Venom 3 Update Confirms What We All Suspected About Tom Hardy’s Marvel Movie

After months of speculation about what the movie’s title means for the future, Sony Motion Pictures Group chairman Tom Rothman has confirmed one fear about Venom: The Last Dance. Plot details are currently under wraps for the fifth installment in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, with set photos seemingly indicating that the movie will pick up shortly after Eddie Brock’s Spider-Man: No Way Home crossover cameo. The ensemble Venom: The Last Dance cast will see Hardy joined by Juno Temple in an undisclosed lead role, as well as Chiwetel Ejiofor and Clark Backo, with Kelly Marcel, who penned the script for all three movies, making her directorial debut.

During a recent interview with Deadline for the Cannes Film Festival, Rothman opened up about the studio’s plans for their various franchises heading into the future. Looking at their Marvel content, in particular, Rothman confirmed that Venom: The Last Dance will be the final movie centered on Tom Hardy’s alien vigilante. The Sony exec did, however, assure that the franchise’s swan song “is going to be huge.”

The First Venom Movie Released In 2018 To Mixed Reviews Despite Box Office Success

The confirmation that Venom: The Last Dance will be the final Hardy-led Marvel movie comes at a time in which Sony seems to be reevaluating their plans for the future of the SSU. With four released movies at the time of writing, the franchise has failed to gain the same traction as the Marvel Cinematic Universe before it, even with its attempts to bridge the two with Hardy’s No Way Home cameo and Michael Keaton’s Morbius appearance. Check out how Sony’s Spider-Man Universe movies have performed on Rotten Tomatoes and the box office below:

The first two Venom movies were seen as large financial successes at the box office, even in spite of both seeing generally mixed reviews from critics for their inconsistent tones and screenplay issues. While Sony’s doubling down on Hardy’s movies made sense, the desire to build out a whole franchise of Spider-Man-related characters without actually including the webslinger himself has yet to truly click with viewers. The largely negative reviews Morbius and Madame Web faced seem to also be a major factor in Sony’s decision to potentially move on from the SSU.

Even if Hardy’s time as the Lethal Protector is indeed done after Venom: The Last Dance, it may not necessarily mean the end for the SSU, but rather a hiatus as the studio tries to recalibrate their previous missteps. Shortly after Hardy’s movie, the long-gestating Kraven the Hunter will hit theaters, and though it is facing some stiff competition at the box office, should it at least prove to be a critical success, it could give the studio some confidence in keeping the franchise alive. With producer Amy Pascal also still keen on making the similarly troubled Sinister Six movie, Hardy could still find his way back at some point.

Source: Deadline