Atthe end ofVenom: Let There Be Carnage, an already bonkers superhero movie, a new level of bonkersness is achieved. The Sony Marvel film — part of a series of Sony Marvel films that are unrelated to the Disney MCU films — unleashes a universe-melding post-credits sequence that smushes together heretofore separate film franchises, owned and distributed by these different studios. As Eddie/Venom (Tom Hardy) lies on a bed watching TV for some much-needed R&R, the reality around him shifts and morphs. And suddenly, Eddie and Venom are watching the final moments ofSpider-Man: Far From Home, a Sony/Marvel movie thatispart of the MCU. And suddenly, it seems as though Venom is about to come crashing into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
How is this happening? What prompted this collision? And does it really and for serious mean Venom, his chickens, and his glowsticks are in the MCU? Luckily, our very own Steve Weintraub talked to the one guy who would likely know the answers to these questions:Kevin Feige.
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Feige, the president of Marvel Studios and producer of the MCU, spoke with us about the forthcomingSpider-Man: No Way Home, a film which boasts (and offers invitations to speculate upon) many universe-crossing appearances, withWillem Dafoe,Alfred Molina, andJamie FoxxjoiningTom Holland’s world from their previousSpider-Manfilms. Feige spoke about the inspiration for putting Venom into the MCU, praising those Sony films and Hardy’s work in the process:
“You look at the obvious comic connotations between Venom and Spider-Man and it is inherent. So the minute Sony made theirVenommovie and it worked as well as it did, and Tom Hardy became as iconic as he has become as Venom, then the obvious question is then, ‘How do we start to merge them?'”
Previously, Feige had spoken about the inter-studio communications that needed to happen for thisVenom 2/MCU stinger to logistically happen: “There was a lot of coordination — and if you don’t know all the coordination yet, I’m not going to be the one to tell you — but yes, between Sony and Marvel and theVenomteam and theNo Way Hometeam. We worked together on it.” Here, though, it’s fascinating to hear Feige’s creative reasonings for the crossover, from the obvious fidelity to the source material to Feige’s admiration of theVenomfilms.
Will Venom rear his symbiote-addled head inSpider-Man: No Way Home? The only way to find out is when it comes to theaters on July 21, 2025. Be on the lookout for the rest of our interview with Kevin Feige soon.
