In Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock finally concedes to his symbiote partner’s insistence that they should be superheroes, potentially laying the groundwork for a Venom and Spider-Man team-up. If that occurs, audiences may finally see Tom Hardy’s Venom featured alongside Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. Although the two characters have appeared on screen before, a partnership would be unprecedented in the superhero movie subgenre.

The sequel to 2018’s Venom picks up where the former film left off. Though Eddie Brock has accepted the symbiote as his permanent alien passenger, he’s changed his mind about allowing Venom to feed on bad guys, replacing his criminal cuisine with live chickens instead. Venom nobly insists they should protect the citizens of San Francisco from evil-doers and not just for dining purposes. As Eddie and Venom’s relationship devolves, they accidentally enable the transformation of death row inmate and serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) into the terrifying red symbiote, Carnage. After a brief split for personal reasons, Eddie and Venom get back together (literally) and embrace their heroic natures when Eddie’s ex-girlfriend Anne (Michelle Williams) is taken hostage by Kasady and his long-time lover Frances Barrison aka Shriek (Naomie Harris).

Related: How Powerful Tom Hardy's Venom Is Compared To Tom Holland's Spider-Man

Though Venom is one of Spider-Man’s most popular nemeses, the web-slinger has yet to run into Tom Hardy’s Venom. That, however, looks like it could change. In the final scene of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, when Venom asks Eddie Brock where they will go next, Eddie answers, “Anywhere that needs a Lethal Protector...” Though previously suggested by Venom, this marks the first time Eddie embraces the nickname – a nickname that carries historical implications that Venom may soon be partnering up with his longtime, web-slinging adversary.

Venom Let There Be Carnage Ending MCU Future Explained SR

The Lethal Protector nickname references the Venom: Lethal Protector series – a six-issue arc published by Marvel Comics in 1993. The story begins with Eddie Brock moving to San Francisco after promising Spider-Man that he’ll leave his villainous days behind. However, a misleading news story convinces the wall-crawler that Venom hasn’t changed his ways, and he journeys to California to confront him. Once there, Spider-Man suddenly finds himself fighting against five alien symbiotes, spawned from Venom by the Life Foundation’s leader, Carlton Drake. Venom eventually comes to Spidey’s aid and they work together to defeat the symbiote. Later in the story, Venom requests Spider-Man’s help to protect an underground community of homeless people from Roland Treece who aims to remove them with explosives in an attempt to find hidden gold. This history gives the Lethal Protector reference in Venom: Let There Be Carnage extra significance and hints at how Venom and Spider-Man will interact.

Both Drake and Reece have already been introduced and seemingly killed by Venom in his first film. However, many of the Lethal Protector story elements leave much to explore in future film installments, especially concerning Venom’s rebellious offspring. In addition to Eddie Brock’s buy-in of the Lethal Protector moniker, a surprising mid-credit scene in Venom: Let There Be Carnage shows Venom witnessing Peter Parker being identified as Spider-Man on a news report from The Daily Bugle's J. Jonah Jameson (JK Simmons) as revealed in the MCU’s Spider-Man: Far From Home. This clearly indicates that a match-up of Tom Hardy’s Venom with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is not too far off in the future.

Considering the events of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, the potential Spider-Man and Venom team-up could open up great opportunities for a historic crossover event between Sony and Disney, whether Tom Hardy leaps to the MCU or Tom Holland swings over to Sony. Much like the comic book rivals portrayed onscreen, there is potential for the pair to work together.

Next: Is Venom 2's Spider-Man Footage New? Did Tom Holland Film New Scenes?

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