There’s a lot to unpack in the first trailer for Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Woody Harrelson’s Cletus Kasady and Venom making Eddie Brock breakfast are two things folks immediately loved about the promo, but there’s a lot more hidden in it below the surface. Case in point: it featured a touching nod to Stan Lee that you might have missed.
At about the 0:48 mark, Tom Hardy’s Brock enters Mrs. Chen’s store. Now that he’s reformed and trying to do good, Venom reaches out a tendril and helpfully straightens a display of magazines as Eddie walks by. And if you pay close attention, you’ll notice that they showcase none other than the much-missed Marvel creator on the cover.
See for yourself in the screenshot below:
The first movie, released in October 2018, delighted fans by featuring Lee in a surprise cameo in its final scenes. Though Stan was a mainstay in the MCU, Sony and Fox’s Marvel films only occasionally got him involved. The sequence saw Eddie pass Lee in the street after parting ways with ex-fiancée Ann Weying (Michelle Williams), with Stan encouraging him not to let her go, “either of you.” Venom crashed the moment, though, by asking “who was that guy?” Sadly, this ended up being Lee’s last cameo released prior to his passing in November that year.
It means a lot that the sequel will continue to pay respects to the comic book legend, then, even in this small way. We’d expect similar visual easter eggs to this one to feature in many MCU movies going forward, too, and we’ll have to be on the lookout for a nod to Stan in July’s Black Widow.
As for Venom: Let There Be Carnage, don’t miss the sequel when it blasts into theaters on September 24th.
Published: May 10, 2021 03:14 pm