Quick Links
Say what you will about the Tom HardyVenomtrilogy, they tried at least. With the series seeming like it’s over, for now at least, it certainly went out on quite a visually expensive finale. Over the last couple of films our Symbiote count was substantially low, with four in the first film (despite all but two dying) and two in the second with a third teased we were low on Symbiotes. In Last Dance, we get quite a lot of them.
With a budget of 120 million, not including marketing, they certainly had a lot of cash to throw around for their big CG goop monsters. We’ve tracked and collated each appearance of a new symbiote in the movie and took a stab at who some of them could potentially be referencing from the comics. So here’s every symbiote in Venom: The Last Dance, explained.
Warning: Spoilers For The Plot Of Venom: The Last Dance Are Below.
How Many Symbiotes Are In Venom: The Last Dance?
In total there are roughlyten symbiotesthat pop up throughout Venom: The Last Dance.Eight appear in containers, one is in Detective Mulligan and of course we havethe big man himself, Venom. A few bond with main or side characters inthe climactic finale, whilst a bunch appear after they’ve bonded with background characters.
It’s ahuge gooey throwdownthat’s hard to keep track of, but considering they’re taking on several unkillable Xenophages these symbiotes are going toneed all the help they can get. Also, whilst each new symbiote is not named outright, from theirdesigns and fan theorywe can piece together who they’re either supposed to be, or are referencing.
We won’t be countingVenom bonding with animals. Those are just new hosts, not a new symbiote since it’s still Venom controlling them.
Every Symbiote, Explained
Alongside Venom we have quitethe eclectic collection of goopy alien parasitesthat pop up in the Last Dance. Whilst a few hold center stage, or at least the sidelines for either a few minutes or cool moments, there are plenty ofblink-and-you’ll-miss-itappearances as well.
For the eagle-eyed amongst you that caught them all, well done. For those who missed out,didn’t recognize them, or were overwhelmed with too much CG, here’s who made a fun cameo in the film.
Venom
First up on the table we have Venom. He’spresent throughout the filmsince he is one of the main characters. Throughout the story we seeVenom and Eddiebonding andenjoying their “last moments” togetherbefore a big brawl at the end with a noble sacrifice.
For those not familiar,Venom is a symbiote alienthat arrived on a ship from the Life Project back in the original movie. In the comics, Venom is also an alien,but he’s much different. Instead he bonds with a different Eddie Brock than the one we know andalso Spiderman. Although he would later become the nemesis of the latter.
Venom has mostly beenreturned to anti-hero statusin the comics.
Lasher
Lasher is agreen and sleek symbiotethat bonds with Sadie Christmas at the climax of the movie during the showdown with the Xenophages. The rest of the time the symbiote iskept within a sterile, forcefield-covered stasis chamberuntil Christmas unlocks it.
She’s proactive in the fight and gets quite a lot of hits in withthe glaive arms she manifestsalong with other stabbing weapons. Unfortunately, she doesn’t make it to the final credits asLasher is eaten by a Xenophage and destroyed. But her host survives as she’s ejected by the Xenophages sonic blast ability that fires just before the symbiote is disabled and eviscerated.
Lasher in the comics isvery similar to her portrayalin The Last Dance. Both aregreen and feature lots of lashing tentaclesthat can cause a lot of damage.
Fun fact, in the comics Lasher’smost recent host was called Sadieand they joined Venom in fighting Knull. This is how we can be sure that this Symbiote in the movie is indeed Lasher.
Not Toxin
Now we come to perhapsthe most unfortunate characterin the series, Detective Patrick Mulligan. Adogged detective of the SFPDthat’s been on Eddie Brock and Venom’s case since the first film. He’sforever confusedas to what’s going on, and inLet There Be Carnagewe see Mulligan impaled on a spike and dying. That is untila symbiote spawned from Carnagerevives him.
It’s assumed thatthis is Toxin. The same Symbiote that Mulligan bonds with in the comics. But unfortunately, that’s all we get of him as hedisappeared somewherebetween Let There Be Carnage and The Last Dance.
Seems Mulligan was left for dead, but he wasgrabbed by the Imperium Projectbefore he passed. Poor Mulligan was saved from death, but was alsobonded with a brand new symbiote. This time around we get to see them, and they’re quite lovely.
We never get its name, but the creature isbright teal and very long, and instead of legs it has a large tentacle. It alsospends the majority of the movie locked in a roomspouting exposition.
The only time we see it in action is when ittackles a Xenophageto stall it for Venom before said creature then unceremoniouslyeats and shreds the Symbiote. Along with Detective Mulligan, who probably didn’t get a say in things. Poor chap.
Mulligan had onlyrecently woken up from a comaafter spending the previous movies confused about “monsters”, and terrified by Carnage. Then he’s piloted by a Symbiote again only to beshredded and killed instantly. He’s the unluckiest character in the franchise.
Phage
Phage isanother Symbiote that gets the short strawsomewhat. In the movie we see himsuspended in storagewith the other Symbiotes until the Xenophages attack. When he does get out we see thisorange-colored goop alienbond with a fatally stabbed Jimmy.
Jimmy is aportly security worker at Area 55who’s impaled by the Xenophage that breaks in. However,Phage bonds with himand the two go on to kick ass for a few minutes, forming big club hands and generally beinga little stocky bruiser of a Symbiote. That is until the pair arekilled by an anti-tankrocket fired by Rex Strickland, an Imperium Commander on the base.
In the comics, Phage isanother Life Foundation Symbiotethat escapes and goes after Eddie Brock. There are a lot ofsimilarities to their designand the way they attack. Which is how we can make the connection that this Symbiote is a reference to Phage.
Agony
Agony isa fan favorite that’s popped up over the yearsand it’s nice to see her in The Last Dance. Especially since it’s a brief scene. We first see Agony in herpurple Symbiote goop form, stuck in a capsule along with the others.
However, she’spopped out of her capsule by Doctor Teddy Payne. The reason, to save her colleague inthe climactic explosion that destroys the facility at the old abandoned Area 51 base. We then see herhappily hide within Doctor Payne. The two are last seen staring toward a ruined airfield as it finishes exploding and melting.
Agony’s powersmanifest in super speed. Which is implied to be born from, or at least themed around,the lightning strike that struck Doctor Paynewhen she was a teen since tiny sparks are shown under her skin. The samelightning strike that killed her brotherand set her off on her journey to live like her brother dreamed. Symbolism you see.
In the comics, Agony wasone of the original Symbiotes created by the Life Foundationand was briefly a member of the superhero team known as the Thunderbolts. So her appearancetracks pretty accuratelyto the source material.
Two-Headed Hybrid
At one point during the finale, we seetwo symbiotes break outthat are similar looking and dark colored. These two take one look at the Xenophages, then each other, anddecide to bond into one. Forming atwo-headed symbiotethat focuses on webbing up and restraining the Symbiote Hunter whilst the others attack.
They’ve formed froma random male scientist and security stafferand it’s an interesting support role Symbiote that we don’t technically see die. But we can assume the pair do.
They’re last seen beingpinned to the ground by a Xenophagethat arrives with others as reinforcements for the original Symbiote Hunter. We never see it again, but consideringVenom took out all the Xenophageshimself, the two-headed symbiote probably got munched.
For comics fans, this could be a reference to anunnamed two-headed hybrid from the comicsthat appeared in the Life Foundation as an amalgamation of several Symbiotes.
The Blue Spiky Boy
This one is a bit ofa grasp at strawsbecause we don’t get a name for this Symbiote and their appearance in the movie is super brief. But at some point duringthe breakout of the Symbiotesto combat the Xenophages he bonds with what we can assume is a guard and forms a large, blue and very spiky Symbiote. Though we never see this happen, he just turns up.
Unfortunately, we also don’t get its name, but itdoes a fair amount of damage during the fightagainst the Xenophages. But, just like the others it looks like it getsshredded offscreen with its host.
The last time we see him is he’slooking offscreen in panic and concernas more Xenophages turn up. Then one tackles him and when all the Xenophages surround Eddie and Venom, our big blue boy is nowhere to be seen.
Comics-wise, this could potentially bea background symbiote from the Life Foundation in Area 55. We don’t get a name, so it’s a lot of guesswork.
White Symbiote
Another we don’t get a name for, but there isa white symbiote we see. Like the others, shespends the majority of the movie tucked up in her tankuntil the big throwdown in the finale. Then she’s let loose andbonds with an Area 55 researcher with glasseswho was briefly spoken to by Sadie Christmas. The subsequent bonding produces a tall, sleek, and whiplike Symbiote.
We see her briefly fighting the Xenophages,using her whips to damage and restrain themas she hangs off surfaces, and they do ok. That is untilthe symbiote is grabbed by the Xenophagesuddenly and then consumed and shredded brutally along with her host.
Fire Symbiote
Another unknown Symbiote that looks like he’s going to be useful, but really isn’t, is anunknown Fire Bending Symbiote. This creature appears during the Xenophage break-in andits goop form is red. When it bonds with its host it creates a short Symbiote that’s charred, super hot and launches fire.
He attacks the Xenophages a few times, but when the fight progresses outsidethe fire symbiote is immediately eaten and shredded. He does zero damage and ismushed like paper in seconds. If you were to look for a comic reference,this could possibly be Screamas they had a similar look and abilities. It’s a brief appearance, and a mostly useless one, but he’s there.
Will The Symbiotes Be Back?
Whilst there are arguments to be made thatVenom will be coming back, unfortunately the majority of the other Symbiotes don’t fare so well. Aside fromAgony who escapes inside Doctor Payne, the rest are absolutely mulched by Xenophages.Or ‘Team Killed’ in Phage’s case. So it’s safe to assume that they won’t be coming back, aside from Agony and maybe Toxin of course.
Venom on the other hand getsbailed out by the writers in a post-credits sceneas we see him escaping a demolished upper Area 51 inside a cockroach. The goopy chunk of him supposedly beingthe piece that was captured in a test tubeat the start of the movie.
We also see a bunch of concepts in the credits of whatVenom would look likebonding with different animals. For example, a hawk, squirrel, French Bulldog, Snake, octopus and more. Which you could argue isVenom bouncing around in different hosts as he crosses Americamaking his way back to Eddie.
Finally, considering we getbaited hard with Knull turning upin another post-credits scene, we’re probably not done with Symbiotes just yet.
