Venom: The Last Dance is finally here, and, as you might expect, there are plenty of Easter eggs to sink your symbiote teeth into.
Picking up in the aftermath of Spider-Man: No Way Home and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, The Last Dance sees Eddie and Venom on the run from both earthly authorities and big bad Knull's forces.
Below, we've broken down all the major Venom 3 Easter eggs and Marvel references, which naturally means there are major spoilers ahead. Turn back now if you're not up to date on The Last Dance! If you've seen the movie, head on down for everything you might have missed.
Knull's prologue
The film cuts to the chase by opening with a prologue all about big bad Knull. The scene seems lifted straight off the final page of 2018's Venom #3 by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman, with Knull sitting on his throne surrounded by his symbiote creations. The film also references the following issue, which tells the character's origin story, the gist of which is that billions of years ago Knull's dark realm was invaded by light. He makes the symbiotes and uses them to wreak havoc across reality until his creations turn on him and imprison him forever in Klyntar – Venom's home and the symbiote word for "cage."
No Way Home
This isn't an Easter egg, but worth mentioning all the same. After the initial prologue featuring Knull, we meet up with Eddie and Venom in the bar in the MCU that they found themselves in during the Spider-Man: No Way Home post-credits. This is a straight recap of that scene, ending with Eddie and Venom transported back home, where they immediately meet their reality's version of Cristo Fernández's bartender (whose appearance makes the movie a bit of a Ted Lasso reunion, thanks to Juno Temple's appearance later).
Rex Strickland
Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Rex Strickland, actually a fairly significant character in the Venom comics, specifically Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman's 2018 run. In the film Rex is simply a regular – if high ranking – soldier working at secret symbiote research base Area 55. In the comics, however, he was a soldier who was mortally-wounded in Vietnam and offered a new shot at life thanks to Nick Fury, who bonds him to a piece of recovered symbiote as part of the experimental "Sym-Soldier" programme. Unfortunately, Rex dies soon after, but his consciousness is stored in the Hive-Mind and his symbiote takes on his persona. With Knull's powers growing, he comes to Venom for help and the two become allies in the fight against the King in Black and his dragon Grendel.
"We are Venom!"
Venom gets to say his signature catchphrase to four goons before chomping their heads off. Surprisingly, this is only the second time (well, second, third, and fourth time really) it's said in the films – he doesn't utter it once in Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
The other symbiotes
One of the film's biggest moments comes with the release of the symbiote prisoners. You might think that these are all comics characters and you'd be right... sort of. In fact, just as Mulligan is kind of Toxin but not really, these symbiotes resemble a group of named Marvel characters without actually being them. In the Lethal Protector comic series, the sinister Life Foundation generates five new symbiotes from Venom: Agony, Phage, Riot, Lasher, and Scream. The symbiotes we see in the film look a lot like these, but as they're never named and we don't find anything about their personalities, it feels like it's just a nod to an iconic moment in Venom comics, rather than specifically them.
"The Lethal Protector"
Eddie refers to Venom’s nickname as "the Lethal Protector" once again, as he does in the second film and Spider-Man: No Way Home. This time, however, it has more tragic connotations as Venom prepares to sacrifice himself to save the day.
Lizard
Rhys Ifans, who plays alien obsessive Martin in The Last Dance, has previously appeared in a Sony-verse Marvel film. He also played Dr. Curt Connors, AKA Lizard, in The Amazing Spider-Man, reappearing in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Martin and Lizard don't seem to have any connection, though, so we can assume this isn't another multiverse situation.
Mordo
Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Rex Strickland in this film, but he's no stranger to Marvel. He also plays Baron Mordo in the MCU, appearing in Doctor Strange and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Like Ifans returning as another character, though, there are no links between Mordo and Strickland.
Andy Serkis
The actor behind the terrifying Knull is none other than Andy Serkis. Not only is he a mo-cap and voice actor extraordinaire, he's also the director of Venom: Let There Be Carnage. While Kelly Marcel takes over helming duties for The Last Dance, Serkis is still a part of the Venom family, clearly.
James Bond
Eddie helps himself to a seriously sharp outfit in Vegas, suiting up in a tux and bow-tie. Considering rumors used to run rampant that Hardy would someday play James Bond, this seems like a nod to 007.
Spider-Man
When Eddie and Venom take on the bad guys hurting dogs near the start of the movie, at one point in the battle, Eddie dangles upside down like a certain webhead we know and love. Considering Tom Hardy has recently said he still wants to fight Spider-Man, we're sure this was a deliberate shout out to the wall-crawler.
"The King in Black"
In the post-credits scene Knull refers to himself as "the King in Black" – a nickname that has been attached to the god of symbiotes for years in the comic, most notably in the epic event series of the same name, published between 2020-2021.
Venom: The Last Dance is in theaters now. For more, check out our Venom 3 review for our spoiler-free verdict, or see what's coming up with our guide to the upcoming superhero movies. If you're in the mood for a movie marathon, see our guide on watching the Spider-Man movies in order.
