Who Will Eddie Brock Face in Venom 3?

The Teased Villain for Venom 3

A new stylized logo for Venom 3 was recently revealed, and it seems to tease the villain for Sony's upcoming Marvel movie. After Venom kick-started Sony's Spider-Man Universe in 2018, its sequel went the subtitle route with the name Venom: Let There Be Carnage. However, it appears the franchise is breaking form for the third (and presumably final) Venom franchise entry.

A split image of Detective Mulligan in Venom 2 and the Toxin symbiote from Marvel Comics

Venom 3's logo was revealed at Sony's CES 2024 presentation, along with a handful of non-Marvel projects. Unless something changes before the movie's marketing officially begins, it appears the third Venom will indeed simply be Venom 3.

Eddie Brock speaking to Venom with a chicken

Twitter article posted by Spider-Man News

The New Logo and the Villain Theory

Of more note than the nondescript title is that the movie's logo seems to be teasing a Marvel villain perfect for Venom 3. There's precedence for superhero movie logos and title changing after being revealed, so there's no saying if this logo will stick, but there's surely intention behind the artistically rendered '3' that must connect to the movie's characters in one way, shape, or form. While the connection hasn't been confirmed, the new Venom 3 logo makes one particular villain theory seem much more likely than ever.

Riot attempts to rip the Venom symbiote off Eddie in Venom

The Venom 3 logo features the word 'Venom' stylized as it has been in the previous two movie titles, but it's backed with a sinewy red '3.' The inclusion obviously doesn't give anything away as clearly as 'Let There Be Carnage' did, but it's inspired theories that the next Venom movie will feature the Toxin symbiote. In Marvel Comics, Toxin is an offspring of Carnage who's bonded with several hosts and, while generally presented as more of an anti-hero, has spent time on both sides of the hero/villain divide. The character makes sense for Venom 3 for several reasons.

Venom and Riot battle at the Life Foundation in Venom

The Risk of Toxin for Venom 3

Even though Toxin has already been teased in the Venom franchise, there are a few reasons why the symbiote would be a risky conclusion in the trilogy-closer. While the Venom movies have proven the most successful in Sony's Spider-Man Universe so far, one complaint revolves around both projects' villains being too similar to Venom himself. Venom features Riot, and Venom: Let There Be Carnage features Carnage, both symbiote that create spikes and weapons with their symbiote bodies. The result can make for fights that are hard to read on screen, and a third villain with the exact same power set risks being overly repetitive.

Venom leaning against a building in Let There Be Carnage.

Given Sony's Spider-Man Universe is all about Spider-Man villains, it would be odd not to expand Venom's enemies past Symbiotes. Given Venom's position as an anti-hero, he could conceivably come up against any of Spider-Man's many memorable rogues. To avoid a villain repeat, it's possible Venom 3 will position Toxin as the more heroic figure that he often is in Marvel Comics, and the two will team up against a different, hopefully visually distinct threat. Regardless, with Venom 3 set for release on November 8, 2024, more information should be on the way soon.

A split image of Woody Harrelson as Cletus Cassidy and a picture of Carnage from Venom: Let There Be Carnage