Of all the Marvel characters connected to Spider-Man that Sony has the license to adapt into movies, the only one they’ve been able to succeed with is Venom. While recent flop “Madame Web” makes an unlikely showing on Netflix’s top 10 movies chart, Sony has released the first trailer for the third and allegedly final Venom movie, “Venom: The Last Dance.”
Tom Hardy returns as journalist turned vigilante Eddie Brock, who bonded with the alien symbiote known as Venom in the first movie. The trailer shows Eddie seemingly working as a confident superhero, literally rescuing puppies held captive by criminals, before he encounters a much bigger threat. New cast additions Juno Temple and Chiwetel Ejiofor play government agents who are after Eddie and Venom, Temple as a scientist and Ejiofor as a military commander.
“Eddie, my home has found us,” Venom says ominously, and the trailer shows horrific alien creatures attacking Eddie/Venom as they cling to the side of a plane. Temple’s scientist seems to have captured some of the symbiotes, but of course scientists attempting to study deadly aliens in a controlled environment isn’t something that ever goes well in movies. The movie finds Eddie and Venom on the run from the government while also fighting off the hostile aliens who’ve arrived on Earth.
In addition to Hardy, Temple and Ejiofor, the cast of “Venom: The Last Dance” includes returning actors Peggy Lu as Eddie’s friendly neighbor Mrs. Chen, now apparently taking a vacation in Las Vegas, and Stephen Graham as Patrick Mulligan, a former police detective now held in government captivity. In the Marvel comic books, Mulligan turns into the symbiote character known as Toxin, and his appearance in “The Last Dance” follows the teases of his transformation at the end of 2021’s “Venom: Let There Be Carnage.”
One glaring absence from the cast is Michelle Williams as Eddie’s love interest Anne Weying, who appeared in the first two Venom movies but isn’t in this trailer or in the cast list. Of course, the real love of Eddie’s life is Venom, and their quasi-romantic dynamic seems fully intact, as they practice saying “We are Venom” in unison.
Venom made a brief sojourn to the main Marvel Cinematic Universe in the post-credits scenes of “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” and he’s wearing the same outfit as in his “No Way Home” in some scenes. “Ted Lasso” star Cristo Fernández also makes an appearance as the bartender he played in “No Way Home,” and Rhys Ifans shows up for a moment as well, although it’s not clear if he’s reprising his role as Spider-Man villain the Lizard.
Kelly Marcel, co-writer of the first two Venom movies, makes her directorial debut with “Venom: The Last Dance,” from a story she co-wrote with Hardy himself. The movie hits theaters October 25.
