Diya Majumdar
With Disney acquiring major studios like Marvel and 20th Century Fox under its unified banner, the convergence of the entire Marvel comics oeuvre in the cinematic world now comes with ease of navigation. But characters like Spider-Man and Venom are still acquired under the proprietary rights of Sony and as witnessed by its fledgling Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, there seem to be no signs of slowing down on the latter’s part. And that puts a definitive roadblock in the path of Kevin Feige’s vision of the MCU.
The clash of the two titan studios has already caused more problems than necessary — the latest being a tear in the connective tissue that holds together the arc of Spider-Man, Venom, and Gorr the God Butcher in the Marvel comics.
Also read: 5 Reasons Venom Is Spider-Man’s Greatest Arch-Nemesis, Not Green Goblin
Kevin Feige Stops Tom Holland Spider-Man Cameo in Venom
There has been a lot of talk surrounding the haphazard nature of mid-credits and post-credits scenes throughout the SSMU. While there have been sightings of Michael Keaton‘s the Vulture in the alternate universe where Eddie Brock and Morbius reside, the overlap also occurs when Tom Hardy paid a confusing visit to the mainstream MCU at the end of No Way Home, leaving behind a trace of Venom in his wake. Although this sign of goodwill between Marvel Studios and Sony potentially opens the line for Marvel’s Spider-Man going toe to toe with Venom, there is a larger story at play that gets ignored due to Marvel, and specifically Taika Waititi’s digression from the comic’s source material.
But before getting into the details of that story, one needs to face the facts about Feige’s involvement in changing a major aspect of Spider-Man’s identity. Sony’s intricate involvement with the Marvel comics character and his evolution has existed for a long time, and as such, it was understandable for a central figure around which the studio built, named, and dedicated an entire universe to drop by from time to time — if not in an official capacity, then at least for a courtesy cameo. However, considering how Sony’s progression with Venom and Morbius throws a wrench in Feige’s future plans, the latter too makes a stand by refusing to allow Tom Holland‘s Spider-Man to appear in the SSMU opposite Tom Hardy’s Venom.
This entire clash is not to be misinterpreted as a battle of will and ego, rather the executive decision on Kevin Feige’s part makes sure that the juxtaposition of the SSMU and MCU doesn’t dilute the two universes to such an extent that Tom Holland would be required to quit one studio in favor of another. The currently balanced narrative suits all the parties involved just fine, and Feige intends to keep it that way for as long as possible.
Tom Hardy’s Venom Was Destined to Kill Gorr in Thor 4
Also read: Gorr The God Butcher: From Comics to Thor: Love and Thunder
In Thor: Love and Thunder, Gorr comes into possession of the Necrosword and eventually becomes the God Butcher. However, what the cinematic adaptation foregoes in its narrative is the battle between the two gods — one clad in golden armor and the other covered in black — who crashed into Gorr’s planet and led to him coming across All-Black in the first place. In the Marvel comics, the one covered in black is Knull — who in his quest for vengeance against all life launches a genocidal rampage across the universe, beginning with the murder of the Celestial who dared to bring light and life into his dark residential void. Interestingly, the severed head of this murdered Celestial exists as the planetary Nowhere in the MCU.
Knull, who comes from a space of anti-life, is the creator of the original Necrosword, building it using the decapitated Celestial as a forge. The All-Black then allows for the creation of unparalleled monstrosities, a percentage of what was shown in Thor 4 via Gorr’s ability to summon Black Berserkers on Earth and create a shelter for himself in the color-void planet. The comic assigns this powerful All-Black as the first symbiote in existence and the Berserkers come dangerously close to being the alien family of Venom. As the story progresses, Knull was betrayed and imprisoned by his own symbiotic creations.
Granted how MCU’s Gorr was in possession of the Necrosword and Sony’s Venom has been on a singular quest to find his way back and the former essentially commands the latter, it could have put the two universes in a direct collision course. When the Necrosword was destroyed in Thor: Love and Thunder, it severed the subservience over all symbiote life-form including Venom, which would have led to the All-Black creation killing Gorr as retribution. This could have essentially converged the MCU with the SSMU in a linear and non-convoluted manner.
Considering how Venom and Spider-Man, too, are interlinked and the Gorr arc is now extinguished, it still remains to be seen what Feige’s plans are regarding the wall-crawler, especially after the very confusing post-credits scene that dropped off a piece of Venom into the Marvel mainstream universe.
Venom and Thor: Love and Thunder are now available for streaming on Netflix and Disney+ respectively.
Source: Heavy Spoilers
