Look, let’s be real. Nobody walks into a Venom movie expecting a Shakespearean tragedy or a tight, Christopher Nolan-esque puzzle box of a plot. We go because Tom Hardy is basically doing a one-man show where he argues with his own intrusive thoughts—which happen to be a seven-foot-tall space parasite with a craving for tater tots and human brains.
But Venom The Last Dance 2024 is different. It’s messy. It’s loud. Honestly, it’s kinda heartbreaking in a way that catches you off guard between the scenes of Eddie Brock losing his shoes.
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The movie officially dropped on October 25, 2024, and it’s been billed as the "grand finale." But is it really? Most people walked out of the theater debating whether that ending actually sticks or if Sony is just playing the long game with the King in Black. There’s a lot to dig through, from the bizarre Area 51 sequences to that very specific post-credits teaser that suggests the "Last Dance" might just be a very long intermission.
The Codex, Knull, and the Plot You Might’ve Missed
The biggest thing people get wrong about Venom The Last Dance 2024 is the stakes. This isn't just about Eddie running from the cops anymore. This time, the entire symbiote race is at risk because of something called the Codex.
Basically, because Venom revived Eddie in the first movie, they created a unique "key" that can unlock Knull. Who’s Knull? Only the literal God of the Symbiotes, played in a very "blink-and-you’ll-miss-him" capacity by Andy Serkis. Knull is trapped in a void on Klyntar, and he’s sent these terrifying, practically unkillable "Xenophages" to Earth to hunt Eddie down.
The catch is simple: the Xenophages can only see the Codex when Eddie is fully transformed into Venom.
It creates this weird, tense dynamic where Eddie and Venom have to stay separated to stay invisible. It’s a road trip movie through the Nevada desert, and it’s surprisingly personal. You’ve got Juno Temple playing Dr. Teddy Payne and Chiwetel Ejiofor as General Rex Strickland—two people trying to manage the "Imperium" facility under Area 51. While the military wants to weaponize or contain the symbiotes, the real threat is the giant space dogs tearing through the desert.
Why the Ending Is More Than Just a Sacrifice
The finale at Area 51 is a chaotic, multi-colored sludge-fest. I mean that in the best way possible. We see a whole bunch of different symbiotes bonding with lab workers—shoutout to the purple-hued Agony—to take on the Xenophages. But even an army of symbiotes isn't enough.
Venom realizes the only way to stop Knull from escaping is to destroy the Codex.
And the only way to destroy the Codex? One of them has to die.
Venom pulls the ultimate "lethal protector" move. He wraps himself around the Xenophages and drags them into an acid shower. It’s a brutal, permanent-looking goodbye. Strickland sets off a grenade to finish the job, and the Codex is vaporized. Eddie survives, wakes up in a hospital, and eventually finds himself in New York City, looking at the Statue of Liberty—just like Venom always wanted.
But here’s the thing: is Venom actually dead?
If you stayed through the credits, you saw the cockroach. You saw the broken vial. Earlier in the film, the movie goes out of its way to show General Strickland capturing a "shredding" of the Venom symbiote at a bar in Mexico. This tiny piece of "goop" is the loophole. Even if the main Venom body is gone, a fragment of him exists.
The Reality of the Box Office and Critical Reception
Critics haven't been kind. That’s nothing new. The movie holds a mixed rating, with many calling out the erratic pacing and the fact that it feels like two different films stitched together. One half is a goofy road trip with a hippie family (the Moons, played by Rhys Ifans and Alanna Ubach), and the other is a dry military sci-fi.
The math, however, tells a different story.
Against a budget of roughly $110 million, the film cleared over $478 million worldwide. It’s a massive hit, especially overseas. China, in particular, showed up in a big way. It proves that despite the "superhero fatigue" people keep talking about, there is still a huge appetite for characters that don't take themselves too seriously.
What Happens Next?
Kelly Marcel, who directed and wrote the film, has been pretty vocal about the fact that while this concludes the Venom trilogy, it’s only the "beginning" for Knull.
We’ve got a few hanging threads:
- Knull is awake: The mid-credits scene shows him promising to burn the world.
- The MCU Connection: There’s still that tiny piece of symbiote left in the Marvel Cinematic Universe from the No Way Home stinger.
- Agony and the others: Dr. Payne survived the explosion, and she's bonded with Agony.
Honestly, Sony would be crazy not to bring Tom Hardy back eventually. Whether it’s a Spider-Man crossover or a King in Black event, the pieces are on the board.
If you’re looking for a "how-to" on what to do next after watching, start by looking into the Donny Cates run of Venom comics. That’s where the Knull lore comes from, and it’s way darker and more epic than what we’ve seen on screen so far. If you want to keep the "Venom" energy alive, go back and watch the 2018 original—it’s fascinating to see how much the relationship between Eddie and his "buddy" evolved from a horror-comedy to a full-blown romance by the time the 2024 film rolled around.
The "Last Dance" might have ended, but in the world of comic book movies, nobody ever really stays off the dance floor for long.