Venom: The Last Dance Reaches No. 2 on Netflix

Tom Hardy has built a reputation as one of cinema’s most adaptable performers. He earned acclaim in Alejandro Iñárritu’s Oscar-winning drama The Revenant, took the wheel in Mad Max: Fury Road, and became a regular collaborator for Christopher Nolan, most notably playing the masked villain Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. Yet another comic book adaptation allowed Hardy to showcase his full dramatic and comedic range across a single role.

Following the release of Spider-Man: Homecoming, Sony launched its own Marvel-adjacent universe in 2018 with Venom. Hardy took on the dual responsibilities of journalist Eddie Brock and the alien symbiote sharing his body, taking over a character previously played by Topher Grace in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3. Building a standalone feature around a Spider-Man adversary without Peter Parker seemed risky, but Hardy leaned into an eccentric, physical performance that turned the movie into an audience favorite.

Viewers connected strongly with the chaotic, odd-couple dynamic between Eddie and his alien companion, a bond that deepened in 2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Other entries in Sony’s franchise, including Morbius and Madame Web, struggled critically and financially, but Hardy’s series remained popular. In 2024, Hardy returned to the role in Venom: The Last Dance, which climbed to the second spot on the Netflix streaming charts.

Will there be more Venom movies?

Hardy announced that The Last Dance would conclude his run as Eddie Brock, though moviegoers continue to question whether that exit is permanent. A mid-credits scene in Spider-Man: No Way Home pulled Eddie and Venom into the Marvel Cinematic Universe before instantly sending them back home. The sequence left behind a small drop of symbiote matter that remains unaccounted for in MCU continuity.

Marvel Studios is preparing for massive multiversal crossover storylines, with Avengers: Doomsday bringing back Fox-era X-Men characters alongside anticipated surprise appearances, keeping speculation alive that Hardy could cameo down the line.

Sony is already moving forward with the property in another format. The studio announced that an animated Venom feature is currently in production. Hardy is attached to produce the project alongside Kelly Marcel, who penned the live-action trilogy and directed The Last Dance. Producers Amy Pascal and Kevin Feige have also hinted that future meetings between Spider-Man and Venom remain a possibility.

Source: Polygon