The real reason Michelle Williams is not in Venom 3

Sony Pictures have brought the unlikely duo of Eddie Brock and Venom back for one more ride. Venom: The Last Dance reunites the pair for a mission of escape, as they attempt to outrun all of the threats that are on their trail. That includes the FBI, who are still after them due to the events of 2021's Venom: Let There Be Carnage. But the biggest threat comes in the form of these new monstrous creatures from Venom's home world that seek to capture the symbiote. And at the heart of that new threat is the evil, prolific Marvel Comics villain known as Knull.

The Sony Marvel movie employs all of the elements that the Venom franchise is known for and it's sure to entertain the movie's devoted fanbase. It also features another two returnees to the franchise (outside of Tom Hardy, of course) as Stephen Graham returns as Detective Patrick Mulligan, while Peggy Lu also features as Mrs. Chen.

However, there is one staple of the Venom franchise that doesn't appear in the third film, and that is Michelle Williams, who played Anne Weying in the first two films.

Venom 3 director wanted to take Eddie and Venom away from everyone they loved

Venom: The Last Dance director Kelly Marcel has revealed why Michelle Williams didn't return as Anne Weying, telling The Hollywood Reporter that the third film was more of a "road trip story" so that most of the franchise's characters just didn't have a place in it.

"We really wanted to isolate them... We wanted to take them away from their comfort zone. We wanted to take them away from everything they knew and everyone they loved, so that they really only had each other to rely on now."

This is very effective in the movie, because Eddie and Venom have always been a dysfunctional duo that often split apart when they can't agree with each other, and it's only influence from their reliable loved ones, like Anne, that they managed to get on the same page again. To put them in a position where they had to work together, get along, and prove that they are the Lethal Protector they claim to be; it takes them out of their comfort zone.

As Marcel puts it, they really wanted the pair "to reach symbiosis with each other", and this road trip is the catalyst to allow them to achieve that. Anne was one of the only people who could make them see sense, and taking her out of the story meant that they would finally have to do it without a helping hand.

Anne is the former fiancee of Eddie Brock. Engaged in the opening act of 2018's Venom, their relationship broke apart when Eddie broke her trust to publish a major scoop. She has since found happiness with Dr. Dan Lewis, but the arrival of Venom and the world of the symbiotes did eventually result in her repairing her friendship with Eddie.

When we last saw Anne and Dan, they helped Eddie and Venom defeat Carnage and told him to leave before the police showed up. That kickstarted the events of the third movie as they are still on the run from the authorities when it picks up (after a very brief multiversal trip to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that is).

Marcel also comments on how their decision to stay together is the very thing that puts the world at risk, adding that this is one of the main reasons that this particular story could have only focused on them:

"...the very act of them being together means that the world is at risk. So they come to understand that the thing that they have chosen is actually their downfall, and so all of the characters from the previous movies — other than Peggy Lu’s Mrs. Chen — didn’t belong in this road trip story.""

It does represent the interesting pivot that the Venom franchise has taken. When the first movie was released, it very much implied that - even though Eddie and Anne had gone their separate ways in terms of a romantic pairing - there was still hope that the film's core couple would reunite in the sequel. In fact, both Venom and a character that the late, great Stan Lee cameod as, suggested that Eddie shouldn't give up hope of the pair getting back together.

But that all changed after the film was released. Although fans liked Anne as a character, the consensus appeared to be that the "romantic" heart of the movie was between Eddie and Venom. The unlikely duo may not have been thrilled by each other's presence, but they bonded more than physically, learning to trust and even love one another. As such, the fans began "shipping" the two more than the original film's core couple.

Marcel comments that this was part of the reason why Anne became more of a supporting character in 2021's Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Not only would that allow her and her fan-favorite partner Dan to continue to feature, it would also allow the Venom and Eddie relationship to take center stage - which it did.

It's definitely a shame that Venom: The Last Dance didn't find a way to incorporate Michelle Williams for a cameo appearance given how important Anne was to the franchise early on, but given the movie's focus on Venom and Eddie's final on-screen journey together (and that it wasn't set in San Francisco), it does make sense as to why the character was absent for this one.