Venom 3 has confirmed its official title, Venom: The Last Dance, as well as an earlier release date this year.
After going through some release date shuffles partly due to the actors' and writers' strikes in Hollywood (which officially finished last November), the movie is finally heading to cinemas with Tom Hardy reprising his role of Eddie Brock.
The third instalment of the successful Marvel/Sony saga was first teased at CinemaCon on April 25, 2022, with a first look at the movie's logo. This came a few months after producer Amy Pascal revealed the film was in the "planning stages" around the time of Spider-Man: No Way Home's release.
Despite the tepid critical response to both Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Hardy's anti-hero has proven successful at the box office, and his recent trip over to the MCU in Spider-Man: No Way Home end credit scene foreshadows a new future for the character.
Here's everything you need to know about the as-yet-untitled Venom 3.
Venom 3 potential release date - When will Venom: The Last Dance be out in cinemas?
Venom: The Last Dance will arrive in cinemas on October 25, 2024.
Last year, with the Hollywood strikes officially finished, Sony confirmed Venom 3 would be released on November 8, 2024, but it looks like filming is going more swiftly than expected and the movie is arriving two weeks earlier than initially reported.
With this new change, things have come full circle, since the original release date of the movie was, in fact, in October 2024.
Sony is having a busy year with its Spider-Man universe, with the releases of Madame Web (now in cinemas after its February 14 release) and Kraven the Hunter (set to be released on August 30, 2024).
Venom 3 started filming in June 2023 before it was paused due to the strikes, and the only updates have been from Tom Hardy's Instagram page. The actor shared a page of the script on June 16 and a first look at his character on June 29. For now that's all we have!
Venom 3 cast - Who's coming back for Venom: The Last Dance?
Behind the scenes is where we've had the biggest update. Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage screenwriter Kelly Marcel will direct the upcoming threequel, taking over from Andy Serkis.
She's also returning as the sole screenwriter, developing the story with Hardy as she did for the second film. Hardy revealed that Marcel was working on the script early in 2022.
Hardy will once again reprise his role as Eddie Brock, since he confirmed in August 2018 that he had signed up for three movies.
Ted Lasso star Juno Temple and Chiwetel Ejiofor have also joined the cast, although we don't know who they'll be playing yet.
No other cast members have been confirmed to reprise their roles.
There's more scope for the inclusion of Spider-Man in the third Venom film, given Hardy's cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
As for actors who appeared in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, it's harder to say. We could see Stephen Graham's detective Patrick Mulligan again (he somehow survived the sequel, after being strung up by the neck with a chain and receiving what looked like a severe spinal injury.)
He would almost surely be playing the character Toxin, as his final moments on the screen showed him with blue glowing eyes, babbling about monsters. Graham has remained tight-lipped, but did say that "there's a possibility that may be explored in the future".
Whether Michelle Williams returns as Anne and She-Venom remains unclear, but we have to hope it's a yes. Williams wasn't given any more screen time in Venom: Let There Be Carnage as She-Venom, something she's expressed an interest in exploring.
A third movie could give her scope to play that further, along with her sometimes-unwilling-participant of a fiancé Dan Lewis (Reid Scott). The couple seem fairly solid, so we can't imagine Anne returning without Dan.
Though Venom and Eddie finish the movie on the run, we hope to see more of Peggy Lu as Mrs Chen, the owner of the local convenience store.
As for the less-likely to return, unfortunately, we can't see a way for Woody Harrelson to return as Cletus Kasady/Carnage, given that the film ended with Venom biting his head off.
Likewise, a return for Naomie Harris would be odd given Shriek was crushed by falling rubble and a massive church bell... but never say never.
Venom 3 plot - What will happen in Venom: The Last Dance?
Aside from the fact that Eddie Brock is now a fugitive, we don't know anything more about what the threequel could have in store for him and Venom.
Of course, the question of whether he'll finally go head-to-head with Spider-Man won't go away and could happen in the next movie. No Way Home saw Eddie/Venom briefly transported to the MCU, but he was back in his own universe by the end of it.
However, with the multiverse now in play in the MCU and Morbius featuring its own MCU crossover, you can't rule anything out.
The creative teams at Sony and Marvel both seem keen to make it happen, though Marvel's Kevin Feige seemed to hint it wasn't up to him, saying: "I think probably it's up to Sony. Sony has both those characters and has Venom in their world."
He added that "it seems likely at some point" and that point could be the third movie. Ahead of Let There Be Carnage, Serkis said "of course it's gonna happen" and Hardy has been vocal about making it happen as well.
"Should both sides be willing, and it be beneficial to both sides, I don't see why it couldn't be. I hope and strongly, with both hands, push, eagerly, towards that potential, and would do anything to make that happen, within what's right in business," he said.
"But it would be foolish not to head towards the Olympic Games if you were running 100 metres, so yeah! I want to play on that field."
Equally, Morbius set up a potential Sinister Six team-up in this universe with its credit scene, so Venom could get roped into that in the third movie. Right now, anything is possible.
Venom 3 will arrive in cinemas on October 25, 2024.
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Deputy Movies Editor, Digital Spy
Mireia (she/her) has been working as a movie and TV journalist for over seven years, mostly for the Spanish magazine Fotogramas.
Her work has been published in other outlets such as Esquire and Elle in Spain, and WeLoveCinema in the UK.
She is also a published author, having written the essay Biblioteca Studio Ghibli: Nicky, la aprendiz de bruja about Hayao Miyazaki's Kiki's Delivery Service.
During her years as a freelance journalist and film critic, Mireia has covered festivals around the world, and has interviewed high-profile talents such as Kristen Stewart, Ryan Gosling, Jake Gyllenhaal and many more. She's also taken part in juries such as the FIPRESCI jury at Venice Film Festival and the short film jury at Kingston International Film Festival in London.
Now based in the UK, Mireia joined Digital Spy in June 2023 as Deputy Movies Editor.
