By Jordan Moreau

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

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

In the end of “The Last Dance,” Venom sacrifices himself to save Eddie from a pack of xenophages, relentless monsters that eat symbiotes like they’re snacks. They corner Eddie and Venom at Area 51, where the government has been conducting symbiote experiments. After freeing the trapped symbiotes, Eddie, Venom and the Venom-ized scientists and soldiers have a final showdown — where there happens to be a giant vat of acid. Venom detaches from Eddie to save him and ensnares the xenophages with his gooey body. He lurches beneath the acid container, says a heartfelt goodbye to Eddie and douses himself and the xenophages, killing them all. Alone without his symbiote buddy, Eddie heads to New York City in the movie’s final moments and gazes upon the Statue of Liberty, fulfilling Venom’s dream of going to the Big Apple.

Even though Venom is dead, it doesn’t mean there aren’t any more traces of symbiotes on Earth. Juno Temple’s Dr. Payne turns into a purple symbiote with super speed (thanks to being struck by lightning as a child) and she retains her powers by the end of the movie. The post-credits scene also reveals Cristo Fernández’s bartender emerging from the destruction of Area 51 after the symbiote battle. He stumbles away, but the camera pans over to a vial that contained Payne’s symbiote as a cockroach touches it and gets a jolt of electricity. Just like roaches can live through a nuclear explosion, the scene hints that Fernández’s character may have some hidden abilities of his own that helped him survive. The other mid-credits scene is a message directly from Knull, who is voiced by “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” director Andy Serkis. The looming, Thanos-like villains says “Your champion has fallen, the King in Black is awake. 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, having only been introduced in 2018, but he has some connections to characters in the MCU. Knull is introduced in the comics as the godlike king of darkness that’s been around since the creation of the universe and is as old as the Celestials (those giant space beings from “Eternals”). He’s banished after beheading a Celestial (that head ends up being Knowhere from “Guardians of the Galaxy”) and later creates the first symbiotes from the powerful Celestial energy. (Another nifty Knull 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 the symbiote language. In modern times, Knull is eventually freed and invades Earth with his symbiote horde, which leads 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” may be his last. Sony doesn’t have any concrete plans to continue his or Venom’s story, but director Kelly Marcel is certainly open to a symbiote-filled future.

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

Marvel and Sony are at work on the script for Tom Holland’s fourth “Spider-Man” movie, which may be the next chance fans see more of Eddie, Venom or Knull — but nothing has been confirmed. However, Eddie ends up in New York by the end of “Venom 3,” making it easier to run into Queens native Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, that much easier — if there were ever a crossover.