SPOILER ALERT: This article contains major spoilers about the ending of “Venom: The Last Dance,” now in theaters.

Ever since the title of “Venom: The Last Dance” was revealed, fans have been wondering if the threequel is really the curtain raiser for Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock and his Spider-Man symbiote. Hardy and director Kelly Marcel have repeatedly said this is the final chapter of the trilogy, and it looks like they’re right.

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At the end of “The Last Dance,” Venom sacrifices himself to save Eddie from a pack of xenophages, ruthless monsters that eat symbiotes like snacks. They trap Eddie and Venom in Area 51, where the government has been conducting symbiote experiments. After freeing the captured symbiotes, Eddie, Venom and the Venom-ized scientists and soldiers have a final showdown – which just so happens to contain a giant vat of acid. Venom breaks free from Eddie to save him and ensnares the xenophages with his sticky body. He swings under the acid container, bids a heartfelt farewell to Eddie and submerges himself and the xenophages, killing them all. Alone without his symbiote friend, Eddie heads to New York City in the film’s final moments and stares at the Statue of Liberty, fulfilling Venom’s dream of going to the Big Apple.

Even though Venom is dead, it doesn’t mean there are no more traces of symbiotes on Earth. Dr. Juno Temple’s Payne turns into a purple symbiote with super speed (thanks to lightning as a child) and she retains her powers towards the end of the film. The post-credit scene also reveals Cristo Fernández’s bartender emerging from the destruction of Area 51 after the symbiote battle. He staggers away, but the camera pans to a vial that contained Payne’s symbiote as a cockroach touches it and receives a jolt of electricity. Just as cockroaches can survive a nuclear explosion, the scene hints that Fernández’s character may have some hidden skills that helped him survive.

The other mid-credits scene is a message directly from Knull, which is voiced by “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” director Andy Serkis. The menacing, Thanos-like villains say: “Your champion has fallen, the King in Black has awakened. Your world will burn, and you will watch!” But who exactly is Knull, the all-powerful creator of the symbiotes?

Well, he’s a fairly recent comic book character, only introduced in 2018, but he has some connections to characters in the MCU. Knull is introduced in the comics as the divine king of darkness who has existed since the creation of the universe and is as old as the Celestials (those giant space aliens from “Eternals”). He is banished after beheading a Celestial (that head eventually becomes Knowhere from “Guardians of the Galaxy”) and later creates the first symbiotes from the powerful Celestial energy. (Another Knull neat fact: his blade, All-Black the Necrosword, is stolen by Gorr the God Butcher from “Thor: Love and Thunder). Many years later, Knull’s army rebels against him and traps him on a symbiote planet called Klyntar, which means “cage” in symbiote language. In modern times, Knull is eventually released and invades Earth with his symbiote horde, leading to a team-up between the Avengers and Venom to save the day.

Knull is considered one of the most powerful villains in Marvel comics, but his first appearance in “Venom 3” could be his last. Sony has no concrete plans to continue its story or that of Venom, but director Kelly Marcel is certainly open to a symbiote-filled future.

“This is just the introduction to Knull. He’s a huge, huge character, so you can never be one and done with him. This is just a taste of Knull. We can meet him. What the future holds for him, who knows,” she said at New York Comic Con. “The plot for Eddie and Venom ends here. But as you know, there are many symbiote stories in the canon. There are lots of places to go, and maybe there are some Easter eggs here to start your journey.”

Marvel and Sony are working on the script for Tom Holland’s fourth “Spider-Man” movie, which could be the next chance fans see more of Eddie, Venom or Knull — but nothing has been confirmed yet. However, Eddie ends up in New York at the end of ‘Venom 3′, making it easier to encounter Queens’ Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man – if there ever was a crossover.

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