Venom: The Last Dance ending explained – is Venom dead? Full spoilers

Well, it would certainly appear so, if the film's emotional ending is anything to go by.

The sequel picks up immediately after the events of Venom: Let There be Carnage, which saw Eddie Brock and Venom take a brief holiday in the MCU.

Now, back in their homeland, the duo are on the run both from the authorities – including a soldier with sinister motives named Rex Strickland (Chiwetel Ejiofor) – and from a nasty creature called a Xenophage, who has been sent by symbiote overlord Knull to collect a Codex that is contained, for complicated reasons, within Eddie and Venom's bonded body.

On their journey – which they hope will eventually take them to New York – the pair really go through it while also seeming to have a pretty fun time, coming across everything from a family of UFO obsessives led by hippie Martin (Rhys Ifans) to their old friend Mrs Chen (Peggy Lu).

But their action-packed mission ultimately ends in tragedy.

So, who dies, and is this really the last dance? Read on to have the Venom: The Last Dance ending explained.

Venom: The Last Dance ending explained – Is Venom really dead?

Given how determinedly they were being tracked – and, to be honest, how conspicuous they were on their travels – it always seemed unlikely that Eddie and Venom would complete their trip to New York unscathed.

And indeed when they run into old pal Mrs Chen in Las Vegas, Venom decides to return to his full form to share a dance with her – a stupid decision really, given this makes the Codex completely visible to the pursuing Xenophage. Predictably, this leads to an ambush, and in the resulting melee Venom is captured by Strickland's team and separated from Eddie, who is himself taken prisoner.

They are both taken back to Area 51, where Eddie is interrogated. But – not one to accept defeat without a fight – Venom successfully manages to mount an escape and re-bond with Eddie, which then leads to an all out war with the Xenophage. This also involves the release of a number of other symbiotes from a nearby lab, who bond with new hosts and join in the fighting. It's all very messy.

The battle only ramps up after Knull sends more Xenophages to support his cause, but amid the fighting Eddie manages to heroically save Martin and his family – who have infiltrated Area 51 in their continued search of aliens – by luring them away. Sadly, it's at this point that Venom realises there's only one thing that will stop Knull from getting his way – he and Eddie must separate, which would destroy the Codex.

And so he bids farewell to his host, before merging with the pursuing Xenophages and leading them to a nearby acid shower where they are all seemingly melted away, after he encourages a mortally wounded Strickland to turn it on.

So, yes it certainly seems like a fairly conclusive death.

And indeed, once Eddie has recovered from his wounds – and been pardoned for his previous crimes thanks to his efforts in the battle – he takes a trip to New York, where we are greeted to a montage of some of his favourite times with Venom. He even goes to the Statue of Liberty as they had promised to do together, a nice tribute to his fallen friend/enemy/body sharer.

Venom being dead would certainly tie in with Hardy's own comments that this marks the end of his time with this character and franchise. Still, there is a little bit of doubt remaining – and therefore a slim chance he may yet return.

Interestingly, Venom's final words as he melted away were: "Bye for now."

And given that all it would have taken was a small sample of Venom to have survived – as evidenced by the film's previous reveals about the process of shedding – perhaps he could find a way back after all. Indeed, maybe the cockroach that we see wandering towards the acid shower in the final credits sequence could serve as his next host...

What does the Venom: The Last Dance mid-credits scene mean for the future?

While the fate of Venom himself does is in doubt, to say the least, the same doesn't appear to be true for Sony's Spider-Man Universe at large.

Indeed, several symbiotes were introduced in the final battle scene – notably including Agony, who merges with Juno Temple's Dr Teddy Payne – and the path seems to now be set for the franchise to continue by shifting focus from Venom to other members of his species.

But the biggest clue of all that more is planned comes in the mid-credits sequence, which shows the film's big bad Knull declaring that he will return and that the universe is no longer safe from his evil ways.

Quite how this is the case – given that literally the entire purpose of the film was watching Eddie and Venom destroying the Codex that was seen as his key out of prison – remains a mystery, but Sony's Spider-Verse isn't exactly known for it's sensical plotting.

Anyway, the film's director Kelly Marcel all but confirmed that Knull would be back in a recent interview with Games Radar, explaining: "[He's] way too big to be one and done. So, [his role in The Last Dance] is just a little introduction to him. It's just a kind of taster of where he might potentially be able to go with his own movies, in the same way that they introduced Thanos very carefully through the Marvel movies."

So there you have it: the stage is set for Knull to return. And we'd wager he'll be up against Agony and perhaps a number of other yet-to-be introduced symbiotes in the next film. For better or worse, Sony's Spider-Man universe ain't done yet.

Venom: The Last Dance is now showing in UK cinemas.

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