Venom 3 Features A Tiny Ghostbusters Easter Egg You Probably Missed
This article contains spoilers for "Venom: The Last Dance."
Dedicated followers of the superhero/comic book movies produced by Sony Pictures and its various production studios know how cinematic universe-minded the company has been for decades now. Sadly, a lot of their proposed ideas for combining their franchise characters into one film have been non-starters; we will never know what a "Sinister Six" movie would have looked like, and it's fair to say that we probably won't be seeing Dr. Michael Morbius or Cassandra Web again anytime soon. Right now, the only crossover movies Sony has under its belt is the Marvel co-production "Spider-Man: No Way Home" as well as "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" and its sequel, "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse." With those latter two movies existing in the animation world, a live-action crossover movie that doesn't involve a Marvel Studios team-up is still an elusive beast, one even Kraven the Hunter would have trouble tracking down.
Perhaps, however, Sony has finally found a backdoor workaround for another type of crossover. Remember the proposed "21 Jump Street" and "Men In Black" team-up movie that never came to pass? Well, what if the studio tried that again, but with two other wildly different yet strangely compatible franchises: "Venom" and "Ghostbusters?" 2024 has seen new entries in both series that clearly have an eye toward expanding their respective franchises, as "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" and this month's "Venom: The Last Dance" introduce either new characters or new concepts that could take their series into spin-offs. In addition to the latter movie showcasing the villain known as Knull (Andy Serkis), who could end up being the Sony Spidey universe's Thanos, it also contains an Easter egg for the "Ghostbusters" universe. Sure, this may be just a cute nod to another popular series, but if the conditions are right, perhaps it could lead to a crazy team-up, the likes of which are wild to imagine.
Ray's Occult Books found at Area 51 in Venom: The Last Dance
The Easter egg occurs during an establishing shot early in "Venom: The Last Dance," when scientist Teddy Payne (Juno Temple) reports for duty to Area 51, which is currently being decommissioned while the secret Area 55 next door continues its study of symbiotes. On a mailbox posted outside the entrance to Area 51 is a collection of geeky/occult/conspiracy theorist-style stickers. One of these stickers advertises Ray's Occult Books, the New York City shop owned and operated by Dr. Raymond Stanz (Dan Aykroyd) of the Ghostbusters. It's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance, so it's likely that a crossover idea is only a dim notion in the minds of the filmmakers.
However, it's not out of the realm of possibility! For one thing, the "Ghostbusters" series has recently been venturing further out beyond its origins in NYC. 2016's non-canon (for now) "Ghostbusters" was set in Boston, and 2021's "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" was set in Summerville, Oklahoma. If paranormal activity has gotten as far West as Oklahoma, it's reasonable to assume that it exists all over the rest of the country, if not the world. Ghostbusters CEO Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) implies as much when giving a tour of his Paranormal Research Center in "Frozen Empire," hinting that such centers can (and perhaps will) be established elsewhere in the US. So proton packs could show up as far as Nevada or San Francisco, the former haunt of investigative journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy).
There's yet another wrinkle of possibility: at the end of "The Last Dance," Brock has relocated to NYC, the home of the Ghostbusters! Who knows, maybe he'll wanna read up on more extraterrestrial happenings to see if he can get his buddy Venom back, and I'm sure Ray's has just the book for that. Or, maybe Eddie, who previously played host to a symbiote, will be a tantalizing target for a wandering malevolent spirit looking to possess a human. Or maybe Knull will attack Earth, and the Ghostbusters could find a way to banish him to another dimension!
Whatever happens, the groundwork has now been laid. Whether the sticker turns out to simply be a cute reference, or the beginning of a new adventure, only time will tell. If something happens, though, you'll know who to call!
"Venom: The Last Dance" is in theaters everywhere.