How to watch Venom: The Last Dance as the trilogy concludes

Tom Hardy is reprising his role as gruff reporter turned gruffer alien symbiote creature in Venom: The Last Dance.

The threequel, also known as Venom 3, fits into a wider overall plan from Sony’s own spin-off Spider-Man universe. This alternate storyline has so far favoured villains or anti-heroes over traditional do-gooders, with Reuben Fleischer’s original Venom kicking things off in 2018, followed by Andy Serkis’ Let There Be Carnage sequel in 2021 and Daniel Espinosa’s Morbius in 2022.

Another Sony superhero outing, SJ Clarkson’s critically panned Madame Web, was released in February 2024. Looking ahead, the studio has even more comic book action in store, with the Aaron Taylor Johnson-fronted Kraven The Hunter set to pounce in December.

But what will Venom: The Last Dance entail, and will Spider-Man appear? Read on to discover everything we know about the film so far.

How can I watch Venom: The Last Dance?

Venom: The Last Dance will be swinging into cinemas on Friday, 25 October, and will later land on streaming services. As the title suggests, this will be Hardy’s final stint in the symbiote suit. It was initially due to premiere during the height of the summer blockbuster season on Friday, 12 July — but was later delayed due to the fallout from the Hollywood strikes.

The film will mark the feature debut of screenwriter-turned-filmmaker Kelly Marcel, who co-wrote part one and wrote all of part two. Marcel and Hardy penned the script for the threequel together.

What have critics said about Venom: The Last Dance?

Venom: The Last Dance has divided critics ahead of its big-screen release. The Guardian called the movie “a smartly planned conclusion to an inoffensively silly and low-stakes series”, and The Independent hailed Hardy’s “blissfully untethered performance” despite the script’s “dull exposition”.

Meanwhile, Digital Spy praised Marcel for giving the trilogy a “satisfying ending” that manages to be both “entertaining” and “emotional”.

However, The Telegraph’s one-star review branded the trilogy-topper “yammeringly moronic”, and said it “feels like the worst [superhero film] to have been released in 1998”. Read the full verdicts below:

• The Independent: Venom: The Last Dance is a delight when it’s not being a Madame Web rerun (3-min read)

• The Guardian: Messy sequel ends series with a shrug (4-min read)

• The Telegraph: A suitably moronic conclusion to Tom Hardy’s awful superhero trilogy (3-min read)

• Digital Spy: Venom 3 is the most entertaining movie of the trilogy (4-min read)

• The Hollywood Reporter: Tom Hardy wraps up his Marvel symbiote trilogy with a steroidal buddy movie (7-min read)

• Variety: Tom Hardy and his Alien entity go full buddy movie in a finale that shoots the works, Because why not? (5-min read)

Is there a trailer for Venom: The Last Dance?

The final trailer for Venom: The Last Dance shed a little more light on the titular symbiote’s origin story while showing us a few more snippets of Stephen Graham’s return to the Venom franchise.

The trailer also teased an emotional resolution between Eddie and his gooey, toothy counterpart. See all of this for yourself — plus a tantalising look at horse Venom — by hitting play below.

The first trailer for Venom: The Last Dance burst online in June and wasted no time turning the action all the way up to 11 as we reteam with Eddie and his symbiote pal.

Watch it below.

Who is in the Venom: The Last Dance cast?

As previously mentioned, Hardy will once again slip into the slimy symbiote suit to play (or at least voice) Venom and his human counterpart, Eddie Brock. Meanwhile, Boiling Point star Graham reprises his role as Patrick Mulligan, a detective who has his own symbiote named Toxin.

Lord of the Rings’ Andy Serkis, who directed the second film, will voice supervillain Krull, while Ted Lasso’s Juno Temple will be joining the franchise as scientist Dr Payne. Doctor Strange’s Chiwetel Ejiofor will portray Rex Strickland, a military man trying to capture the symbiote.

Peggy Lu will be back as convenience store owner Mrs Chen, a role she also played in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Rhys Ifans, who played the Lizard in the Amazing Spider-Man films, will appear as a UFO-obsessed tourist called Martin.

Will Spider-Man be in Venom: The Last Dance?

As it stands, it’s still unknown whether Tom Holland’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man may play a part in Venom: The Last Dance following his crossover tease at the end of the last movie. Hardy recently told a fan event: “Will we ever meet Spider-Man? You know, see, there are always possibilities. But I can’t possibly say anything because this is the last movie. I would love that.”

Read more: Every upcoming Spider-Man film

In a separate chat at New York Comic Con, the actor said he wanted his symbiote to share the screen with Holland’s web-slinger. He told fans: “I would love to fight Spider-Man. I would love to fight him now. I’m happy to fight Spider-Man today, 100 percent. I would never say never.

“We were specifically set up to bring Venom to a movie format, and that’s what we’ve done. The Last Dance is the final piece in that trilogy and we’re really excited about that.”

Earlier this month, Holland teased his return to the Spidey suit in the upcoming Spider-Man 4, saying that he and co-star Zendaya have already read a script for the fourquel. Only time will tell whether he pops up in Venom: The Last Dance before then.

What will happen in Venom: The Last Dance?

According to the film’s official synopsis, Venom: The Last Dance will find Eddie and Venom on the run. “Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance,” it says.

Sadly, that’s all the Venom knowledge we have at the moment. When it comes to Venom: The Last Dance, information about what it may have in store is being kept close to the character’s gooey chest.

What happens in the other Venom films?

For those unfamiliar with the franchise so far, let us fill you in on what you’ve missed. Hardy’s Brock is an investigative journalist who stumbles upon a gooey sentient alien that uses him as its ‘host’ and imbues him with violent, superhuman abilities and an unquenchable hunger for bad guys.

Fleischer’s first film set up the world, introducing us to Brock and his ex-fiancée Anne Weying, played by Michelle Williams, and Riz Ahmed’s villainous Carlton Drake AKA Riot, a rival symbiote hellbent on destroying Earth.

In Serkis’ sequel, Sony takes a step closer to Marvel’s mainline Spider-Man universe by introducing us to Woody Harrelson’s Cleetus Kasady, better known to comic fans as cult-fave character Carnage.

Serkis also dips the franchise’s toes into the multiverse playground, setting things up nicely for a potential future crossover with Holland’s Peter Parker and the mainline MCU’s current Spider-Man.

Venom: The Last Dance will be released in cinemas on Friday, 25 October