In Venom: Let There Be Carnage's post-credits scene, Eddie Brock found himself pulled to Earth-616 where his alien suit immediately took great interest in a news report about Spider-Man.
The events of Spider-Man: No Way Home revealed that Doctor Strange's botched spell had started pulling every Variant who knows the wall-crawler's secret identity into the MCU. That explained Venom's unexpected arrival on Earth-616, though he never joined the final battle and instead chose to remain in Mexico.
That was confirmed by Spider-Man: No Way Home's stinger, with Eddie sent back home in the same way as the Spider-Men and Sinister Six Five.
Venom: The Last Dance opens with the 2021 movie's post-credits scene as the Lethal Protector learns about Iron Man and Thanos. However, when he returns home this time, the glowing effects from Spider-Man: No Way Home are seemingly replaced, or at least joined by, one of the portals later used by Knull to send his Xenophage across the universe.
So, what's happening here? We never did see Eddie fully disappear three years ago, meaning it's possible the glow that left the bartender slack-jawed was always the one featured here. If so, it suggests Knull's portals are a new way of portraying Multiversal travel and may confirm he can open portals between worlds.
Back in his reality, Venom declares that he's done with all this "Multiverse sh*t" and leaves a sliver of himself on the bar which is later collected by General Rex Strickland. We never get to see what happens to the piece of Venom left on Earth-616.
Whether this is a retcon or meant to add to what we saw in Spider-Man: No Way Home remains to be seen, but only time will tell whether Marvel Studios chooses to address any of this - including Venom's brief visit to Earth-616 - in a future project like Spider-Man 4.
Either way, it comes across like a step backwards rather than one forward so we'd temper expectations about a meeting with Spidey.
"The most cinematic, monumental Venom movie to date, we said in our recent review of the movie, "The Last Dance leaves room for improvement but by upping the stakes and allowing Eddie and Venom to bond, it’s epic and heartfelt enough to leave us hoping this is far from Tom Hardy’s last whirl as the Lethal Protector."
In Venom: The Last Dance, Tom Hardy returns as Venom, one of Marvel's greatest and most complex characters, for the final film in the trilogy. Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie's last dance.
The movie stars Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach, Stephen Graham, and Rhys Ifans. Kelly Marcel directs from a screenplay she wrote, based on a story by Hardy and Marcel. The film is produced by Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal, Kelly Marcel, Tom Hardy and Hutch Parker.
Venom: The Last Dance will be released in theaters on October 25.