I Changed My Mind, Venom 3 Introducing Knull Was Pointless

I’m a little miffed now that Sony’s Spider-Man Universe pointlessly introduced Knull in Venom: The Last Dance. As one of Marvel’s most powerful characters, Knull had a lot of potential to change the fate of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. His appearance in Venom: The Last Dance‘s trailers supercharged the hype surrounding the movie, and I was one of many who couldn’t wait to see how the studio would handle the involvement of the eldritch god of the abyss. Writer/director Kelly Marcel’s subsequent promise that he would reappear in future SSU installments was also particularly encouraging.

The weird part was that Venom: The Last Dance was the final installment of Venom’s SSU trilogy. Although Knull encounters several superheroes from Marvel Comics, the vast majority of which are owned by Marvel Studios and therefore walled off from Sony, Venom is his primary nemesis. This set Sony’s Spider-Man franchise on an interesting trajectory as audiences were faced with the prospect of Knull facing off against such minor characters as Morbius and Kraven the Hunter instead of Venom and Thor. Ultimately, however, this all came to naught, and I’m once again disappointed.

Venom 3 Set Up Knull As The Sony Spider-Man Universe’s Thanos

The Post-Credits Scene Suggested Knull Would Return

Knull is the creator of all symbiotes and a primordial god of the abyss that exists between cosmoses. As a god, he is one of Marvel’s most powerful characters with powers that far exceed those of many arch-villains thus far introduced in Marvel movies. This includes Thanos (provided he does not wield a complete Infinity Gauntlet) meaning Knull was poised to give even the Mad Titan a run for his money in terms of his legacy. In Marvel Comics, for instance, Knull’s incredible power was summarily demonstrated when he tore Sentry – Marvel’s answer to Superman – in two.

Sony had even taken a similar route to Marvel Studios when introducing Knull to the franchise. His role in Venom: The Last Dance was minor, acting as the string-puller from his Klyntar prison. This emulates the role Thanos played in Guardians of the Galaxy before a second post-credits tease in Avengers: Age of Ultron and several mentions in subsequent movies heralded his cataclysmic arrival in Avengers: Infinity War. Knull’s grave threat to Earth in the post-credits scene for Venom: The Last Dance ostensibly preceded a similar route for Knull – though I guess this was ultimately pointless.

Kraven The Hunter Is Seemingly The End Of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe

Reports Suggest That Sony Is Halting Development Of Its Live-Action Spinoffs

The Wrap reported that Sony’s Spider-Man Universe would cease developing its live-action spinoff movies “for now“ and focus on its animated Spider-Verse franchise, upcoming Spider-Noir series, and its Spider-Man collaborations in the MCU. This followed a smattering of unfavorable early reviews for Kraven the Hunter, which was seemingly the final nail in the coffin for Sony’s cinematic franchise. One Sony insider was even reported to have admitted “The movies just aren’t good.” Critics’ reviews of Kraven the Hunter tend to agree with that ongoing sentiment.

While Kraven the Hunter may be the latest movie to divide fans and critics, with a 73% fan score on Rotten Tomatoes contrasting the critics’ 15% (at time of writing), it has also suffered a particularly poor opening weekend domestically. This stands to reason as the zeitgeist surrounding Kraven the Hunter approaching its release mostly comprised apathy and mistrust. I’m not surprised about Sony’s decision – in fact, I’m quite glad the studio will focus on the one character we all want to see more of – but it’s difficult to stomach its plan, or lack thereof, with Knull.

It Feels As Though Sony Never Had A Plan For Knull

I’ll admit I was suspicious when Kelly Marcel promised that Knull would reappear before Venom: The Last Dance was released. At the time, the release slate for Sony’s Spider-Man Universe was conspicuously bare, which made me wonder exactly where his reappearance would occur. After seeing Venom: The Last Dance, that suspicion turned to cynicism as I struggled to see how the franchise would navigate Knull’s cataclysmic invasion without Venom being involved at all.

In hindsight, I now wonder if Sony had a plan for Knull in the first place. Instead, it feels as though the formidable cosmic villain was tacked onto the movie to drum up hype (which, for me, worked) before leaving it to subsequent projects to shoehorn him in without Venom as a conduit. Furthermore, Venom: The Last Dance ostensibly ended with the eponymous antihero depriving Knull of his only route out of Klyntar, thereby thwarting the god and his nefarious plans to invade Earth. If that wasn’t the case, then Venom’s death was insultingly pointless.

If this was a cynical attempt to maximize attendance in theaters, it didn’t really work. With a $475 million global box office, Venom: The Last Dance was far from a flop, and unsurprisingly outperformed Morbius and Madame Web, but it was the lowest-grossing movie of Venom’s trilogy and fell substantially short of Venom, which earned $856 globally. The MCU’s Spider-Man franchise, meanwhile, boasts an opposite tendency as each subsequent movie outperforms the box office of the last. Coincidentally, I think Knull could help this trend continue with Spider-Man 4.

The MCU Can Continue Knull’s Story

It’s no secret that one of the most common criticisms leveled at Sony’s Spider-Man Universe is its conspicuous lack of Spider-Man. Before Sony put a hold on developing movies in this franchise, I had hopes that Knull’s appearance would finally rally Spider-Man to the cause, perhaps even forming a multiversal team of variants in a stark but entertaining departure from comic book precedent. Thankfully, this wish still isn’t beyond the realm of possibility as Spider-Man 4 could still deliver on this spectacle.

While story details about Spider-Man 4 are still scarce, it’s almost certain that it will comprise another multiversal narrative. Whether this involves reintroducing Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men to the MCU remains to be seen, but the fact that Spider-Man 4 will be released between Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars – the Multiverse Saga’s two climactic movies – suggests that we’ll be looking at even greater multiversal shenanigans than was seen in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Given Knull holds sway over the void between universes in Marvel Comics, it should be easy to have him visit the MCU.

Knull is the perfect villain for the MCU. He easily fits the bill of being a threat greater than Thanos, and required several Marvel Studios-owned heroes to bring him down in Marvel Comics. Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s post-credits symbiote tease could be paid off with Knull’s involvement, given his authority over all symbiotes across the multiverse. If Sony and Marvel do intend to double down on Spider-Man’s cosmic adventures, it’s hard to see how anything could top Knull as the movie’s arch-villain.

Ultimately, Knull is too incredible of a character to let fall by the wayside. I’ll address the elephant in the room, however, and note how Spider-Man 4‘s proximity to Avengers: Doomsday means it is most likely going to concern Doctor Doom’s position as the franchise’s new arch-villain, leaving little room for Knull to muscle in and complete an arc before Avengers: Secret Wars rounds out the saga. Still, after Venom: The Last Dance teased the villain, it’s still possible for Spider-Man 4 to follow up and maybe provide a glimpse of Knull as the next arch-villain of the MCU.

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