The first trailer for Venom: Let There Be Carnage has arrived, and it may just feature a sly reference to the Avengers. The promo for Morbius, with its Michael Keaton cameo and Spider-Man graffiti, teased that the Sony Marvel universe and the MCU would be crossing over more often from now on, essentially putting them in the same world. And this first look at Venom 2 seems to confirm this by slipping in a nod to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
At around the 1:14 mark of the trailer, Stephen Graham’s detective is seen reading a copy of The Daily Bugle. This is a big deal in itself as it’s the first time the newspaper has appeared in a movie since 2007’s Spider-Man 3. The design of the Bugle’s front page also matches how it looked in the Raimiverse.
The page one headline is “The Hidden Victims of Cletus Kasady,” and it seems that Graham’s cop is infuriated by what he’s reading as he crumples it up and throws it onto his desk. Fans have paused the trailer at this moment, however, and discovered that a headline later in the paper appears to contain the word “Avengers.”
It’s impossible to make out the full thing, but the letters “ENGERS” are clear, so there aren’t many alternate words that it could be. It’s easy to imagine, then, that the latest exploit of the superhero team is being reported on by The Bugle, even if the story about Kasady is apparently a bigger deal.
Is he reading about the Avengers? 👀#VenomLetThereBeCarnage pic.twitter.com/chq9BS4xVY
— Cosmic Marvel (@cosmic_marvel) May 10, 2021
This is pretty exciting, though it also raises more questions than it answers. As per Spider-Man: Far From Home‘s post-credits scene, The Daily Bugle isn’t a newspaper in the MCU but an InfoWars-like website. But if Venom 2Â is referencing the Avengers, that further suggests it’s set in this universe. So, maybe we can infer that the traditional Bugle newspaper does exist in the Marvel Studios world and the site is simply a spinoff of the publication.
Fans are hoping this is just a hint at a proper cameo happening, like J.K. Simmons’ Jameson or – even better – Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. In any case, we’ll find out when Venom: Let There Be Carnage hits theaters on September 24th.
