An international teaser for the third and final Venom movie, Venom: The Last Dance, has slipped through the cracks featuring a brand new symbiote who fans are convinced is a character straight from a '90s comic book.
In the new teaser, recently released on Russian television, we get a glimpse of a rather evil-looking green symbiote putting its hand out before police officers open fire. The clip has since been deleted from the internet, but a screengrab of the teaser posted on Twitter by Marvel Updates has fans thinking this could be Lasher. See the image below.
First look at Lasher in 'VENOM:THE LAST DANCE' pic.twitter.com/8C7wdj9fQySeptember 3, 2024
So, who is Lasher? First introduced in Venom: Lethal Protector in 1993, Lasher is a green symbiote that came from one of five of Venom’s ‘seeds’. Extracted to bond with soldiers to fight in a dystopian war, Lasher was first bonded with a security force officer and with the four other seeds became guardian symbiotes. However, Venom and Eddie Brock killed Lasher’s host in fear he would become evil like Carnage, so Lasher was sent to prison for superhuman criminals until he was later released by the military.
However, due to the fact that Lasher is quite a minor character in the comics, some fans pointed out that the new symbiote is more likely one we already knew was coming, Toxin. "While it is green indicating Lasher, the dialogue is attached to Toxin’s. So this is most likely Toxin," commented TheVenomSite. From the comics, we know that Toxin is the symbiote who is attached to Patrick Mulligan, a local detective hellbent on stopping Venom.
At the end of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Toxin attaches itself to Mulligan (Stephen Graham) after his near-fatal encounter with Cletus Kasady/Carnage and Shriek in the sequel’s final showdown. In the Venom 3 trailer, we see that Mulligan is being held at some kind of research facility as he stands behind glass with glowing blue-green eyes. His greenish eyes could indicate that the symbiote he takes on could also be green. However, seen as though Toxin is red in the comics, this would mean the movie has undergone some major design changes.
Welcoming back Tom Hardy as journalist Eddie Brock with a dark secret attached to him, the last movie in the series follows the duo’s final adventure as they team up to take on an extraterrestrial threat from the symbiote's home. Alongside Hardy and Graham, the movie also stars Juno Temple and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Venom: The Last Dance releases on October 25, 2024. While you wait for Venom 3, check out our guide to all the most exciting new superhero movies, or see our list of all upcoming movies heading your way this year.
