From the moment Knull, God of the Symbiotes, was revealed in Venom: The Last Dance's trailer, much has been said about what that means for Spider-Man 4.
The biggest rumour is that Tom Hardy will reprise his role as Eddie Brock for a team-up with Tom Holland's Peter which will see them battle the King in Black. It's an exciting possibility and, for many fans, a meeting that's long overdue.
Hardy has been asked about a potential clash with Spider-Man several times while doing the rounds to promote the Venom threequel. Now, though, he's finally been pushed on whether he'll appear in the web-slinger's next solo outing.
"I don't see him in the next Spider-Man movie because I'd have the script and I don't have that," the actor said with a smile. Is he playing deliberately coy or as in the dark as the rest of us when it comes to plans for Venom? That remains to be seen.
Hardy has said on multiple occasions that he's done with the Venom franchise after The Last Dance, but seeing as his three-picture deal is up, there's every chance he's just negotiating a new deal with Sony in a public setting (Tom Holland did the same by talking about potentially saying goodbye to Spidey - much to the horror of fans - while promoting Spider-Man: No Way Home).
You can hear more from Hardy in the player below.
Talking at New York Comic Con this past weekend, Hardy addressed his apparent exit from the Venom franchise. "Well, it's been seven years this day...I've absolutely loved playing Eddie and Venom," he told fans. "It's been one of the best things I've ever done in my life so it'll be sad to see him go."
Despite that, the actor added, "I would like to fight Spider-Man. I would like to fight him right now. In a movie, 100%. I would never say never."
Venom: The Last Dance writer and director Kelly Marcel was also on hand and, despite Hardy's comments, continued to hype up this movie as being the beginning of Knull's story.
"This is just the introduction to Knull. Obviously, he's a massive character, so you could never do one and done with him, so this is just a taste of Knull, you will get to meet him and then what the future holds for him...who knows," she teased.
"[The story of] Venom and Eddie closes here but, as you know, there are lots of Symbiote stories in the canon," Marcel added. "So there are lots of places to go and there may even be some Easter Eggs in here that starts that journey off."
Venom: The Last Dance will be released in theaters on October 25.