Venom 2 director Andy Serkis has confirmed that the Sony sequel is in its own universe – meaning it's not part of the MCU.
"Obviously, there are links between Venom and Spider-Man and the Marvel Universe and the Spider-Man story," Serkis told IGN. "But in this, we're treating this very much as it's his own world. The Venom story is his own world."
In the movie's recently released first trailer, a quick shot of a Daily Bugle newspaper seemed to suggest a connection to Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movies. There's been plenty of speculation lately that the MCU's Spider-Man 3, officially titled Spider-Man: No Way Home, will bring a live-action Spider-verse into play: an unconfirmed report claims Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield will be back as their respective versions of the web-slinging hero, Alfred Molina confirmed he's returning as Doc Ock, and Jamie Foxx is reportedly reprising his role of Electro. Another Sony superhero movie, Morbius, also has an apparent link to the MCU.
"There are nods and little moments, just like this newspaper, the Daily Bugle of course, but on the whole he's unaware," Serkis continued. "They are unaware, at this point, of other characters like Spider-Man. So, that's the way we've chosen to play this particular episode of the movie, but, well, we'll wait and see. We'll see what little things you can pick out of it."
From this, it sounds like Venom 2 will include some fun Easter eggs – but won't have a connection to a wider universe.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage arrives this September 24, while Spider-Man 3 lands December 17, and Morbius releases January 28, 2022. In the meantime, check out what else is coming up in our roundup of 2021's movie release dates.
