How the Venom 3 post-credits scenes set up Knull as a major villain in future movies

Well, we’ve hit the end of the road for Eddie and Venom in Venom: The Last Dance, but the post-credits scenes leave a big door open for Knull to make his return. (Warning: spoilers ahead!)

One of the biggest sources of hype for Venom: The Last Dance was the long-awaited appearance of Knull. The King in Black is a prevailing supervillain in the Venom universe, meaning the stakes were high for our toxic duo.

However, Knull’s screen time in the new movie is minimal, serving as more of a tease for the character than anything else. But there’s multiple post-credits scenes in Venom 3 that strike up potential symbiote movies, and Knull might be a part of them.

Here’s a breakdown of all the Venom 3 post-credits scenes and what they mean for the future of Marvel.

Does Venom 3 have any post-credits scenes?

There’s one mid-credits scene and one post-credits scene in Venom: The Last Dance; one centers around Knull promising to come back, while the other sees Cristo Fernández’s barman stumble out of the wreckage of Area 51.

Obviously, one of these scenes is a little more integral than the other, but both suggest there’s still a future in this particular universe, despite the fact that Venom and Eddie’s relationship is now over.

Mid-credits scene explained

The mid-credits scene is Knull sitting on his throne, reciting a monologue that explains how he’ll be back and will “annihilate” our world. 

He also says “the King in Black is awake,” and that “everyone will burn”. Then, he lifts his head, giving us a look at his face for the first time.

Sony Pictures Releasing

He missed his shot to escape this time, but that doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of him. All in all, Knull had very limited screen time in Venom 3, which serves as more of a set-up for the character than a full-on debut. 

Obviously, this appears to set up the ‘King in Black’ comic storyline, which saw Knull and his symbiotes invade Earth, leaving Eddie, the Avengers, and the X-Men to stop them.

It’s unlikely this potential storyline will come into effect immediately (Eddie Brock is now free and the Avengers will soon be busy with Doctor Doom), but it does leave the door open for Knull to make a play for the MCU. Or at least, more Sony Spider-Man movies.

Director Kelly Marcel even said [via Variety]: “This is just the introduction to Knull. He’s a massive, massive character so you can never be one-and-done with him. This is just a little taster of Knull. We get to meet him. What the future holds for him, who knows.”

Post-credits scene explained

After the credits are over, another scene shows the barman from the beginning of the movie stumble outside after everyone has left the Area 51 wreckage. 

Earlier in the movie, he’d been captured by Strickland and his team as they followed Eddie and Venom’s movements. As he walks out into the desert, calling for help, we see a cockroach walk over to a broken vial that contains symbiotic matter.

Sony Pictures Releasing

It’s already being dubbed as “the most random end credit scene ever seen in a superhero film,” since it doesn’t really serve a huge purpose. That said, it does tease the possibility of more symbiote stories in the future, even if they aren’t focused around Venom and Eddie. 

In Venom 3, we saw an army of other symbiotes, including those who bonded with the likes of Dr. Payne and “Christmas.” Not all of these symbiotes survived, but a couple did, including what looked like Agony.

On this, Marcel said: “The plot for Eddie and Venom closes here. But as you know, there are lots of symbiote stories in the canon. There are lots of places to go, and maybe there are a few Easter eggs in here that might start that journey off.”

Because there are still symbiote samples in the wreckage of Area 51, it stands to reason that Sony’s Marvel universe could expand with the likes of Knull and other symbiotes. There are plenty of them, after all. 

For more, take a look at all the upcoming Marvel movies. You can also read about how to watch the Venom movies in order, and see who’s strongest out of Knull and Thanos.