Spoiler talk: the meaning of the mid-credit scene in «Spider-Man: No Way Home»

Luca Fontana

21.12.2021

Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson

No sooner has «Spider-Man: No Way Home» hit the big screens, fans are speculating what will happen next. It’s the mid-credit scene that’s particularly puzzling. Let’s talk about it.

Final word of warning: this article is about the scene that pops up during the credits to «Spider-Man: No Way Home». It also contains spoilers for «Loki» and «Venom: Let there be Carnage». So stop reading now if you don’t want to be spoilered. Instead, you could read the following spoiler-free movie review:

Now, let’s get down to it. Since the «Loki» series, the multiverse has been raging. No longer does a single, true timeline determine what’s reality and what isn’t. Now, we’re talking hundreds, if not thousands, of coexisting timelines. That in itself is not a dangerous thing. However, things start to get critical when they overlap. This precisely is what reality supervisor Immortus fears at the end of the Marvel series «Loki». And it’s what happens in «Spider-Man: No Way Home».

We were given a taste of an overlap at the end of Sony’s «Venom: Let there be Carnage». Here’s a quick recap: Venom – henceforth Sony-Venom – expands his mind to share his knowledge with Eddie Brock. He declares this is nothing short of «mind-blowing». At this very moment, he’s transported to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It’s obvious to fans: awesome, Sony Venom will feature in Marvel’s «Spider-Man: No Way Home».

However, the mid-credit scene of «No Way Home» undid it all again. Sony Venom chats with a bartender about superheroes, rocks, murderous purple aliens and the blip. Then Dr. Strange casts his spell. Sony Venom returns to his own universe and unknowingly leaves a part of the symbiote in the MCU.

Is this all for show? Or is there more to it?

So many questions

Fans have been racking their brains over this for days. This started even before the release of «No Way Home». After all, the «Morbius» trailer seemed to clarify a few things, but the credits from «Let there be Carnage» put a question mark on everything again.

Namely:

• Morbius knows Sony Venom. This means Morbius and Sony Venom are in the same movie universe.
• Morbius knows the Vulture from Marvel’s «Spider-Man: Homecoming». So Morbius is also in the MCU.
• Hence: Morbius and Sony Venom are both in the MCU. It’s a place that’s also home to the «No Way Home» Spider-Man.

So why did the credits to «Let there be Carnage» place Sony Venom in the MCU in the first place when he was already there?

The question remains unanswered in «No Way Home». On the contrary. Dr. Strange explains that his failed spell would have brought all characters into the MCU who know Spider-Man’s true identity. The only thing is, Sony Venom doesn’t seem to know Spider-Man in «Let there be Carnage». Let alone his true identity Peter Parker. Not to mention that Sony Venom should actually already be in the MCU. So why would he still be pulled into the MCU?

My theory

I only have a half-decent explanation. Sony Venom says his «billions of light years» of knowledge would blow Eddie Brock’s «tiny little brain». Obviously, this is open to interpretation. You could consider that he can also tap into the knowledge of other symbiotes from other multiverses – Venom’s universe from Sam Raimi’s «Spider-Man 3», for example.

The moment Sony Venom learned of Spider-Man’s true identity, he was shipped into the MCU. Later on, Dr. Strange reversed the spell. This made Sony Venom disappear again. However, not completely, as the scene proves: a part of the symbiotes remained in the MCU.

But why? Maybe Sony Venom didn’t actually tap into Spider-Man 3 Venom’s knowledge at all, but into the knowledge of a Venom that already exists in the MCU but hasn’t made an appearance yet. This could explain why it wasn’t the whole symbiote that was sent back. The leftover part could have connected and become part of MCU Venom. So the Venom who Morbius speaks of in the trailer might just be the MCU Venom and not Sony Venom. After all, the Vulture link does mean Morbius would definitely have to be in the MCU. And there you have it. Problem solved.

What will happen next?

Whatever the solution to the riddle is: it’s a pity that we won’t see actors Tom Hardy and Tom Holland fight each other on screen after all. This is due to the tense relationship between the Marvel and Sony film studios. Sony needs to make more Spider-Man movies to avoid losing the rights to the movie. However, since Sam Raimi’s «Spider-Man 2», Sony has failed to make another lucrative live-action Spider-Man movie. It’s only since the collaboration with Marvel that the franchise has had success again. But a long-term sharing-of-the-pie with Marvel is, let’s say, semi-attractive.

It’s a stalemate.

«No Way Home» ends with all MCU characters forgetting about Peter Parker’s existence. This is no coincidence, as it also leaves open how the collaboration between Marvel and Sony will continue. Story-wise, this would actually already explain why nobody would find it strange if Spidey suddenly stopped appearing in MCU movies. Conversely, Sony could go ahead with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man without caring about the MCU. This is because Holland’s Spider-Man thinks the others are better off without him anyway.

What role do «Venom» und «Morbius» play? With Sony-Venom already out of the MCU again, short-term story complications have been done away with. If anything, it would be Marvel who’d have to grovel to get Sony’s permission to make a MCU Venom. This is because Sony has the movie rights to most of the Spider-Man-relevant characters. These include Venom, Morbius and Vulture.

So what happens next is in the hands of the studio bosses.

Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I'm an outdoorsy guy and enjoy sports that push me to the limit – now that’s what I call comfort zone! But I'm also about curling up in an armchair with books about ugly intrigue and sinister kingkillers. Being an avid cinema-goer, I’ve been known to rave about film scores for hours on end. I’ve always wanted to say: «I am Groot.» more

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