Andy Serkis reveals Spider-Man was originally planned for Venom 2

Note: The following article contains spoilers for Venom: Let There Be Carnage. 

Venom: Let There Be Carnage didn’t only expand Eddie Brock’s story. It also delivered a jaw-dropping bombshell by connecting the Venom-verse with Tom Holland’s Peter Parker and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the film’s post-credits scene, Eddie and Venom are in a hotel room watching television when they’re abruptly transported to a new location.

The new television in front of them is playing Daily Bugle’s exposé on Peter Parker being Spider-Man, apparently establishing that Venom and Eddie are now in the MCU. The tease was a big step toward having Spider-Man meet the alien symbiote, but as it turns out, if things had gone a little differently, everyone’s favorite Wall-Crawler could have played a bigger role in Let There Be Carnage.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the sequel’s director Andy Serkis was asked whether the movie’s post-credits scene had gone through changes. Serkis confirmed it had, and subsequently stated that Spider-Man had a bigger part to play in some iterations of Let There Be Carnage:

"“100 percent in flux, […] It was something that they talked about from before I even came on to the movie. There were moments where [Spider-Man] was going to be in the story, potentially, and then he wasn’t. But no, we decided that we wanted to really examine the Venom-verse first. So as we were going through principal photography, the inevitable discussions had to be had, but it wasn’t until very, very late on that we reached the precise notion of the teaser that we wanted to lay in there.”"

The possibility of Spider-Man appearing in the Venom sequel is enticing. However, as Serkis explained, holding on to his eventual meeting with the gooey symbiote was for the best.

Building anticipation for Venom and Spider-Man’s crossover

Quite a few franchises have struggled to create their own cinematic universes because they usually rush into the crossover part of the equation before properly establishing their properties. With the Venom franchise, Sony and Serkis took a different route by focusing on fleshing out Eddie Brock and his universe before pushing him to crossover with another character.

By doing that, the studio has ensured that, when Venom finally meets Spider-Man, Eddie Brock and his gooey alter ego won’t just be new antagonists for Peter to fight. They will be fleshed-out characters with their own backstory and purpose. Furthermore, Sony has created enough anticipation to make the two Web-Slingers encounter an event — one that could translate to an impressive box-office run.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is now in theaters. Peter Parker’s adventures will continue in Spider-Man: No Way Home, which arrives on December 17, 2021.

Did you enjoy Venom: Let There Be Carnage? Are you excited at the possibility of the titular character now existing in the MCU? Let us know in the comments below!