Tom Hardy loves nothing more than trolling Spider-Man and Venom fans, having spent the last three years repeatedly posting pictures of the comic book arch-enemies battling on social media, only to take them down almost immediately afterwards in deliberate attempts to stoke the flames of scuttlebutt.
Of course, the post-credits scene of Venom: Let There Be Carnage pointed the future of Sony’s symbiotic series in a brand new and very exciting direction, one that’s created even more intriguing possibilities in the aftermath of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s No Way Home.
One person that’s clearly a fan of Eddie Brock’s most recent adventure is Spider-Man veteran Jacob Batalon, who showed up to the threequel’s premiere rocking a shirt that looked awfully familiar to fans of Woody Harrelson’s Cletus Kasady. As you can see below, the moment wasn’t lost on Hardy, who appreciated the call-out.
An MCU actor turning up to the premiere of Spider-Man: No Way Home wearing a shirt inspired by the villain of Sony’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage is almost multiversal in itself, and it’s just the latest in a long line of winks and nods between the two shared superhero mythologies as they continue to grow ever closer.