Who plays Knull in Venom 3? Casting rumors explained

Venom: The Last Dance introduces Knull on screen for the first time, one of the most powerful, dangerous villains in Marvel’s canon – and there were plenty of rumors about who would play him.

The title of Venom 3 isn’t a red herring: the threequel is the final installment in Tom Hardy’s franchise.

As such, it’s going out with a bang and one of the biggest baddies from the comics: Knull, the god of darkness and father of the symbiotes.

He was first name-dropped briefly, barely seen in the trailers. Now the movie’s out, there are no secrets that remain. So, who’s taking on the big bad of the symbiotes?

Who plays Knull?

Andy Serkis plays Knull in Venom: The Last Dance.

Serkis is no stranger to the Venom movies, since the veteran actor actually directed the sequel, Let There Be Carnage, in 2021.

So Norman Reedus isn’t playing Knull?

Sorry, Knull-heads, Norman Reedus doesn’t play the villain in Venom 3, but it’s easy to see how you may have been duped.

On X/Twitter, Cinema Souless posted a tweet claiming that Reedus is playing Knull and attributed it to the official Venom account, suggesting it was a real announcement.

Sony Pictures

This is a classic case of grifting. The account responsible for this misinformation only has 154 followers, so it’s not exactly a reputable news source, and it often posts unsubstantiated claims. In one tweet, it alleged Spider-Man 4 (which hasn’t started production) has a runtime of two hours and 45 minutes, seemingly as per Sony – something conjured out of thin air.

Unfortunately, Rejected Scooper – a much larger account with a 20k-plus following – also posted the Reedus casting, leading more to believe this rumor.

Who are the villains in Venom 3?

Knull is just one of Venom 3’s antagonists. Hardy’s Eddie and Venom will also face off against the Xenophage, the symbiotes who crash into Earth and start hunting for them.

Sony Pictures Releasing

That’s not all. They’ll contend with Chiwetel Ejiofor’s military man Rex Strickland, who also wants to catch Venom.

And then there’s the small matter of Toxin, the inevitable symbiote attached to Patrick Mulligan (Stephen Graham). At the end of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, he was nearly killed by Shriek – but he survived, and we last saw his eyes turning a different color.

Venom 3 is in theaters now.

For more, check out our list of the best superhero movies of all time and our ranking of the MCU movies. You can also learn more about the Xenophage and find out how Venom 3 ends. Don’t miss our guide on how to watch the Venom movies, too!