WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Venom: Let There Be Carnage, now playing in theaters
Venom: Let There Be Carnage wades deep into the character's lore, pulling a lot from Marvel's Spider-Man work, despite this film not being set in the mainstream Marvel Cinematic Universe at first. It pays a lot of homage to Eddie Brock/Venom's feud with Cletus Kasady/Carnage from the books and cartoons, while also nodding to many arcs over the years that involve the supporting cast in this new war. With that said, let's dissect the biggest Easter eggs and references spotted in this sequel.
Cletus Kasady's Origin in Venom 2 Is Close to the Comics
This film hews close to the Marvel comics, with Cletus Kasady murdering female members of his family amid an abusive childhood and despicable father. He ends up at St. Estes Home for Unwanted Children, created by David Michelinie and Erik Larsen in the early '90s for the character. The film opts to bring in Frances Barrison, aka Shriek, as his soulmate from St. Estes, creating an inseparable bond between the two throughout the years.
Frances Barrison's Gunshot and a Nod to Her Mutant Powers
In the film, Frances gets shot in the head by Detective Mulligan when the police take her in. This is similar to the comics, although Mulligan wasn't the trigger man in the source material. However, it's also worth noting she mentions her super-sonic screams are getting worse. She calls it her "mutation," which teases the Children of the Atom arriving in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ironically, as Eddie scribbles clues with Venom pulling strings, he scribes the word "Phoenix" with a girl next to it, nodding to Jean Grey.
The Ravencroft Institute Is Marvel's Arkham Asylum
Ravencroft first appeared in Spectacular Spider-Man in the '90s, and has now become Marvel's Arkham Asylum with Norman Osborn overseeing all kinds of villainous therapy. In this film, the Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane houses an array of supervillains being experimented on too, and this is where Cletus comes to break Frances out, allowing her to cut loose as Shriek. Another nod to the comics is Sian Webber's character, Dr. Pazzo, who was a doctor of psychiatry at Ravencroft in the books.
Venom 2 Sets Up Mulligan's Toxin Transformation
Mulligan's keeping tabs on the suspicious Eddie but Frances comes after him for shooting her. She leaves him near death, but his eyes glow, hinting maybe a symbiote infected him. This sets up the angle where he becomes Toxin, a spawn of Carnage who debuted in 2004's Venom vs. Carnage. He was shaped in that story and subsequent arcs an anti-hero that Venom has to monitor, not just as a rival but a threat.
Venom 2 Takes Some Shots at Spider-Man
As Eddie and Venom argue at Mrs. Chen's store, the symbiote says "responsibility is for the mediocre," which is a jab at Uncle Ben's line: "With great power comes great responsibility." Cletus also squashes a spider in his cell and sucks its blood as he talks about his dark origin, poking fun at how he bit the spider and it's not the other way around, as with Spider-Man's origin.
Stan Lee's Cameo
The late Stan Lee makes an unexpected cameo in Venom: Let There Be Carnage: His face appears on the cover of a comics magazine on Mrs. Chen’s counter. Lee is credited with co-creating Spider-Man alongside Steve Ditko, and he appeared in a small role in 2018’s Venom.
'Lethal Protectors' Is a Nod to the Comic That Marked Venom's Turn to Antihero
Venom wants his crew, consisting of Eddie, Anne and Dan, to be known as the Lethal Protectors, an homage to the six-issue 1993 miniseries of the same name. This started Venom's switch from villain to antihero as he left the Big Apple for San Francisco. While the crew shoots down the moniker, Eddie and Venom do declare themselves a "Lethal Protector" when they realize their bond is stronger than Carnage and Cletus' in the finale.
The Daily Bugle & the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse
There are physical copies of The Daily Bugle spotted, with Mulligan reading one, which ironically teases the Avengers and Marvel's supernatural villain, Nightmare. Eddie also scours its website to find clues on Cletus' past. The mid-credits then focuses on J. Jonah Jameson running the Bugle's online video platform where he outs Peter Parker as Spider-Man as seen in Spider-Man: Far From Home. It suggests Eddie and Venom have been teleported from their hotel into Peter's world.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage is in theaters now.