In Tom Hardy’s Venom trilogy, Venom: The Last Dance had the lowest box office performance, and the primary causes of this could have been outside the film’s control. Marvel’s legendary antihero was given life by Tom Hardy’s Venom trilogy, which transformed the usually hostile Venom into a reluctant hero—the deadly guardian. Although the previous two films did rather well at the box office, Venom: The Last Dance, the third installment, has seen a sharp decline. Even though it was hailed as maybe the greatest of the trilogy, it made the least amount of money at the box office. Tom Hardy’s distinct portrayal of Eddie Brock and his symbiotic alter ego has made Sony’s Venom trilogy one of the most lucrative Marvel spinoffs. In Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, other characters have not performed as well. The goal of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe is to adapt the backstories of some of Spidey’s most well-known supporting characters. Among those who gave infamously poor performances were Madame Web and Morbius. Given Venom: The Last Dance’s poor performance, the franchise may be approaching a turning point.
There is a noticeable difference in the Venom movies’ budgets. Despite the trilogy’s overall strong performance, there are noticeable distinctions between each. The global box office numbers best illustrate this:
- Venom – $856,085,161
- Venom: Let There Be Carnage – $506,813,864
- Venom: The Last Dance – $456,425,476
A star-studded cast, originality, and the absence of other Marvel autumn movies helped make the first Venom movie, which came out in 2018, a surprise blockbuster. Even though it was published during the pandemic’s aftermath, its sequel, Let There Be Carnage (2021), had a sharp decline in box office receipts but still made over $500 million. But The Last Dance dropped below even these figures, indicating that Sony’s Spider-Man Universe was losing ground. With only $456 million, Venom: The Last Dance made nearly half as much as the original film. It should be seen as a relative success given its $120 million budget. However, it appears to be a noticeable glitch when compared to its predecessors.
A significant contributing element is the decline in public interest in SSU. Subsequent Venom films have found it difficult to retain the originality of the first picture, which was a quirky, self-aware action comedy with horror overtones. Additionally, the SSU lacks the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU) seamless, interwoven narrative appeal. Even while it was anticipated that SSU would eventually do this, there is still a long way to go before it can unite all of its main characters, particularly if Tom Hardy has stepped down from the position. Venom’s appearance in the MCU was hinted at in the Spider-Man: No Way Home end credits sequence, which implied that the antagonist will eventually make an appearance in the main Marvel chronology. Venom: The Last Dance, however, was unable to fully capitalize on this momentum. The movie kept excluding Venom in spite of what appeared to be a huge chance to include him into a larger Marvel plot. It felt like Sony had passed up the chance to work with Marvel Studios in favor of looking over its dead franchise plans, which was really upsetting.
Although The Last Dance received better reviews than Let There Be Carnage, it was still not well praised. The film’s lack of narrative depth was pointed out by critics, who also commended Tom Hardy’s acting and the way it balanced humor and action. The first two films were unaffected by unfavorable reviews, but the absence of a compelling marketing hook or widely acclaimed components probably reduced audience turnout. A lot of the advertising emphasized spectacle, but Hardy’s powerful performance—especially in the tragic ending of Venom: The Last Dance—was maybe the film’s strongest point. Since Venom: Let There Be Carnage, a Venom crossover with a Spider-Man version has been hinted about, and Spider-Man: No Way Home appeared to be the culmination of this. Many were pleading for it to happen at last, whether it was Tobey Maguire’s, Andrew Garfield’s, or Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, especially now that appetites were being brilliantly stoked. Similar to a partnership with the MCU, Sony wasted this chance as well, disappointing a lot of people and totally discrediting their earlier movie hints.
The Last Dance’s lack of Spider-Man probably made viewers less interested. The comics’ Venom character is closely related to Spider-Man, and the franchise’s attractiveness has been diminished by his continuous absence from the story. Many people hoped in vain that The Last Dance would finally achieve a crossover, but it feels a little aimless. The Venom franchise’s departure from the character’s comic book origins might also be a contributing reason. Despite its strong emphasis on comedy and Hardy’s unconventional interpretation, the films fall short in capturing the deeper, more sinister aspects of Venom that comic book enthusiasts love. Some believe that the movie’ legitimacy as a Marvel product is undermined by the absence of a true adaptation, which reduces one of the most recognizable villains to a very ordinary superhero. The superhero film industry has grown more competitive, and not every project has a 100% chance of being a box office hit. The overabundance of comic book movies, especially after the epidemic, has led to “superhero fatigue” and increased audience selectivity. Venom: The Last Dance found it difficult to make an impression in a crowded field as it lacked a distinctive selling proposition and a major event feature status. This is especially the fault of SSU, which released three SSU films in 2024 alone.
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