Sony Pictures’ Venom franchise has introduced multiple symbioses beyond Venom alone. Beginning with 2018’s Venom and continuing with the upcoming Venom: The Last Dance releasing in 2024, Earth has become home to several symbiotes seeking human hosts to survive and bond with. While the most famous is naturally the Venom symbiote that bonded with Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock, the vast majority of symbiotes are much darker and far more dangerous to mankind.

Originating from the planet Klyntar, symbiotes seek to devour worlds and bond with organic hosts. Thanks to the Life Foundation in 2018’s Venom, a collection of symbiotes were brought to Earth, though more have emerged since the first movie in the Sony franchise. To that end, here’s every confirmed symbiote in the Venom franchise, as well as those likely to be on their way in the upcoming Venom 3.

Venom Is Introduced In The 2018 Movie

He Bonds With Eddie Brock

The most predominant symbiote in Sony’s Venom trilogy, the black and white symbiote known as Venom crash-lands on Earth along with three other symbiotes who’d been captured by the Life Foundation. The symbiotes are then taken to labs in San Francisco, where Venom is discovered by journalist Eddie Brock who’d broken into the facility. Bonding with Eddie, Venom and Brock achieve a perfect bond of symbiosis. Becoming partners, the duo took on the Life Foundation’s CEO Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed) who’d bonded with Riot, one of the other Life Foundation symbiotes. Venom prevents Riot from returning to Klyntar and bringing more symbiotes to invade Earth.

Together, Brock and Venom become a Lethal Protector, only eating criminals while trying to stay off the police’s radar. However, Venom ends up spawning his offspring which inadvertently enters the vicinity of serial killer Cletus Kasady. Together, Cletus and the new symbiote become Carnage which Venom eventually defeats. Following a very brief and involuntary trip to the MCU thanks to Spider-Man: No Way Home, Venom and Eddie have returned home and will be on the run as seen in the first trailer for Venom 3.

Riot Is The Villain Of The 2018 Movie

He Bonds With Several People Before Carlton Drake

Riot was the only symbiote from the Life Foundation space mission that managed to escape containment, most likely being the reason for the rocket’s crash-landing. While the other three symbiotes were taken to the San Francisco labs, the silver symbiote took the long way, bonding with imperfect hosts until finally forming an alliance with Drake. Riot and Drake had a common mission to bring more symbiotes to Earth, and also shared enemies with Brock and his new symbiote who’d decided to stay and protect Earth. That said, Riot and Drake are killed aboard the rocket which Venom destroys at the end of the first Venom movie.

Carnage Is The Villain Of Venom: Let There Be Carnage

He Bonds With Cletus Kasady

Having been teased at the end of the first Venom movie, Carnage makes his full debut in 2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage. After Eddie Brock and Venom were able to deduce through interviews where sociopathic serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) had buried all of his bodies, Kasady was set to receive the death penalty for his crimes in San Quentin. However, his final encounter with Brock results in Venom’s spawn entering Kasady’s blood just before his execution.

This newly spawned red symbiote saves Kasady and helps him escape prison. Together they become Carnage, and Cletus reunites with his childhood love Frances Barrison aka Shriek whom he intends to marry. However, a confrontation between Carnage and Venom proves that the bond between the Carnage symbiote and Kasady was imperfect, resulting in Venom eating his Carnage offspring and biting Kasady’s head off.

Toxin Was Teased At The End Of Let There Be Carnage

Bonded With Detective Patrick Mulligan

In Let There Be Carnage, Eddie Brock works with Detective Patrick Mulligan (Stephen Graham) who was the lead on the Cletus Kasady case. As such, Mulligan investigates Kasady’s whereabouts and history following his escape from San Quentin, though he also has his suspicions about Eddie Brock’s secrets as well. This culminates with Mulligan being present at Carnage and Venom’s final battle at the cathedral where Kasday intended to marry Shriek. While Mulligan was believed to have been killed by Shriek during the showdown, the end of the movie sees him alive, albeit with glowing eyes.

In the comics, Patrick Mulligan becomes the first human host for Toxin, the spawn of Carnage and the 100th offspring in Venom’s lineage. This means that Toxin was arguably more powerful and stronger than the average symbiote. To that end, the teases at the end of Let There Be Carnage and the trailer for Venom: The Last Dance suggest that Mulligan will indeed become the host for Toxin in live-action, seeing as how his eyes are still glowing in the trailer, and he’s in the custody of a new military outfit seemingly tasked with the capture and study of symbiotes.

Life Foundation Symbiotes (Yellow/Blue)

Multiple Hosts, But No Bonds

Beyond Venom and Riot, the Life Foundation also captured both a yellow and a blue symbiote which they continually experimented on using homeless people and rabbits as test subjects. However, perfect symbioses were never achieved. While never named on-screen, many have suggested that the yellow Symbiote might have been Phage from the comics, though it ultimately died after it couldn’t find a suitable host. The same is true of the blue symbiote (which might have been Agony). The blue symbiote was also deprived of a suitable host even after bonding with Dr. Dora Skirth (Jenny Slate).

The Government Has Captured Several Symbiotes In Venom 3

Here’s What Symbiotes They Could Be From The Comics

As seen in the first trailer for Venom: The Last Dance, this new science/military organization has already captured several symbiotes. This includes the piece of Venom that was thought to have been left behind in the MCU as seen in No Way Home. Based on shots from the trailer, it looks as though anywhere between 4-6 symbiotes are in containment, each featuring differing colors.

Keeping that in mind, it’s possible that these symbiotes could become the lethal team from the comics that first originated with the Life Foundation known as Agony, Phage, Lasher, and Scream. After all, the yellow and blue symbiotes from the first Venom who were at the Life Foundation were never named on-screen. That said, they could also simply be brand-new symbiotes with no connection to the original comics.

Venom’s Symbiote Homeworld Invades Earth In Venom 3

Venom Will Soon Be Outnumbered

At one point in the trailer for Venom: The Last Dance, Venom tells Eddie that his home has found them as multiple objects prepare to land on Earth from orbit. This suggests that even more symbiotes are on their way to invade Earth, the outcome Venom and Brock tried to prevent when they killed Riot in 2018’s Venom. However, there may be something even worse and far more dangerous that Venom and Eddie will have to deal with first.

A Symbiote Killer May Be Coming, The Xenophage

Facing a giant, multi-legged monster with several rows of teeth, the massive creature Venom faces on top of an airplane looks more like a Xenophage from the original comics as opposed to a more traditional symbiote. In the comics, a Xenophage was an alien creature that preyed upon symbiotes, seeking to consume the brains of their hosts. As such, this would certainly up the stakes for Venom: The Last Dance beyond Venom and Brock simply having to face yet another dark symbiote as they had to in the previous two Sony movies.