Warning: This article contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home.

The screenwriters of Spider-Man: No Way Home revealed that they originally considered having Venom appear in the film's final battle. The film, which is currently breaking pandemic records in the worldwide box office, follows Peter Parker (Tom Holland) approaching Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to cast a spell that will make people forget his secret identity, accidentally dragging in people from every universe who know that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. This includes the villains Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Doc Ock (Alfred Molina), Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), Lizard (Rhys Ifans), and Electro (Jamie Foxx), previous iterations of Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield), and - of course - Eddie Brock/Venom (Tom Hardy).

Fans already knew that Venom had entered the MCU because of the post-credits sequence of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which was actually filmed on the Spider-Man set and directed by Jon Watts. That scene showed Eddie Brock and Venom relaxing on a deserted island when the world suddenly morphs around them and they find themselves in an entirely different resort with news about Peter Parker's identity being revealed blaring from the television. That scene led people to believe that Venom would play a bigger role in No Way Home, though the post-credits scene revealed that Eddie and Venom decided to stay on the island and get drunk before being sent back to their universe, merely being used for a sequel set-up as they leave a small blob of Venom symbiote behind.

Related: No Way Home's Credits Scene Already Fixed The MCU Venom Problem

Now that Spider-Man: No Way Home has reached $1 billion, Variety has released a spoiler-filled interview with screenwriters Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna. They revealed several things, including the fact that their original draft was a "kitchen sink" approach cramming as many legacy characters as possible into the story. This also included a moment where they "definitely discussed" including Venom in the final battle scene rather than just as a post-credits gag.

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If Venom had appeared in that final battle, it would have brought the total of villains up to 6, confirming the early rumors of the Sinister Six - or some iteration thereof - appearing in the film. However, those hopes were already dashed by the fact that this would make at least half of the villains in the film anti-heroes. In his own universe, Venom may be reluctant about it and hungry for brains, but he is very explicitly a hero. Likewise, though they fight Peter Parker throughout the movie, neither Doc Ock nor Sandman have fully villainous intentions in Spider-Man: No Way Home, which would have made having a satisfying Sinister Six extremely challenging.

That said, given the success of this particular entry of the MCU, it's entirely possible that they will see fit to bring Venom back for another big splashy showdown. Spider-Man: No Way Home making $1 billion in just 12 days means that Marvel is bound to continue making movies on that template. This certainly isn't the last fans have heard of the multiverse, though it remains to be seen how many actors are willing to be contracted out to the world of superheroes for even longer.

Next: The MCU Already Introduced Its Venom Host - Theory Explained

Source: Variety

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