SPOILER ALERT: Be warned, this article contains big spoilers about Venom. Proceed at your own risk.
Venom has officially arrived, and like most comic book movies, it came with its share of surprise reveals and telling Easter eggs. We asked director Ruben Fleischer about what the movie’s biggest surprises mean for the future of the franchise, and here’s everything we found out.
Yep, That Is Definitely Carnage in the Post-Credits Scene
In the big post-credits scene, Eddie Brock, his journalism career restored, interviewed an enigmatic inmate played by none other than actor Woody Harrelson. In case the rumors didn’t give it away, the shock of bright red hair and pointed use of the word “carnage” made it official: Serial killer Cletus Kasady, aka Carnage, will find his way into a potential Venom sequel. “What’s so exciting about [Venom] and this world is that it can really go anywhere,” Fleischer told FANDOM of the big Carnage reveal.
Who is Carnage, and why is he a big deal? In the comics, Eddie Brock met serial killer Cletus Kasady in jail, where Kasady was serving eleven consecutive life sentences. When the Venom symbiote tried to break Brock out of prison, it gave birth to another symbiote. This baby symbiote bonded with Kasady, creating the creature Carnage. Yup, comics are weird.
This bond heightened Kasady’s instability, and Carnage went on a murderous rampage all over New York City. Carnage is a true villain and shouldn’t be taken lightly — it’ll be interesting to see how he fits in with Venom’s humorous PG-13 world, especially with Woody Harrelson driving.
That Dead Astronaut Might Be an Important Spider-Man Link
In Venom, one of the astronauts killed upon re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere had a very familiar and possibly important last name: Jameson. You probably know J Jonah Jameson as the Daily Bugle newspaper editor constantly shouting for more pictures of Spider-Man in Sam Raimi’s Tobey Maguire-led movie trilogy. You might also remember that in 2004’s Spider-Man 2 Jameson’s son John, an astronaut, was engaged to Mary Jane Watson before she left him at the altar.
In the Venom comics, the Jameson family has a more superhero-centric backstory. J Jonah Jameson’s son, J Jonah Jameson III, was a NASA astronaut who later became the character Man-Wolf — a very fancy kind of space werewolf. The quick ‘Jameson’ reference in Venom is our first reference to the family since Tom Holland took over as Spider-Man in 2017. Could this mean a more connected Venom/Spider-Man universe?
When asked about Jameson, Fleischer didn’t rule anything out. “Who knows where this will all go, but we tried to lay the groundwork for some intersecting worlds, and I think it’s exciting to imagine the possibilities of really exploring all of these different directions.”
We Could (and Should) Get More She-Venom
One of the best moments in Venom was Anne Weying’s brief appearance as She-Venom. When asked about her portrayal of Anne, actor Michelle Williams told FANDOM that she wanted Anne to be “a woman who was empowered and believed in her own worth enough to ask for respect and equality.” What could be more fitting equality than getting a symbiote alter ego of her own?
We asked Fleischer if we might see more of Anne as She-Venom in the future, and his answer gave us a lot of hope: “Nothing is ruled out.” We know that Michelle Williams is down to take on the role in a larger capacity, and we’re certainly ready to see more She-Venom, so yes, let’s do this.
Fleischer continued, “One of my favorite moments is the appearance of She-Venom, albeit brief. That is certainly a character I would like to spend more time with and would be excited to see where she goes in the future.” And considering Anne got a heavy make-out session with Eddie while she was taken over by Venom, is a twisted love triangle on the table now? Only time will tell.
Venom is in theaters now.