While Venom 2 will exist in Sony's Marvel Universe, the movie could also connect to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and, in particular, Tom Holland's take on Spider-Man - here's how. Starring Tom Hardy, 2018's Venom was a somewhat surprising success. The R-rated movie may have received negative reviews, but that didn't stop audiences from flocking to see it, with Venom grossing over $850 million at the box office, breaking several October records in the process.
With lots of praise from fans, that kind of commercial success, and the viability of this being a cornerstone of Sony's Marvel Universe, it's no surprise that a sequel was soon put into action. Venom 2 is expected to be released in October 2020, with Hardy reprising his role as Eddie Brock. It's also set to build on Venom's post-credits scene, with Woody Harrelson fully stepping into the role of Cletus Kasady, aka Carnage.
The release of Venom 2 will come at an interesting time, as it'll be just a few months after Morbius lands. Starring Jared Leto, the Morbius trailer confirmed it connects to the MCU, with a reference to Spider-Man and an appearance from Michael Keaton's Vulture. That then opens the door for Venom 2 to tie itself into the MCU directly as well, with a few possible options as to how it does so.
Venom 2, like its predecessor, exists within Sony's Marvel Universe, aka Sony's Universe of Marvel Characters. Although the studio initially tried to launch this with The Amazing Spider-Man movies, the relative failure of that franchise put plans on the backburner, meaning it officially started with 2018's Venom. The next installment will be Morbius, while there's an untitled Sony Marvel movie scheduled for October 2021. However, while Venom 2 has its feet firmly planted in the SMU or SUMC, it does now technically exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well.
Since Venom shares its world with Morbius, which has been confirmed as part of the MCU, then Venom 2 is part of the universe by association if nothing else. Sony's marketing has taken Venom 2 and Morbius' MCU connections further - an Instagram post from the Flash Thompson account, set up as part of their viral marketing campaign, alludes not only to vampires but also Cletus Kasady. This directly links the MCU's Spider-Man, Morbius, and Venom 2 together, before either of the two Sony movies have even released.
Venom 2 being linked to the MCU through viral marketing is fine, but it's also likely that Sony (& Marvel) will want a more tangible connection for audiences, since what matters most is what's on the big screen in front of the world, not what the die-hard fans will see on social media. Given the tease in Morbius, one of the most logical - and easy - ways of doing that right now would be another cameo from Michael Keaton's Vulture, who we know has at least a minor appearance in the Jared Leto film.
Keaton's Vulture was the first main villain of the MCU Spider-Man era, and there's a sense that there is still plenty of unfinished business as far as his character arc is concerned. His appearance in Morbius likely has greater ramifications beyond just being a fun cameo, and with that in mind there's a plausible scenario whereby Vulture is setting up (or at least helping to establish) the Sinister Six in the MCU. There's some debate about whether or not the MCU's Sinister Six would even be villains, since Venom is depicted more as an anti-hero (and it's expected Morbius will be too), but regardless there's a clear throughline in that you can have Keaton serving as the Sinister Six's version of Nick Fury, going from movie to movie and putting together the team, which would weave nicely into Venom 2.
While it's easy to imagine that Venom 2's MCU connections will come via the symbiote, it's also possible that it ties more into Eddie Brock than it does the Black Suit. As in the comics, Venom's Brock is an investigative journalist, although in the 2018 movie he loses his job after becoming embroiled in a trial regarding the Life Foundation. By the end of Venom, though, he's finding his way back into journalism, with Brock set to interview Cletus Kasady. While Brock in the comics typically works for The Daily Globe, it isn't unprecedented that he works for the Marvel universe's more famous publication, The Daily Bugle - which now just so happens to exist in the MCU.
The new Daily Bugle isn't a newspaper, but rather a right-wing conspiracy website in the mold of InfoWars, with J.K. Simmons' J. Jonah Jameson echoing Alex Jones and others. If Brock needs work, then it's very possible that, as someone who is clearly willing to get his hands dirty for a story, The Daily Bugle could come calling. This may then tie directly into the Bugle's campaign against Spider-Man, after outing his identity in Spider-Man: Far From Home's post-credits scene, or it could be more concerned with the Kasady story: the viral marketing post mentioned earlier featured The Daily Bugle front page and had a headline about Kasady escaping, so that could be what leads to Brock's involvement initially, before setting up a role in the life of Spider-Man/Peter Parker.
There are a few different ways that Venom 2 could tie into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but none would be as major a deal as an actual appearance from Tom Holland's Spider-Man himself. One of the biggest concerns many Marvel fans had about a Venom solo movie in the first place was that the character is intrinsically linked to Spider-Man, and so it's hard to fully do him justice without the web-head being there. Venom partially proved those doubters wrong thanks to the incredible dual performance from Tom Hardy, but there's no doubting that things would be even better if this Venom had a Spider-Man to go up against. There were rumors that 2018's Venom would feature a cameo from Peter Parker, but they didn't come to pass, with reports the scene was cut by Marvel.
That same chatter has surfaced again, with rumors that Holland's Spider-Man will cameo in Venom 2. It remains to be seen just how true that is, but if Sony and Marvel are looking to bridge the universes, and with Sony holding a lot of the cards in the new Spider-Man deal, then it would make sense to have him appear in Venom 2 in some capacity. This would most likely just be a small role, and may be Peter rather than Spider-Man (though the world knows they're one and the same now), but it's a pretty logical step ahead of Spider-Man 3 and shouldn't be too hard to work in, even if it's just news footage or a fleeting meeting between the two. It could even bring together some of the other threads - The Daily Bugle and Vulture, for instance - and laying the groundwork for a much bigger Venom v Spider-Man fight to come in the future.
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