Tom Hardy’s Venom finale finds a new audience
Tom Hardy has moved comfortably between acclaimed dramas and major blockbusters. His credits include Alejandro Iñárritu’s The Revenant, Mad Max: Fury Road and Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, in which he played Bane.
His performance as Eddie Brock and the alien symbiote Venom may be his most unusual showcase. Hardy plays both sides of the central partnership, shifting between Eddie’s personality and Venom’s distinct presence within the same character.
How the Venom films became a cult success
Following the success of Spider-Man: Homecoming, Sony began building its own Spider-Man Universe with 2018’s Venom. Casting Hardy as both Eddie Brock and Venom was an unconventional choice, particularly for a film centred on a Spider-Man villain without Spider-Man appearing in the story.
That unusual premise was matched by Hardy’s wholehearted performance. Audiences responded to the film’s odd-couple energy, helping Venom develop a strong cult following.
The 2021 sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, placed even more emphasis on the bond between Eddie and Venom, including its romantic undertones. Meanwhile, other Sony Spider-Man Universe releases such as Morbius and Madame Web became targets of widespread online jokes, while the Venom series continued.
Hardy returned in 2024 for Venom: The Last Dance. The third film has now become the second-most-streamed movie on Netflix, giving the $478 million sci-fi action property another moment in the spotlight.
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Will there be another Venom film?
Hardy has described Venom: The Last Dance as his final appearance as the character, although the wider story still leaves room for speculation.
In the end-credits scene of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Eddie and Venom briefly travelled into the Marvel Cinematic Universe before being returned to their own reality. A small amount of symbiote material was left behind in the MCU, creating a potential thread for a future story.
That possibility is especially notable as Avengers: Doomsday is set to bring the Fox X-Men into a multiversal conflict. The film may also include further unannounced cameos, so a future Hardy appearance cannot be completely ruled out.
An animated project is in development
Even if Hardy does not return to the MCU, he is attached to another Venom project. Sony has announced that an animated Venom movie is in development, with Hardy serving as a producer.
Kelly Marcel, who wrote the Venom trilogy and directed The Last Dance, is also involved. Until that project advances—or Hardy makes another live-action appearance—Venom: The Last Dance remains the latest chapter and is available to watch on Netflix.
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