Venom’s Spider-Verse Credits Tease Explained: Peter Parker's Dead

Venom not only has a mid-credits scene that overtly sets up a sequel with Cletus Kasady a.k.a. Carnage as the villain - it also has a post-credits scene that offers a sneak peek at upcoming animated adventure Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Unlike the careful cohesion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sony Pictures' stable of Marvel properties are a little more complicated. Venom may or may not be in the same live-action universe as a slate of upcoming Spider-Man-adjacent movies like Silver Sable, Black Cat and the Jared Leto-starring Morbius, the Living Vampire. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, however, is explicitly set in a different universe (though possibly within the same multiverse).

Let's break down the hilarity and action of the Into the Spider-Verse scene that follows Venom's end-credits, what it tells us about the world of young Miles Morales, and the insight it offers into Sony's approach to marketing superhero movies.

This Page: Into the Spider-Verse and Miles Morales' Universe
Page 2: What Happens In The Post-Credits Scene

Spider-Verse Is NOT Connected To Venom

Barring a surprise cameo by Tom Hardy, bursting into Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse like Eddie Valiant arriving in Toontown, it's safe to say that Venom and Into the Spider-Verse do not share any continuity. Directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman, and produced by The LEGO Movie directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, Into the Spider-Verse embraces the Marvel Comics concept of a superhero multiverse by bringing many different versions of Spider-Man into the same universe.

Based on the most recent trailer, it looks like this crossing-over of universes is triggered by the Kingpin's use of a super-collider. The protagonist of the movie is Miles Morales, a Brooklyn teen who was introduced in the Ultimate Marvel comics back in 2011, and takes up the mantle of Spider-Man in his universe after Peter Parker dies. Into the Spider-Verse is about Miles discovering that there's an entire multiverse full of weird and diverse Spider-People out there, and working together with them to stop Kingpin from destroying Brooklyn.

We're expecting to see a lot of cameos and references to the many versions of Spider-Man in the movie, but the trailers so far have introduced a group of six main Spider-People: Miles himself; a version of Peter Parker from a different universe; Spider-Gwen (a version of Gwen Stacy from a universe where she was bitten by the radioactive spider instead of Peter); Spider-Man Noir (a black-clad Peter Parker from a noir-themed 1930s universe); Peni Parker (an anime schoolgirl who operates a spider mech suit); and Spider-Ham, a spider who was bitten by a radioactive pig.

Peter Parker Is Dead (In Miles Morales' Universe)

As mentioned before, Miles Morales hails from the Ultimate Universe and was introduced after a story arc called The Death of Spider-Man, in which (you guessed it) Spider-Man dies. Specifically, Peter Parker dies in battle with the Green Goblin, saving Aunt May in the process and, in his mind, redeeming himself for failing to save Uncle Ben. Not long afterwards, Miles Morales is bitten by a radioactive spider stolen from Oscorp, and develops all of Spider-Man's powers - plus a couple of extras: camouflage, and the ability to fire a blast of energy from his hands, called a venom strike.

Venom's post-credits scene confirms that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse will be adhering closely to the Ultimate comics, as it shows Miles kneeling by Peter Parker's grave - making it clear that the Peter Parker in his universe is dead. In the comics, Miles takes up the mantle of Spider-Man (despite having some qualms that it might be in "bad taste") to honor the late Peter Parker. It seems as though the Miles of Into the Spider-Verse has done the same, but worries that he's not a good enough Spider-Man to live up to Peter's legacy.

The post-credits scene then takes a turn for the weird. As Miles is mourning Peter Parker, who should sneak up behind him in the graveyard but... another Peter Parker!

Page 2: What Happens In The Post-Credits Scene

What The Spider-Verse Post-Credits Tease Shows

The first meeting between Miles and Peter does not go well. Miles accidentally knocks Peter out and ends out attached to him by a string of webbing. Before he can untangle himself, the cops show up in the graveyard and - mistakenly thinking that Miles is carrying a dead body - start coming after him. Panicking, Miles flees the graveyard with the unconscious Peter in tow, but the extra weight slows him down. Peter's body manages to get webbed to a passing train, and the train drags his body along with Miles - still stuck to Peter - dragged along behind.

What ensues is a downright hilarious chase through the streets of New York with the cops trying to keep up as Miles and Peter are pulled helplessly along by the train. Miles attempts to keep Peter from coming to harm, but he bounces off cars and other objects, getting increasingly beat-up. At one point he crashes into a snowman and gets the snowman head stuck on his own head, creating quite a bizarre spectacle for the citizens of New York as he passes by. Peter regains consciousness just as the train finally slows to a stop, and the scene ends there.

Overall it's a pretty revealing clip - setting up the first meeting between Miles and Peter, and effectively communicating the premise of the movie to audience members who may not have been aware of Into the Spider-Verse's existence. Some fans may be dissatisfied with it - perhaps hoping for a glimpse at one of Sony's other upcoming movies, or even a clip that teases Spider-Man: Far From Home. However, it's smart for Sony to promote their next comic book movie wherever possible, and the Into the Spider-Verse clip is arguably a lot better than Venom's mid-credits scene.

Venom's Mid-Credits Scene Sets Up Venom 2

Before wrapping up, it's worth touching on Venom's mid-credits scene as well. This is a much more standard use of the mid-credits scene gimmick, overtly setting up Venom 2 (which seems like an inevitability, based on the first movie's strong box office performance). It was all but confirmed that Woody Harrelson would be playing Cletus Kasady, the host of Venom's symbiote offspring Carnage, but the mid-credits scene offers a first look at Harrelson in the role... and wearing a comically bad red wig.

Eddie Brock scores a hot interview with Cletus, a serial killer with many gruesome murders under his belt, and is taken to San Quentin Prison. There, Cletus is being held in a maximum security cell (a similar set-up to Harley Quinn's cage in Suicide Squad), and is strapped into a straitjacket for good measure. He's busy scrawling messages on the wall in his own blood when Eddie arrives, and the two of them confront each other coolly. A smirking Cletus asks if Eddie wants to hear about "the Carnage," and the scene ends there.

It doesn't look like Cletus Kasady has yet bonded with Carnage in this scene, but if Eddie's visiting him in prison that Venom could well give birth to Carnage during the visit (symbiote reproduction is asexual and pretty casual) - thereby unwittingly handing Cletus the key to his escape.