Venom 3's Big Credits Scene Tries To Give The Spider-Man Universe Its Own Thanos

EDDIE! There are no chocolate or human heads here, only major spoilers for "Venom: The Last Dance."

The last dance has been danced, the Earth has been saved from the greatest threat the symbiotes have ever faced, and the Venom/Eddie Brock story has been told to its most satisfying conclusion ... or has it? "Venom: The Last Dance" has been marketed all along as the end of the line for our favorite bromantic duo, marking a fitting swan song for the unlikeliest of comic book franchises. Sony's Spider-Man Universe (yes, that really is the official name for a franchise that, thus far, doesn't actually include Spider-Man) officially kicked off with 2018's "Venom," and six years later we now have a full-fledged trilogy that's likely garnered far more success than the studio ever could've imagined it would. With so much success under its belt and plenty of potential left unfulfilled, however, would the powers that be really pull the plug on what's been one of their most reliable heavy-hitters in recent years?

One of the post-credits scene at the end of "Venom: The Last Dance" would suggest otherwise, and it has the villain to back it up. Going in, viewers knew that the main antagonist of the threequel would be the terrifying Knull. What nobody could've anticipated was just how little screen time the character would receive throughout the film, with writer/director Kelly Marcel purposefully holding back on the symbiote big bad — not unlike what Marvel Studios did with Thanos back in 2012 during "The Avengers." Firmly established as the man behind the curtain (so to speak), Knull spends the entire movie imprisoned on the symbiote homeworld of Klyntar, sending his buglike Xenophages to mercilessly hunt down Venom and Eddie in order to recover the key to his release: the "codex" they inadvertently carry within them.

But it's not until the mid-credits stinger that Knull's evil plan finally takes shape.

Remember when everyone and their mother watched the thrilling final act of "The Avengers," giddily stayed through the entirety of the end credits, and were rewarded with one of the best MCU post-credits teases ever? It's tough to say that "Venom: The Last Dance" entirely captures that same visceral feeling of the unknown, but the scene is at least guaranteed to leave moviegoers scratching their heads. That's mostly because Knull remains a complete non-factor throughout "The Last Dance," despite all the hype that comic book fans likely brought in with them. Weird!

Luckily, for those looking for a Cliff's Notes summary of Knull, that's where we come in. While "Venom" has neither the time nor the interest to really sink its symbiote fangs into the villain's backstory, the comics themselves explain everything fans need to know about Knull. Popularly known as the creator of the symbiotes, Knull is essentially a cosmic entity of unimaginable power with ties going back to the universe's most ancient past. Predating even the primordial Celestials, the supervillain hails from the vast emptiness of the Void – Get it? Knull and Void? Comics, folks! — and eventually sets his sights on conquering the rest of the known universe in a war waged against the very concept of light. Along the way, he ends up brushing capes with Thor, the Fantastic Four, and the symbiotes that he created. When his own creations turn against him and imprison him on Klyntar (which literally means "cage"), he remains under lock and key, perpetually waiting for his chance to escape and wreak havoc once again.

The vast majority of those fascinating facts aren't present and accounted for in "Venom: The Last Dance," unfortunately, but at least that means a potential follow-up film could help fill in the blanks down the line.

If you can't beat 'em, shamelessly copy their formula! The entirety of Sony's mini-franchise made up of Spider-Man's gallery of rogues owes its existence to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so I suppose there's something to be said for taking a page out the blockbuster that emphatically proved its success in the first place: "The Avengers." Nothing else in "Venom: The Last Dance" can really be compared to their rival's super-popular crossover movie, of course (look no further than the first social media reactions to the movie), but there is something eerily similar about how the script treats Knull.

Voiced by actor and "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" director Andy Serkis, Knull is ostensibly the main antagonist of the film. I say "ostensibly" because, well, he doesn't really do anything of note. He starts the film on his imposing throne, trapped on the symbiote planet Klyntar for reasons that are only kind of explained, and he ends the film in exactly the same place. In between, he sends his Xenophage minions to hunt down Venom on Earth through a series of conveniently-placed portals. (Why Knull himself can't simply use those portals to escape his prison is, naturally, left to our imagination.) It's only until after the final shot of Lady Liberty that he steals from Thanos' playbook in "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and basically reenacts his own version of, "Fine, I'll do it myself" – iffy-looking CGI and all. In this case, he vows to rain destruction on our planet and everyone on it.

How will Knull do that when the codex is dead and gone after Venom's heroic act of self-sacrifice? Your guess is as good as ours. The next stage of his plan could take place in a potential "Venom 4," or perhaps another Sony spin-off movie entirely. Whatever the case, it's clear we haven't seen the last of him yet.

"Venom: The Last Dance" is now playing in theaters.