Venom: The Last Dance has hit cinemas to tie up Eddie Brock/Venom’s story—but will this be the last we see of Tom Hardy in the dual role?

The motion picture has long been billed as the third and final part of the Venom solo trilogy. Early indications from critics appeared to back this up and signal the death knell on the Venom movie trilogy after the film scored 36 percent from critics on renowned review site Rotten Tomatoes.

However, feedback for Venom: The Last Dance, which is directed by Kelly Marcel, has been far more positive from cinemagoers, with the movie scoring 77 percent, at the time of writing, from fans.

But is this enough to inspire Sony to make a Venom 4?

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'Nothing Left Out' Of Venom 3 

Venom 3 sees Brock and alien symbiote Venom—which imbues him with superhuman abilities—go on the run, and the pair are faced with making a heartbreaking decision as the situation becomes tense.

While Hardy, who was largely praised by critics for his performance, has spoken plenty about how much he has loved playing the alien character, he did hint that Venom 4 may not be likely after insisting there was "nothing left" out of the latest film. 

Speaking recently to Screen Rant, Hardy said: "Everything that you see in The Last Dance is from Kelly's imagination, and mine too. But there's nothing left out. It's surgically chosen and delivered."

Despite this, if the worldwide box office figures can match the largely positive fan response, as opposed to the critics' mixed reviews, then Sony might be able to find a way of making a fourth Venom movie.

One route they could go down is using another story involving Marvel Comics supervillain Knull, a character who made his cinematic debut in Venom: The Last Dance.

Sony managed to cast Andy Serkis as the Symbiotes creator, and this film is clearly just the start for the character.

Marcel told IGN: "One movie could never do justice to Knull. We were always aware of Knull, but knew that we needed to lay the foundation of the Venom character, and his relationship with Eddie, before introducing him. This is just the beginning for Knull.

"We know full well how important Knull is to the fans, so just as we laid a foundation for Venom, we hope we are doing the same for Knull.

"The King in Black is way too powerful for ‘one and done.' This film introduces Knull, but it just touches the beginnings of his story."

Tom Hardy at UK premiere of Venom: The last dance at BFI IMAX in London. (Image: See Li/Picture Capital/Alamy)

This could increase the chance of a Venom 4, and it's 6/4 for the movie to materialise, but just 4/6 for the franchise to end with the aptly-titled Venom: The Last Dance.

Venom vs Spider-Man

If Venom 4 doesn't come about, this won't necessarily spell the end of Hardy as Venom. The actor himself has expressed his desire to scrape with Spider-Man one day.

There's a chance this could happen in a Venom 4 motion picture—which could even see Andrew Garfield return as the webslinger or Sony continue with Tom Holland—but if not, Hardy could still play a Spidey-scuffling Venom at some point in another movie.

During a recent discussion at New York Comic Con, Hardy said, "I would like to fight Spider-Man. I would like to fight him right now. In a movie, 100 percent. I would never say never."

Tom Hardy at the Sony Pictures panel for 'Venom: The Last Dance' at New York Comic Con looked ready to fight Spider-man. (Image: Associated Press / Alamy)

Hardy is 8/13 to get his way and clash with Spider-Man as Venom, but it's 13/8, and the Spidey skirmish doesn't ever take place. If Hardy's desired brawl doesn't happen, there seems to be a decent chance the actor will at least portray Venom again one day.

Speaking recently to IGN about the movie trilogy, he said, "I've loved every moment of Eddie and Venom and I was really fond of them. I'd play them any time, you know, because there's a special place that exists within me to want to operate those two characters wherever you put them in whatever capacity.

"I feel like a sense of obligation and responsibility and duty of care to those two that will never end. I'll always be with them." added Hardy.

Following his comments and the numerous possibilities for Sony, Hardy is just 2/7 to return as Venom one day. 

Nice To (M)CU, Venom 

Hardy could even play the character in an Avengers movie, and one way this could come about is via the development of Knull. As a multiversal being, Venom's creator could head over to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a future film, which might be good news for Hardy and Venom.

Marcel told IGN: "Marvel's greatest film villains are developed over time. Here, Knull is the threat lurking behind the danger that tests the absolute limits of Eddie and Venom's partnership—but it’s their relationship that remains the heart of this story."

It's Evens that Venom pops up in an Avengers movie in the MCU, and 11/8 the character doesn't. In terms of Sony's Spider-Man Universe movies, they also have Kraven the Hunter on the slate for a December release date, but after that the cupboard is bare. 

Unless Sony have something big and Spider-Man related up their sleeves, it looks like we could well be seeing Hardy as Venom again one day.