Are the Venom movies set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

You’ve watched 2018’s Venom and 2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage; you liked seeing Tom Hardy play the role of Eddie Brock/Venom in both movies, and you enjoyed the interplay between man and symbiote. But now you have one very pressing question on your mind: Are the Venom movies set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Well, the answer is no… and also yes.

As you will know, 2018’s Venom made no reference to Peter Parker or Spider-Man. There wasn’t a nod to Iron Man or the Avengers in the movie, and not even a mention of the events of Civil War or Infinity War.

But having watched Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and having stuck around for the mid-credit scene, you are aware that Spider-Man does get a reference. And not only Spidey, but also Peter Parker and J. Jonah Jameson too!

So, does this mean that the Venom movies are part of the MCU after all?!

Well… here’s a little explanation, to help clear things up.

For the record, the 2018 movie, Venom, is NOT set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film is set in an alternate universe which is adjacent to the MCU, where the Avengers and Spider-Man do not exist.

For the majority of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Eddie Brock/Venom are still living in this same adjacent universe, meaning there is still no Spidey, no Iron Man or Black Panther, and there are no Avengers. However, all of this begins to change, thanks to the inclusion of a mid-credit scene.

In this very brief sequence, which takes place two or three minutes into the end credits for Let There Be Carnage, Eddie Brock and Venom find themselves transported from their universe into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This means that moving forward, the Venom movies could be ‘sort-of’ part of the MCU.

For those who missed the scene, Eddie and Venom are sat inside a hotel room having a conversation. During this discussion, Venom tells Eddie that he has a vast knowledge of the universe, and is willing to share that information with his host.

But before Venom is able to get down to details, a wave of energy washes over the room, transforming their surroundings (i.e. making the hotel room look a little nicer). This transformation comes as a shock to both Eddie and Venom, who are unaware of what has just happened.

Before they have time to fully react, a television set begins to play a news report featuring J. Jonah Jameson. The report is similar to the one featured in the 2019 movie, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and focuses on the news that Spider-Man has been unmasked as Peter Parker.

This report is somewhat confusing to Eddie and Venom, as they do not know who Spider-Man is. But the reason they are seeing this news report is because unbeknown to them, they have been transported to the MCU.

The wave of energy that washed over the room didn’t just alter Eddie and Venom’s surroundings, it shifted them into a different universe. So, while they were previously living in their own universe, they are now in this alternate Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is filled with super heroes, including Spidey.

The reason Eddie and Venom have shifted into a different universe is because the Marvel Cinematic Universe is expanding. This expansion will see Disney-owned Marvel characters cross paths with Sony-owned Marvel characters, as part of a wider development of the multiverse – a collection of alternate universes which co-exist with one another.

Marvel Studios has been developing a multiverse in a number of shows and movies, including WandaVision, Loki, What If? and Spider-Man: No Way Home. The multiverse is now bleeding into the Venom movies too, meaning Eddie and Venom can become a part of the MCU.

So, in answer to the original question: Are the Venom movies set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?, Venom (2018) and Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) are NOT set in the MCU. But because of the events of the mid-credit scene in Let There Be Carnage, both Eddie and Venom do become a part of the MCU briefly.

And so far, it is only briefly. Because while Eddie and Venom were whisked across to the MCU in Let There Be Carnage, they were seemingly whisked away from the MCU in another mid-credit scene which took place in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).

This scene takes place shortly after the Let There Be Carnage credit scene, is set in a bar, and sees Eddie questioning a barman about the new universe he is suddenly in. The barman fills Eddie in on who the Avengers are etc, before Eddie is then ‘zapped’ back out of the universe.

It is not made clear where Eddie disappears to, but it would seem that his MCU appearance was very minor (for now). However, when Eddie disappears, he leaves a small part of the Venom symbiote behind, suggesting this could create problems for Spider-Man and the Avengers, further down the line.

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Thank you for taking the time to stop by Don’t Tell Harry to read this post about Venom. For more posts, be sure to check out the recommended reads below.

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