While everyone was paying attention to Deadpool & Wolverine potentially saving the Marvel Cinematic Universe at its lowest and the second Joker movie that exists outside the now-defunct DC Extended Universe, another comic book flick has flown under our radars. Venom: The Last Dance opens later this year, and its first trailer is a riot.
Venom (2018) and Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) weren’t exactly great. Both struggled to convince critics that Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man-less Spider-Man universe (yes, really) was worth investing in. However, audiences responded positively to them, so much so that both were huge box office wins for the studio; the first chomped over $850 million worldwide, and its sequel managed to clear the $500 million mark even during the late stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The other two movies set in this ‘shared universe’ (the connectivity has been pointless so far) of sorts, ‘Morbius’ and ‘Madame Web,’ were terrible flops. While we’ve yet to see how Kraven the Hunter will far in December, it increasingly feels like only Venom is cool enough to make money out of barely serviceable scripts and jumpy theatrical cuts. Any half-decent results closer to how the second Venom movie performed would be a success that even the real House of M can’t guarantee anymore.
Related: ‘Venom’ Symbiote Wreaks Havoc: Could Aliens Really Infect Us?
Anyhow, “Venom: The Last Dance,” directed and written this time around by veteran Venom scribe Kelly Marcel, at least looks marginally more focused and committed to symbiote chaos than the other two movies. Moreover, the Eddie-Venom relationship, a surprisingly convincing emotional and comedic core in these movies, appears to really be getting extra attention, so maybe the threequel can stick the landing and even finish the trilogy on a high note. Judge it for yourself by watching the generous three-minute trailer.
Using David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity‘ feels like cheating here, but we’ve got to admit it’s a good fit, especially when there’s an army of symbiotes coming to Earth to finish what our gooey friend Venom couldn’t even begin to do: consume a world full of life. Remember that, as scary as he looks, this iteration of Venom was a bit of a loser on his home planet and has become a softie (even if he’s running around with Eddie biting on human heads and whatnot).
On top of the new alien threat, the military appears to be hunting down the duo in Mexico, plus the titular symbiote takes over a horse, resulting in an extremely comic book-y scene. Yeah, if anything, this saga’s tone is fascinating.
Alongside the first trailer, a stylish (and kind of romantic) poster was shared by Sony Pictures on social media:
“Venom: The Last Dance” stars Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock/Venom, Chiwetel Ejiofor as the military type hunting down Brock and Venom, Juno Temple as the scientist helping Ejiofor’s character, Rhys Ifans in a mystery role, Peggy Lu as Mrs. Chen, and Stephen Graham as detective Patrick Mulligan. The film premieres on Oct. 25, 2024.
