Venom: Let There Be Carnage Credit Scene Explained: It's Madness, Eddie
"Venom: Let There Be Carnage" has finally arrived in theaters after roughly a year of delays. As with many superhero flicks of the modern era, it also brings with it a post-credits scene. Sometimes these scenes are just having a little bit of fun. Other times they bring with them universe-shattering consequences and reveals. In the case of this particular movie, it's the latter option. So buckle up, because we've got an awful lot to talk about.
Warning: major spoilers ahead for "Venom: Let There Be Carnage." Proceed with caution.
The Lead Up to the Post-Credits Scene
The ending of "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" sees Eddie/Venom (Tom Hardy) defeat Cletus/Carnage (Woody Harrelson) in a deadly battle at the cathedral. Unfortunately for Eddie and Venom, they have caused a bit too much chaos and must flee the city. They bid farewell to Anne (Michelle Williams) and demonstrate a little bit of growth by wishing Dan (Reid Scott) well. Eddie and Venom share a lovely moment together on a park bench before deciding to stick together. They truly do deserve one another.
The last thing we see before the credits roll is Eddie and his symbiote companion hanging out on the beach in an undisclosed location. They exchange an awkward love for one another, the camera pulls away, and that's that. Or so we think. But this movie has saved its biggest surprise for last, and it's one of the most consequential moments in a superhero movie to come along in some time.
What Happens In the Post-Credits Scene?
Put on your tinfoil hat and get yourself in a calm place because things are about to get wild. After the animated portion of the credits concludes, we catch back up with Venom and Eddie in their rather nice hotel room on the beach. The two are having a playful argument of sorts about how Venom has vast knowledge from being part of an alien hive mind, while Eddie is begging to get just a taste of that knowledge. Venom relents, and things start to go haywire. The TV gets static-y and strange. The room doesn't feel right. At first, it seems like this is a result of Venom sharing some of that knowledge with Eddie. But when Venom declares that the madness going on has nothing to do with him, we know something big is up. Then a golden shockwave blasts through the room, and this franchise as we know it, and indeed the entirety of the onscreen Marvel universe (or should we say multiverse) has changed forever.
When Eddie looks at the TV again, we see none other than J. Jonah Jameson, as portrayed by J.K. Simmons, rambling away on his TV show, "The Daily Bugle." But this is not the version from Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" movies, mind you. Rather, this is the version of the character we were treated to in the bombshell post-credits scene attached to "Spider-Man: Far From Home" in which Jameson reveals that Tom Holland's Peter Parker is the one behind Spidey's mask. And then, sure enough, we see footage of a mask-less Spider-Man on-screen as Jameson bemoans him as a menace. Eddie watches on in confusion/wonder and Venom says "That guy" while licking the TV, perhaps hinting at some sort of complicated relationship, or just a tease of what's to come.
Then another man walks out of the bathroom, asking what Eddie is doing in his room. Clearly, all is not well in the multiverse. Madness, this way lies.
What Does This Mean for the Future of Venom?
Up to this point, the "Venom" movies have existed completely apart from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Tom Holland's Spider-Man. This is by design. Sony owns the movie rights to the "Spider-Man" franchise and all of its surrounding characters. Sony opted to make spin-off movies using what they had, crafting their own universe while Spidey was off playing with the Avengers. That has all changed. Perhaps Powerman 5000 put it best when they once sang "This is what it's like when worlds collide."
Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock/Venom is now poised to meet up with Spider-Man and, perhaps, other characters from the MCU. How, or when, this will happen remains to be seen. Though it is worth mentioning that the golden ring we see in the post-credits sequence looks an awful lot like the one Doctor Strange creates in the "Spider-Man: No Way Home" trailer that rips open the multiverse. These two events may well be connected. In any event, it's finally happening, people. We are in full-on multiverse mode and straight-up anything is possible at this point. So speculating any further without additional information would be useless, fun as it may be.
What Does This Mean for the MCU?
On the flip side, the MCU is now in for one heck of a shake-up. This now means that seemingly any character from Sony's universe can collide with characters in the MCU (provided that Sony and Disney continue to have a working relationship and care to share these characters). Venom could meet Doctor Strange. Jared Leto's Morbius could do science things with Mark Ruffalo's Hulk. Who knows? It's kind of all on the table now. Does this mean that the "Venom" movies now exist in the MCU? Not exactly, as the way the multiverse works hasn't been fully explained just yet. Though with "Spider-Man: No Way Home" arriving in December and "Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness" hitting theaters in March of next year, we're sure to learn a lot more soon enough. Madness is on the horizon indeed, dear reader.