After two movies of relatively tame live-action symbiote antics, the first trailer for Venom: The Last Dance finally embraces the unhinged possibilities fans have been frothing for. The upcoming threequel and purported final installment in Sony’s Venom franchise kicks off its marketing by gifting audiences the glorious, long-awaited moment of a “Venom Horse” – exactly what it sounds like.
In the trailer’s climactic tease, Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) asks his alien symbiote other if it can enhance the speed of a horse before killing it. The scene then cuts to Venom bonding with the equine host, transforming it into a snarling, tongue-lashing, muscle-rippled stallion monstrosity.
This wild, straight-from-the-comics spectacle is precisely the sort of unfettered symbiote mayhem fans have been clamoring for since the property’s big-screen inception. The Venom symbiote hails from the Klyntar, a ravenous alien race that can bond with virtually any host – a core concept that Sony has merely flirted with until now.
However, Venom: The Last Dance appears poised to go full-bore into the Venomverse’s most bonkers body horror territory. Beyond the “Venom Horse,” the trailer also teases an imminent symbiote invasion descending on Earth as well as captive characters like Toxin, the psychotic symbiote spawn of Carnage from the previous installment.
Comic book lore has seen symbiotes bond not just with other alien creatures, but with fan-favorite heroes like Wolverine, Hulk, and even adorable sidekicks like Groot. Sony finally embracing this rich creative vein could result in some of the most unique comic book horror spectacle since the Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films.
For writer/producer Tom Hardy and director Andy Serkis, Venom: The Last Dance represents the culmination of their symbiote saga before potentially handing the reins to Marvel’s competing Venomverse. As such, the creative team seems unafraid to depict the Klyntar race’s true metamorphic potential in unrestrained live-action.
After the big-screen missteps of projects like Morbius, Sony appears to have course-corrected toward uncompromising fan service with the final theatrical Venom outing. The trailer’s tantalizing money shots like the “Venom Horse” are exactly the sort of spectacle that could make this an appropriately insane closing chapter in more ways than one.
