'Venom 3' spoilers! Let's talk about 'Last Dance' villain reveal, post-credit scenes

Spoiler alert! We're discussing important plot points and the ending of “Venom: The Last Dance” (in theaters now), so beware if you haven’t seen it yet.

Many fans who went to see the latest “Venom” movie were probably hoping for an appearance by Spider-Man. That sadly didn’t come to pass, though moviegoers do get to bid adieu to an important character and say hello to a new cosmic supervillain.

“Venom: The Last Dance” seemingly closed the superhero trilogy starring Tom Hardy as both Eddie Brock and the title alien symbiote connected to him, a fan-favorite Spider-baddie from the Marvel comic books turned cinematic “lethal protector.” The new movie found Eddie and Venom on a buddy road trip to New York, looking to evade authorities – since Eddie is wanted for murder – as well as snarling outer-space beasts sent by Venom’s creator, the evil Knull (played via motion capture by Andy Serkis). The long-haired blond and brutish god of symbiotes, Knull is locked away on an alien planet, and the bonding of Eddie and Venom is the literal key keeping him from escaping and unleashing a wave of annihilation.

Let’s dig into the bittersweet ending, a pair of post-credit scenes, and the odds that this is indeed Eddie and Venom’s last dance.

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What happens in the ending of ‘Venom: The Last Dance’?

On the way from the Bay Area to the Big Apple and after a wild stop in Las Vegas, Eddie and Venom wind up at Area 51, where the government has been housing and studying other alien symbiotes. Knull’s violent creatures battle Venom and the symbiotes (who find human hosts in the rando scientists around), and Venom ultimately sacrifices himself to save the day. He disengages from Eddie and forms a web around the vicious beasts, which allows military man Rex Strickland (Chiwetel Ejiofor) to shower Venom with a liquid that dissolves the creatures but also our alien hero. (But not before he shares a final moment with Eddie.)

Eddie gets pardoned by the government and finally makes it to New York, where he takes in the Statue of Liberty – a landmark Venom really wanted to visit. “I won’t forget you, buddy,” he says.

Does the new ‘Venom’ movie have a post-credit scene?

It actually has two – one significant, the other cryptic. After the first wave of credits roll, we see an extra scene featuring Knull in close-up for a villainous rant. “The King in Black is awake,” he says, a reference to the Marvel Comics story line that featured Knull setting his sights on Earth. “I will kill your world. Everyone will burn and you will watch.” It’s not targeting anyone specifically but given that he’s a Thanos-level threat in the comics, it’s probably not great for the universe at large.

The other extra scene is at the very end following the last credits. It shows a cave in a wasteland where out comes a confused bartender played by Cristo Fernández (from “Ted Lasso”) that Eddie and Venom interacted with when they spent a little time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “Hello?!” he shouts across a large swath of nothing as he begins to walk. The camera closes in on a nearby cockroach skittering by a shattered test tube ? and it looks an awful lot like the one crushed by scientist Teddy Payne (played by Juno Temple) that unleashed a symbiote and turned her into a Venomized speedster.

So what does that all mean? Unclear. The locale resembles the Void, a purgatorial place that exists between the various universes as seen in “Loki” and most recently “Deadpool & Wolverine.” It could be a sign that symbiotes will play a role in future movies, the bartender might be getting a new alien friend, or, while Venom might be gone, the symbiote now in Teddy still survives.

Have we seen the last of Tom Hardy’s Venom?

Considering the Knull of it all, probably not. The post-credit scenes in Sony’s Marvel movies haven’t led to much – and given the bad feelings for both “Morbius” and “Madame Web,” probably won’t in the long run. But playing the Knull card means someone’s got plans for him, in some universe, and if he’s around, symbiotes will follow.

Moviegoers could see the return of Venom (and Knull) as early as the next “Spider-Man” film, which begins filming next summer with Tom Holland back as the web-slinging young hero. (The concept of the movie – directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and slated for release July 24, 2026 – is "crazy," Holland reports.) Maybe Eddie meets up with Peter Parker in New York City, Venom somehow comes along for the ride, and a dynamic duo becomes a terrific threesome.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Venom: The Last Dance' spoilers: post-credit scenes, ending unpacked