An Easter egg from Venom: Let There Be Carnage suggests Carnage may have been connected to Spider-Man prior to the film's shocking post-credits sequence.
Before he transformed into Carnage, Woody Harrelson's Cletus Kasady was contained within the walls of The Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane. Sony has released an Easter egg reel for Venom: Let There Be Carnage that offers up a closer look at Cletus' cell, highlighting the many etchings he carved into his walls. The walkthrough opens with quotes from Lord Byron's Prometheus, William Blake's Proverbs of Hell and Bram Stoker's Dracula, each reflecting Cletus' inner turmoil. Although these offer valuable insights in their own right, a pair of drawings may have even bigger implications, as the footage reveals that the future-Carnage carefully carved both a spider and a bat into his cell wall, teasing the presence of Spider-Man and Morbius in Venom's world.
This isn't the only connective tissue between Venom: Let There Be Carnage and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The post-credits scene of Venom 2 shows Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock watching TV when suddenly a blinding light flashes in the sky, at which point his hotel room is drastically transfigured, like he was teleported to another reality. The TV broadcast changes to show J.K. Simmons' J. Jonah Jameson talking about the true identity of Spider-Man, near-identical to Spider-Man: Far From Home's mid-credits scene. Venom then watches Tom Holland's Peter Parker appear on the screen before saying, "That guy," and licking the TV. Though this scene could suggest that Venom was already aware of Spider-Man, its placement at the end of the film implies it takes place sometime after Doctor Strange's actions in Spider-Man: No Way Home. That would mean Carnage's connection to Spider-Man predates the merging of worlds, since his cell is shown in the film before this scene takes place.
While Marvel Studios hasn't commented on the connections between Sony's Venomverse and the MCU, the evidence is beginning to pile up. The second trailer for Morbius was filled with references to Spider-Man, from the notorious Daily Bugle to graffiti of the web-head and even an appearance from Michael Keaton's Adrian Toomes, last seen in Spider-Man: Homecoming. When paired with Holland's own passionate pitch for a Spider-Man/Venom crossover, it seems like the writing's on the wall for Spidey.
Whether or not Spider-Man encounters Venom, it's clear Sony is confident in the future of its own cinematic universe. The studio officially added two "Untitled Sony/Marvel Universe" films to its 2023 calendar for June 23, 2023 and Oct. 6, 2023. It hasn't been confirmed if these will be further continuations of Venom, Morbius or even another installment of the Spider-Verse animated film series, but their existence shows Sony has no plans of slowing down.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage will be available to own on on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD on Dec. 14.
Source: YouTube