Interest in Venom: The Last Dance has greatly increased since we learned of plans for Knull, God of the Symbiotes, to appear in the threequel. With this movie billed as the "epic conclusion" to the trilogy, many fans have wondered why the villain is being introduced now, particularly as the previous instalments did very little to tease his existence.
Talking to IGN, writer and director Kelly Marcel dropped several teases, including the fact Patrick Mulligan is returning with a Symbiote and the "different agendas" Chiwetel Ejiofor and Juno Temple's characters have.
After Carnage, the filmmaker says they wanted to "step up our game with the threat in this movie so we brought out the big guns to bring a much bigger challenge, not only to Eddie and Venom but to our world." That challenge is the aforementioned Knull, with this movie serving as "just the beginning" for him.
"Trust me, we know full well how important Knull is to the fans, so just as we laid a foundation for Venom, we hope we are doing the same for Knull," Marcel teases. "The King in Black is way too powerful for 'one and done.' This film introduces Knull, but it just touches the beginnings of his story."
"Marvel's greatest film villains are developed over time. Here, Knull is the threat lurking behind the danger that tests the absolute limits of Eddie and Venom's partnership - but it’s their relationship that remains the heart of this story," she continues. "From the beginning, Tom and I always envisioned that this particular Eddie/Venom story would be told in three parts and the story arc would climax with the third film for reasons the movie will reveal."
If this is truly the end for Tom Hardy as Venom, then why add Knull to the mix now? "As the fans know there are many, many more symbiote stories - the universe is wide and rich, and one movie could never do justice to Knull," Marcel states. "Beyond this trilogy, there are more stories to explore - God is coming."
The question is, is he coming to Spider-Man 4? That's the rumour, though the Venom: The Last Dance director was giving nothing away in that respect, though much of what's been rumoured is seemingly confirmed here.
She did, however, confirm that Rhys Ifans isn't playing a Variant of Dr. Curt Connors in the movie.
"It’s not uncommon for actors to be cast as different Marvel characters across various films and this is no different," Marcel explains. "The best actors for the roles were cast and Rhys is no exception, he plays a new and different character in a really fun and important role and I am so excited for people’s reaction to his wonderful performance."
A couple of new stills from Venom: The Last Dance have also been revealed which you can see below.