New trailer for Venom: The Last Dance unmasks the Spider-Man spin-off’s terrifying villain Knull, but its original creators aren’t happy about it
The final trailer for Venom: The Last Dance has been released online – and the online conversation is dominated by one specific element: the villain.
Of Poison 3 The film was scheduled to hit theaters on October 25, but Sony Pictures, in partnership with Marvel Entertainment, has pushed the film’s release later than normal. Spider-Man final teaser for the film franchise. That seems to be intentional, though, especially considering the identity of the film’s primary antagonist has been kept under wraps until now. This only adds to the hype for Tom Hardy’s final outing as Eddie Brock and his alien symbiote sidekick Sony.
But I digress. The nearly three-minute trailer provides more details about the film’s plot, plus it’s chock full of new footage to dig through. And yes, there’s more footage of the infamous Venom Horse that first appeared in The last dance‘s first trailer, as well as glimpses of other fauna the alien can bond with, including Venom-Fish.
However, as I said above, it is Poison 3‘s villain who’s been a hot topic of discussion ever since the latest trailer debuted yesterday (September 12). So, who is he? It’s going to be Knull, a relative newcomer to the Spider-Man comic book universe who’s not only an incredibly powerful being, but also someone Brock and Venom might not be able to defeat.
Who is Knull? And does Norman Reedus really play him?
Although it was technically introduced in March 2013 Thor: God of Thunder #6, Knull didn’t make his full comic book debut until August 2018, with the incredibly dangerous villain’s true form being revealed in Poison Part 4 #3.
Okay, so who or what is he? He’s essentially the god of darkness in the Marvel Universe. Oh, and he’s also the creator of the symbiotes, the race of parasitic alien lifeforms that includes Venom, whose original purpose was to roam the universe, infecting powerful beings and forming the Symbiote Hive-Mind, which Knull would control.
Long story short, Knull’s army of symbiotes eventually rebelled and sealed him away in a far-flung corner of the cosmos known as Klyntar. Since then, the symbiotes have traveled the universe to not only atone for the destruction their master caused, but to seek out and bond with heroic individuals to aid them in their fight against the darkness.
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time Knull has appeared in a Marvel superhero film. His primary weapon – All-Black the Necrosword – was the blade wielded by Christian Bale’s tragic villain Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder. Knull also has a long-running feud with the Celestials – you know, those giant, cosmic beings we see in Guardians of the Universe And Eternals – in the comics, so technically he also has very tentative ties to these other Marvel-developed films.
Understandably, since Sony has the film rights to every Spider-Man character, Marvel Studios couldn’t use Knull in that Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film. Still, while Knull will make his big screen debut in Venom: The Last DanceIt won’t be the first time the supervillain has been referenced in cinema.
Equally intriguing is who is reportedly playing Knull in Poison 3. Now, a Sony press release that accompanied the new trailer’s arrival did not reveal which actor would be playing Knull. However, two apparent industry insiders – Soulless cinema And Rejected Scooper – took to X/Twitter after the trailer’s release to claim that The walking deadNorman Reedus will be playing the evil entity. For some bizarre reason, fans have taken this as gospel, but these are unsubstantiated reports, so take this casting rumor with a grain of salt for now.
I’ve reached out to Sony for comment and will update this article once I have more information.
Why did the original creators of Knull react negatively to his appearance in Venom 3?
Yes, I co-created Knull. No, I didn’t know he was going to be in Venom: The Last Dance until today. Yes, I expect I can finally afford that lazy river moat around my houseSeptember 12, 2024
In fact, they were given no prior warning that Knull would be used as the central antagonist in the third Venom film.
When the latest trailer dropped, co-creator Ryan Stegman took to X/Twitter (see above) to say that he had just found out that Knull had been added to the cast. Judging by the last sentence of his tweet, Stegman is clearly – and rightfully so – seeking some form of payment and/or future royalties for using the character in a live-action format.
Donny Cates, who created Knull with Stegman, also gave his opinion on the same social media platform. However, where Stegman wrote down his thoughts, Cates simply tweeted “lol” with an image inspired by the Venom logo, replacing the word “Venom” with “Money.” Cates is also clearly unimpressed with the compensation for Knull’s appearance.
As with the reports that Reedus would play Knull, I have reached out to Sony for a response to Stegman and Cates’ tweets. I will report the news.
