Venom: Post-Credits Scenes Explained

This article contains major Venom spoilers. You have been warned.

So the Venom movie came out. Crazy, huh? Love it or hate it, at least it isn’t dull. Through the movie, we got to see the origin story of Eddie Brock and his alien comrade as they put an end to a corrupt pharmaceutical space program and saved the world from an alien invasion. By the end, things are looking up for Eddie and he even alludes to having a major interview on the horizon.

After the movie ends with promise that this buddy cop movie will continue, we get some Eminem rapping, a mid-credits scene, a lot of credits, then a post-credits scene for something very different.

VENOM MID-CREDITS SCENE

What happens: Eddie rides his motorcycle to a big prison, telling his symbiote that he’s there for Eddie business, not Venom business. The bored symbiote tells him to make it quick. It’s established that the man he’s interviewing has been tight-lipped and would only speak to Eddie. Eddie goes through with it because he figures he might be able to help the FBI uncover more of the prisoner’s victims.

The prisoner is heavily caged up and is wearing a straightjacket. His blood is smeared on the wall. He’s revealed to be played by Woody Harrelson in a silly, red wig. He speaks about chaos and Dadaism to Eddie with a voice of familiarity, as if he knows him on a personal level. He promises that he will one day escape and on that day, he will unleash carnage.

What it means: Well, obviously, the next movie will feature an appearance by Bob Terwilliger, otherwise known as Sideshow Bob. Voiced by Kelsey Grammer, Bob made his first appearance in the Simpsons epis—

Oh, that wasn’t Sideshow Bob? Huh.

So that was Cletus Kasady, otherwise known as Carnage. Created by David Michelinie, Erik Larsen, and Mark Bagley, Carnage made his first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #360 back in 1992. His appearance in this movie is the least-surprising thing as Carnage has always been Venom’s most well-known rival due to his status of being “Venom but more evil/violent/extreme.” He’s a lot more well-known than Riot, I’ll tell you that much.

Further Reading: Who is Carnage?

During a time when the Venom symbiote was in a coma, Eddie Brock was thrown into prison with Cletus. A remorseless serial killer with a love for violence and chaos, Cletus intended to kill Eddie for the hell of it. Before he had the chance, the symbiote returned, rejoined with Eddie, and Venom busted out of the joint. Little did Eddie know that the symbiote gave birth during that incident and left a gooey child behind. This new symbiote merged with a wound in Cletus’ hand and became a blood-based life form.

Carnage was such an unstoppable threat that at times, Spider-Man and Venom had to team up against him. He went on to star in his own event Maximum Carnage, which inspired its own red cartridge 16-bit videogame. Also, he was on Broadway!

No, seriously. This happened.

…That happened.

So that’s what Venom 2 is going to be. Venom vs. Carnage. Hopefully not inside the internet. That was a thing in the 90s.

The ramblings in that scene make it curious about what Cletus knows and what Cletus even is at this point. Does he know about Eddie Brock being Venom? Does he know about the symbiotes? Does he already have a symbiote and he’s just laying low for a second? Guess we’ll find out in a couple years unless Venom does terrible box office business.

further reading: Venom Comics Reading Order

What’s important is that Tom Hardy will finally have an opponent who can go just as over-the-top as he is. THAT is a sequel hook.

VENOM POST-CREDITS SCENE

What happens: Prefaced as an event happening in another Spiderverse, we are shown 4-5 minutes of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. We see Miles Morales in a cheap Spider-Man Halloween costume as he evades the supervillain the Prowler. When he does get away, we see him being watched from a nearby rooftop.

Miles then visits the grave of Peter Parker, which is covered in flowers, letters, and Spider-Man memorabilia. Miles claims that he isn’t right for this and can’t continue being Spider-Man. That’s when he’s greeted from behind by a stranger. Miles attacks him and knocks him out, only to realize that this man has web-shooters and looks like an unshaven Peter Parker.

Further Reading: Venom: Riot and the Life Foundation Symbiotes Explained

The police arrive and aim their guns. Knowing how bad this looks, Miles carries the unconscious Parker and tries to escape. He ends up having to Weekend at Bernies him by using Peter’s webbing to swing around. This energetic chase sequence comes to an end when the two fall off the underside of a bridge and land onto the sidewalk below as random people walk over them.

What it means: For Venom? Absolutely nothing.

But this is Sony trying to get people excited about Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which will be out on December 14. A very different movie from Venom, this one is more based on Miles Morales, who debuted in the Ultimate Marvel Universe after the death of its Peter Parker. The story is a bit of a mix of Spider-Men, Spider-Verse, and Webbed Warriors.

From this clip we can at least tell that the biggest difference between Spider-Verse Miles and Ultimate Miles is that the movie version is more in over his head. This big team-up is meant to give him the character development needed to figure out the whole hero business.

further reading: Complete Guide to Marvel Comics Easter Eggs in Venom Movie

What I’m wondering is how faithful is this version of the Prowler? In the Ultimate comics, the Prowler is Miles’ criminal uncle and is very responsible for Miles getting his powers.

Either way, while it is a random advertisement that we waited way too long to get to, the post-credits clip does show that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse looks fun as hell.

Gavin Jasper writes for Den of Geek and wonders if they can get Juliette Lewis to play Shriek in Venom 2. Read more of his stuff here and follow him on Twitter @Gavin4L