Let’s start with a history lesson, as it’s essential for the story we’re telling. In the late 90s, Marvel Comics was in financial trouble. The comic industry was crashing due to a bubble market with their books, long story, and they needed money fast. To get back in good standing, they sold the entertainment rights of their most popular characters to various studios. Characters like the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Ghost Rider, and Spider-man were shopped out. The move saved Marvel Comics, and the “first wave” of modern comic book movies was released. Eventually, Marvel Studios bought back all the rights, save for Spider-Man, which Sony has stubbornly held onto. Their sole benefit from this is the fact that they’re making Venom 3.
You see, Marvel Studios made a deal that the MCU could get Spider-Man, via actor Tom Holland, but they would have the rights to make movies based on his extended universe. Their first attempt at making their own “Spider-Verse” featured Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock, the man who would become Venom. In the comics, Brock’s origins are heavily tied to Spider-Man, but in the Sony films, not so much. The first movie was a movie you either loved or hated, yet it did well at the box office. The sequel, Let There Be Carnage, didn’t do as well, but it did well enough for a third film to be approved.
Now, we know that one of the key people behind those first two movies will direct Venom 3. That would be Kelly Marcel. They were the producer and writer of the first two films. So if nothing else, they’re “familiar” with what happened in those first two movies and should be able to work out what happens next.
As for what happens next, the film’s plot is currently under wraps. It’s speculated that this will be the final movie for Tom Hardy’s character, so it might try and go out with a bang. The sad part is that despite a tease in the second movie, Venom is not a part of the MCU now. He was in Spider-Man: No Way Home via a post-credits sequence, but it only served to show Brock/Venom in the MCU briefly before being taken back to their home universe. Fans didn’t appreciate that because they wanted a movie featuring Spider-Man and Venom together. Fans don’t talk about the last time that happened in the movies.
The problem that Sony has will not only be sticking the landing with this film but trying to make their “Spider-Verse” expand beyond it. They already failed with the Morbius movie, and the upcoming Madame Web film might suffer the safe fate if they’re not careful.
We’ll have to wait and see how things fall out.
Source: Deadline
