure, though: Venom 3 definitely isn’t the last dance for this universe — Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Kraven the Hunter follows on Dec. 13.
