The first trailer for Venom: Let There Be Carnage raised a litany of questions regarding Woody Harrelson's Carnage and the role other villains might play in the continuing adventures of Eddie Brock. But there is one Easter egg in particular that certain fans have latched onto like a symbiote to Peter Parker — a reference to the Avengers. And it comes in the form of a Daily Bugle headline.
The Easter egg in question comes one minute and fifteen seconds into the trailer, when Detective Mulligan, played by Stephen Graham, is reading a West Coast edition of The Daily Bugle. While poring over Cletus Kasady's murderous exploits, Mulligan slams his newspaper in a fit of rage. When he opens his paper for a fraction of a second, a headline can be seen inside that appears to read "-engers Lose to Nightmare."
It doesn't seem to be too much of a stretch to assume it might say, "Avengers Lose to Nightmare." The "Nightmare" in this headline could refer to the longtime Marvel foe of the same name, also known as the ruler of the Dream Dimension. Coincidentally, or perhaps not, Nightmare has been heavily rumored to be the villain of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which makes this tease that much juicier. Plus, Doctor Strange has been confirmed to play an outsized role in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Whether Venom: Let There Be Carnage is hinting at a deeper connection to the Marvel Cinematic Universe remains unclear. More likely than not, it's probably just a fun teaser for eagle-eyed fans of the Marvel universe. The film's director, Andy Serkis, said as much in an interview with IGN where he seemed to downplay any connections to other franchises. Specifically, Serkis said:
Obviously, there are links between Venom and Spider-Man and the Marvel Universe and the Spider-Man story. We're treating this very much as it's his own world. The Venom story is his own world. There are nods and little moments [like the shot of the Daily Bugle], of course, but on the whole he's unaware.
While Serkis's comments seem fairly definitive, it's still worth speculating if there is anything bigger going on here. Sony's recent Spider-verse films have been making strides to reference and acknowledge the greater Marvel mythos, primarily by borrowing iconography from the Raimi films. For instance, the typeface and format used for this film's Daily Bugle is identical to the newspaper seen in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films. Furthermore, Morbius used the very same Daily Bugle logo and costume from Spider-Man, yet featured Michael Keaton's Vulture. Complicating matters further, J.K. Simmons plays J. Jonah Jameson in both the MCU and the Raimi films. And now that Alfred Molina and Jamie Foxx are all but confirmed to be reprising their roles in the MCU, it is impossible to know what is a nod to fans and what is a major story beat at this point.
One caveat against this cross-franchise event is that even though J. Jonah Jameson is played by J.K. Simmons in both cinematic universes, the MCU version is an InfoWars style podcast host sporting a different Daily Bugle logo than the traditional newspaper editor-in-chief seen in Raimi's films.
Added comments from a statement Kevin Feige made in 2019 added more fuel onto the fire when he said, "[Spider-Man] also happens to be the only hero with the superpower to cross cinematic universes, so as Sony continues to develop their own Spidey-verse you never know what surprises the future might hold." Though the expectation has been that Tom Holland's Spider-Man will eventually cross over with Tom Hardy's Venom, many believe an event like this is likely to be a one-way street. Despite the tantalizing implications this Easter egg in the Daily Bugle might pose, it's probably wise not to expect to see Venom teaming up with The Avengers anytime soon.
Nevertheless, something strange is going on in the Spider-verse. Though the Venom films explicitly do not take place in the MCU, Spider-Man and the Avengers could be just a dimension away.
Directed by Andy Serkis, Venom: Let There Be Carnage stars Tom Hardy, Woody Harrelson, Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris, Reid Scott, Stephen Graham, Sean Delaney and Larry Olubamiwo. The film arrives in theaters Sept. 24.