With Venom: Let There Be Carnage on the way, many hoped that there was still a chance for Eddie Brock and Venom to join the MCU this time around. However, all indications seem to be that Venom is still being left out of the Marvel crossover scene for now.
However, the fact that Venom isn't joining yet doesn't mean that it will never happen; it could even still be this version of Venom as played by Tom Hardy. The world of superheroes is wide, wild, and wonderful, and the possibilities are endless. There is still a myriad of ways that Venom can join the MCU.
10 Venom Was Just Hiding Out In San Francisco This Whole Time
The easiest explanation would be the one that would allow the current Venom movies to be incorporated into the MCU. The Venom films take place in San Francisco, which isn't a common setting in MCU films. Ant-Man and Ant-Man & The Wasp both take place in San Francisco, but it's easy to imagine that Ant-Man and the Wasp just have never run across Eddie Brock.
This would mean that the events of the Avengers movies were just never mentioned in Venom, but that's an easy enough detail to overlook.
9 Black Widow Discovered That The Red Room Had A Symbiote
This may be the most far-fetched theory here, but it is technically possible. Symbiotes being used in clandestine government operations isn't a new idea in Marvel Comics canon, so why not have Black Widow discover a Red Room symbiote in her upcoming solo flick?
Again, this is a long shot, but it is one that is technically possible. It's easy to imagine the foreboding Red Room holding onto an alien symbiote like that.
8 Being Discovered Out In The Multiverse In Spider-Man: No Way Home
This Venom introduction could easily include a whole new Venom or the pre-established Tom Hardy Venom. Rumors abound of Spider-Man: No Way Home involving a multiversal adventure with the current Tom Holland Spider-Man as well as the Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield versions of Spider-Man.
No Way Home could also introduce Venom through a multiversal connection, whether it be Tom Hardy or another Eddie Brock. It could even fit Tom Hardy's Venom in as the Spider-Man analog for his universe.
7 Returning From Spider-Man 3 In Spider-Man: No Way Home
This is another longshot, but it's an interesting one to consider. Venom, of course, already had his Spider-Man film debut with Spider-Man 3. In this movie, Eddie Brock was another Daily Bugle photographer and was played by Topher Grace.
While it appeared that Eddie Brock and Venom died in that movie, death has been known to be fickle in superhero stories. As such, it is possible that, with the possible return of Toby Maguire in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Topher Grace's Venom could re-emerge.
6 Spider-Man Discovers The Symbiote Suit In His Own Movie
It's also possible that an upcoming MCU Spider-Man movie completely ignores the pre-existing Venom film canon and using the multiverse as a plot device for Venom. Spider-Man could just discover the Venom symbiote on his own, and the Venom saga could play out in a similar fashion that it did in the comic books.
This would be a straightforward way of handling the situation, and it wouldn't require any complex explanations beyond the existence of the alien symbiote Klyntars.
5 Introduced Alongside The Upcoming MCU Fantastic Four
A Fantastic Four project has already been announced by Marvel Studios, and they could also carry along Venom as a passenger in their introduction. Both the FF and Venom have space-faring origins in the comics, and they have a tangential connection through the original Secret Wars as well as Mister Fantastic studying the symbiote suit for Peter Parker in the comics.
The MCU could give Venom origins with the Fantastic Four. Perhaps, the Marvel-1 could bring the symbiote back to Earth on accident, or the symbiote could be a Negative Zone species that comes through one of Mister Fantastic's portals.
4 The Venom Symbiote Is Discovered In A Secret Wars Movie
Speaking of Secret Wars, the symbiote suit was originally discovered by Spider-Man during the original Secret Wars tale by Jim Shooter, Mike Zeck, and Bob Layton. Venom could be introduced once again through such a story in the MCU. The Venom symbiote could be found on Battleworld, or Eddie Brock as Venom could be pulled into the fray from a different timeline.
Originally, Secret Wars was an intergalactic tale that brought together the pieces of several different planets for The Beyonder's entertainment. However, the more recent Secret Wars by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic was an interdimensional tale, and that approach could allow for a pre-established Eddie Brock as Venom.
3 S.H.I.E.L.D. Has Just Been Sitting On The Venom Symbiote This Whole Time
Similar to the idea of the Red Room sitting on a symbiote this whole time, it's also very possible that S.H.I.E.L.D. has the Venom symbiote squirreled away somewhere in a defunct research base. It's worth mentioning here that former Peter Parker bully Flash Thompson spent some time as Agent Venom.
Agent Venom was a government-sanctioned version of Venom that went on clandestine missions, and it was seen as a continuation to Project Rebirth which created Captain America during World War II. The symbiote was largely sedated during this time, keeping it from taking control of Flash. During this period, Agent Venom was also a member of the Secret Avengers for a time.
2 Joining Up With The Guardians Of The Galaxy
Agent Venom was also a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy for a time, and it wouldn't be too hard to imagine the team discovering the Venom symbiote during one of their adventures. This introduction to Venom could have the character already established as a hero in the depths of space.
After joining up with the Guardians, Agent Venom discovered his role as a Space Knight and transformed into a more powerful version of himself. Space Knight Venom could be the version of Venom that the Guardians encounter and recruit to their team.
1 The MCU Launches A Whole New Venom Project
There's also the possibility that all of this theorizing could be for naught, and the MCU could have a heretofore unimagined way of introducing Venom into the film canon apart from Spider-Man, the Avengers, the Guardians, and the Fantastic Four.
They could give Venom a whole new origin with a whole different actor. Venom could also just be introduced as a straightforward villain as he was in the 1990s Spider-Man animated series. Only time will tell for sure.