VENOM 3: 8 Villains We Could See In Tom Hardy And Kelly Marcel's Upcoming Threequel

Tom Hardy and Kelly Marcel are in the midst of developing Venom 3, and with Juno Temple (Ted Lasso) the first major casting addition, we have some thoughts on which villains could appear in the threequel.

By JoshWilding - Apr 29, 2023 11:04 AM EST

Filed Under: Venom

Announced during last year's CinemaCon, Venom 3 is expected to arrive in theaters next year and will be directed by longtime franchise scribe Kelly Marcel. She co-wrote the threequel's screenplay with star Tom Hardy and we recently learned that Ted Lasso star Juno Temple is the first major addition to the cast.

There was no mention of the movie at this week's CinemaCon in Las Vegas, with the focus instead shifting to Kraven the Hunter.

However, the project remains in development and cameras are likely to begin rolling in a matter of months. With Venom 3 taking shape, we've been giving some thought to which villains Eddie Brock and his Symbiote could square off against in 2024. This franchise has divided fans from the start, but it has a lot of untapped potential and we'd like this trilogy to end on a long-overdue high note...and that requires an effective big bad.

To take a look through this feature, all you guys need to do is hit the "Next" button below!

8. The Fortunato Family

If you read Mark Millar's superb Marvel Knights: Spider-Man run, you'll know that a wimpy young man called Angelo Fortunato became the second man to wear the Venom Symbiote after Eddie Brock sold it at auction. Finally able to take his frustrations out on those around him, Angelo quickly embraced his other's monstrous nature but died when the Symbiote abandoned him.

Angelo was part of the Fortunato crime family, and as we've already seen a group like The Life Foundation taking on Venom, it makes sense for the Lethal Protector to next go head-to-head with a family of crooks.

There are other ways Angelo could don his own alien suit, of course, but the family stealing the suit from Eddie and giving it to Angelo would make for an intriguing arc. It also means the reporter would have no other choice than to go to war without his alien buddy by his side.

7. Stewart Ward

Senator Stewart Ward was introduced during Howard Mackie's awful Amazing Spider-Man run in the 1990s and was aligned with HYDRA. However, when some of Spider-Man's villains learned of his true nature - and the fact that he'd been infected with an alien virus - they attempted to extort him and he squared off with both Spidey and Venom.

If that all sounds a bit convoluted and crappy, it's because it was. But a United States Senator with an alien side could work well here, especially if he's actually serving the Symbiotes and uses his influence to send a group like The Jury after Venom at their request. He's far from an essential addition to a third movie, but he's someone Sony could use in a lot of cool ways.

A villain like this also leaves the door open to further exploring Eddie's journalistic skills and Venom's desire to be a Lethal Protector.

6. Demogoblin

Jason Philip Macendale Jr. was the Hobgoblin, but after being defeated by both Spider-Man and the Green Goblin, he made a deal with a demon that saw him imbued with incredible powers...and possessed by a demonic entity. Eventually, the demon tore itself away from Macendale and become the Demogoblin.

Demogoblin aligned itself with Carnage during the "Maximum Carnage" storyline, and there are lots of ways the character could be reinvented for the big screen. Having Venom go up against some sort of demon (who we're sure could be tied to the Symbiotes in some manner) might result in a fun and crazy dynamic that takes this franchise down some crazy, supernatural routes.

That's a side of Venom's world the movies have yet to explore, so Demogoblin opens the door to a lot of new storytelling avenues that are vastly more exciting than more symbiote vs. symbiote action.

5. The Jury

The Life Foundation proved to be a pretty underwhelming bunch of goons led by Carlson Drake, but The Jury could be a big improvement and a great secondary antagonist for Venom 3.

Led by General Orwell Taylor, this group existed solely to take out Venom, and they were a huge part of Eddie's time as a Lethal Protector (which appears to be where this franchise is heading).

Each member of The Jury was outfitted with powerful armoured suits and tech based on Tony Stark's designs. Throw in the fact that they had sonic blasters and flamethrowers, and it's not hard to imagine the government tasking this clandestine group with taking out an apparent threat like Venom. Remember, his existence appears to have been exposed to the world he calls home, hence why he's now in hiding.

4. Knull

Venom dropped some big hints that the Symbiotes hail from an alien planet, and Knull is definitely a character with a lot of potential in a live-action setting. In the comics, he's the God of the Symbiotes and the ancient being responsible for their creation. It all depends on how much Sony wants to delve into their origin story and whether they'll take this franchise down a more sci-fi route.

It's a shame that Venom: Let There Be Carnage didn't spend a little more time exploring the alien's history, though the post-credits scene at least hinted that there are countless Symbiotes all connected through some sort of hive-mind.

Knull feels like the ultimate big bad for this franchise, and rushing him wouldn't do the villain justice. Perhaps Venom 3 could introduce him, setting the stage for a final clash in Venom 4? Either way, this relatively new character from the comic books could be a game-changer for the franchise, even as a way to conclude the trilogy.

3. Toxin

In one of Venom and Carnage's most entertaining clashes, the two Symbiotes went to war after Toxin was born. Carnage's child and Venom's grandson, the Toxin Symbiote bonded with NYPD officer, Patrick Mulligan. Unlike Eddie Brock and Cletus Kasady, Pat was never tempted to give in to his darker impulses and constantly struggled to keep Toxin on the side of the angels.

The stage for this was set in the closing moments of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and there's definitely some potential for a good story here, especially as Toxin's abilities essentially make him poisonous to the other Symbiotes. A cop unleashing the powers of one of these aliens is also very different to a journalist and serial killer, so that might be fun to explore.

This feels like an inevitability for the next Venom movie, but Pat would probably be a better secondary villain than lead, even with the extremely talented Stephen Graham bringing Toxin to life.

2. Anti-Venom

Eddie Brock became Anti-Venom when both he and the symbiote crossed paths with Mr. Negative. Thanks to his newfound powers, Anti-Venom could destroy other symbiotes with just a touch, and that could be essential if we finally see more of these aliens make their presence felt in an invasion.

In terms of introducing Anti-Venom as a brand new character, that's certainly one possibility, but it's hard to say who could fill that role. However, we wouldn't say no to Eddie donning this suit while Anne Weying finally suits up as She-Venom for more than just a couple of scenes.

Reimagining Anti-Venom as a man-made antagonist is another compelling possibility, while we think merging him with Agent Venom could also result in a fun adventure for Eddie and his other. This could even be the next evolution of Venom, setting the stage for very different stories in Sony's Spider-Verse moving forward.

1. Scream

Absolute-Carnage-Scream-Vol-1-2-Bagley-Connecting-Variant-Textless-copy

Who could Juno Temple play in Venom 3? Well, we've found our top pick and it's Scream. Another of the Symbiotes created by the Life Foundation after they forcibly extracted five "seeds" from Venom and hatched them, this makes sense on a number of levels.

The groundwork was actually laid for Scream's debut way back in Venom and we never really found out what became of the alien. Revisiting that here makes perfect sense, particularly as it would connect this movie with the first one in a meaningful way. Scream has had a number of hosts and pitting Venom - and even She-Venom - against a female threat has all the makings of a compelling, exciting story.

Temple is an immense talent and someone we can really see doing Scream justice on screen, particularly if she's given the chance to unleash her inner maniac as Woody Harrelson (mostly) did playing Carnage.

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27 Comments

ChrisRed - 4/29/2023, 11:13 AM

They kinda have to include Toxin after he was teased in V2.
That said, both Anti-Venom and Scream would be awesome.
So would Demogoblin (would love if the villain wasn't a symbiote this time around) but he is probably too unlikely.

Feralwookiee - 4/29/2023, 11:24 AM

I've never found Venom or Eddie to be a very interesting character to begin with, but remove Spidey from the equation and it gets even less interesting.

To each his own, but I can't see the fun in these villains and side characters alone. Sony is just gonna keep scraping the bottom of the barrel and churning out this excrement until people stop paying to see it.

Slotherin - 4/29/2023, 2:58 PM

@Feralwookiee - you're not wrong.
More symbiotes is boring.

philinterrupted - 4/29/2023, 11:33 AM

Try a non symbiotic character this time.

MyCoolYoung - 4/29/2023, 11:41 AM

I think Sony missed their chance to do a spin off or team up movie with venom before a venom 3. There was nothing really interesting enough about venom 2 to necessitate a third one

TheIronDuck - 4/29/2023, 12:17 PM

The big bad of this movie is already the people who hate it just because it's being made.

SonOfAGif - 4/29/2023, 12:31 PM

Or just maybe... Spider-Man? Perhaps Andrew Garfield? Allow Peter 3 to get his wish to fight an Alien.

TheSuperMex - 4/29/2023, 1:03 PM

@SonOfAGif - yup. Have Spider-Man be the villain. Never show his face if they don’t have Garfield.

DocSpock - 4/29/2023, 12:32 PM

Sony and their junk Venom will wear everyone out on symbiotes long before we see a proper Venom vs. Spidey in the MCU.

This is very sad.

SonOfAGif - 4/29/2023, 12:35 PM

@DocSpock - I agree. But at the same time I feel like Marvel can reignite interest in it. Look at how they convinced people to support their version of Spider-Man.

DocSpock - 4/29/2023, 12:40 PM

@SonOfAGif -

That's true.

I just wanna see Spidey come back from Secret Wars with some black goo on his shoe.

SonOfAGif - 4/29/2023, 12:46 PM

@DocSpock - I also think it would be a perfect love letter from a narrative standpoint. If Venom 3 is Hardy vs. Garfield the demand for Peter 1 to have his venom would skyrocket. I feel like (in my opinion) Spider-Man No Way Home sold the concept of a Multiverse. I think it ignited the interest amongst the general audience. And despite Multiverse of Madness kind of missing the mark. It kept the momentum of the storyline. But the rest of the saga has been very lackluster.

DocSpock - 4/29/2023, 1:01 PM

@SonOfAGif -

It depends on whether Feige considers Venom is as important as Spider-Man. I hope so.

MotherFuckerJon - 4/29/2023, 12:53 PM

Just go ahead and bring in Knull.

Lokiwasright - 4/29/2023, 12:55 PM

Knull could set up a Thor crossover

TheSuperMex - 4/29/2023, 1:02 PM

The biggest villain is the writers.

Waifuslayer - 4/29/2023, 1:32 PM

Let's not do ANOTHER symbiote villain. If you can't make [frick]ing Carnage interesting, you can't make any of them work.

I defended Venom 1 but 2 was just unwatchable.

JobinJ - 4/29/2023, 5:04 PM

@Waifuslayer - exactly

marvel72 - 4/29/2023, 1:34 PM

Probably Scream and Toxin but I would love to see Knull.

dragon316 - 4/29/2023, 4:46 PM

How would scream be next saw red yellow symbiote in first movie and it died

Repian - 4/29/2023, 4:56 PM

A plot inspired by Carnage, U.S.A. would be great.

Perhaps a symbiote plague is spreading through San Francisco. Symbiotes enter homes through sewers. Then, Commander Flash Thompson and his men go to ground zero to locate the "hive" and eliminate it. There, they meet Venom.

The symbiote plague is part of a plan by Knull to colonize worlds.

JobinJ - 4/29/2023, 5:03 PM

No more Venom or Spider themed villains.

TheHumanSpider2 - 4/29/2023, 5:17 PM

Look, I like these movies, but after killing Carnage, I see no point in a third movie, unless they somehow get Andrew Garfield on board.

Humperdoo - 4/29/2023, 11:22 PM

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Spider-Man

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VENOM 3: 8 Villains We Could See In Tom Hardy And Kelly Marcel's Upcoming Threequel

Tom Hardy and Kelly Marcel are in the midst of developing Venom 3, and with Juno Temple (Ted Lasso) the first major casting addition, we have some thoughts on which villains could appear in the threequel.

8. The Fortunato Family

7. Stewart Ward

6. Demogoblin

5. The Jury

4. Knull

3. Toxin

2. Anti-Venom

1. Scream

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