Summary
Tom Hardy is done, and it would appear Eddie Brock is done, too. By all accounts, whenVenom: The Last Dancehits theaters,it will be the last time the Marvel symbiote will do so for Sony. But is that the end of the character? Will one of the most popular villains turned heroes in Marvel Comics really be thrown onto the ash heap of history? Almost certainly not.
WhileTom Hardy has made it clearhe’s done playing appearing in theVenommovies once the trilogy is complete, it doesn’t appear there are any plans to shelve the character. In fact, the director forVenom: The Last Dancehas made it clear that the big villain in this third movie is just getting started. And ifthere are plans for Knull, it certainly seems there are still plans for the Venom symbiote. The big question now is whether Sony is going to try and keep hold of the character or if this will be the move to the MCU and if it is, who might carry the symbiote moving forward.
Venom Character Has Been There All Along
Over on Reddit, one user seems to have pinpointed a theory that, should it come true, might come trueas soon asSpider-Man 4. This fan theory by Zeldatroid believes that originally, the Venom symbiote will attach itself to Peter Parker as it has done in the comics and the original movies. However, when Spidey separates himself from the symbiote, it will then attach itself to none other than Flash Thompson.
Venom: The Last Dance
Starring
Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach, Stephen Graham
Directed By
Kelly Marcel
“For one,” theRedditor wrotenearly three years ago. “Flash in the MCU idolizes Spider-Man. He wants to be best friends with Spider-Man. He wants to BE LIKE Spider-Man. What would help him fulfill that desire? The symbiote!”
“Furthermore, there is precedent for Flash becoming Venom in the comics. In fact, he becomes a version of Venom working with the government known as Agent Venom! He does a lot of work in space and even teams up with the Guardians of the Galaxy at one point!”
On its face, there’s some things that point to this being the perfect way to handle things. And there are others that make it a problem. Chief among why this idea would be a problem is that Flash Thompson is apretty minor character in the MCU. And when he does appear, it tends to be for comic relief.
On the other hand, there is a friendship, competitor thing going on with Flash and Peter. In fact, in the first Spider-Man film, Flash was just short of a bully, and was definitely an antagonist. While the two have moved closer to being friendly in the subsequent films, they aren’t friends. And it’s possible that Flashhaving the symbiote join with himwould cause him to lean towards his more villainous tendencies. Flash also doesn’t know that Peter is Spider-Man yet so the two super-powered beings could be enemies even if Flash and Peter are not at each other’s throats.
There’s also the issue that Agent Venom was Flash Thompson joining the military in order to take on the symbiote. Flash is clearly not the military kind, but with both he and Peter’s friends all headed to MIT, there is another way in which the potential supervillain or superhero could work with the military. It’s possible Flash would be working as a scientist and come across the symbiote that way. This kind of storyline, skipping Peter Parker entirely would also help to move the plot forward andavoid some confusionover what the MCU’s plans are with the character.
Flash Thompson’s Agent Venom Helps Avoid Spider-Man 4 Spinning Its Wheels
One of the storylines thatSpider-Man 4orSecret Warsdoesn’t need is Peter Parker going badbecause he’s wearing a black suit. Marvel fans have already seen that story in previous Spider-Man films. And now they’ve also seen the Symbiote basically be trained to be a hero by Eddie Brock. The idea that he would bond with Peter and go through that situation again seems like it would be a waste of runtime.
On the other hand, Flash Thompson being thefirst person in the MCUto really don the symbiote suit and maybe even being sort of bad, if not entirely evil because he’s a weak personality and the symbiote might finally feel as though its found someone it can control and go a little more wild.
It’s unlikely that when Flash Thompson was first put into the MCU, he was always expected to take the mantle of Agent Venom eventually. But now things have lined up in a certain way that it just makes too much sense.Fans have seen this move comingfor years and avoiding that storyline seems like it might be folly onceVenom: The Last Danceis in the rearview mirror.
