The first Venom: The Last Dance trailer is here, and it confirms that the movie will be exactly what I expected, and there is nothing wrong with that; on the contrary, it’s great. Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock is the only character in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe — Spider-Man is only at Marvel despite the franchise’s name — to succeed. Other SSU releases so far have been Morbius and Madame Web. Both of those movies were far from the best, and that translated into extremely poor box office numbers and negative reviews. However, the Venom films have had success with fans.

After two successful films, one of them even doing solid numbers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Hardy will return to lead Venom: The Last Dance‘s cast as his final solo movie as Eddie. That could very well spell doom for the shared universe, especially if December’s Kraven the Hunter, which stars MCU Quicksilver actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson, repeats Morbius and Madame Web‘s performances. While the future of the SSU is uncertain, at least its next release should be exciting, as the first Venom: The Last Dance trailer showed everything I wanted to see in Hardy’s final Venom movie — minus a Spider-Man.

Venom Is The Only SSU Franchise To Lean Into Dumb Fun

And It Is Better For It

A lot of the criticism I see about the Venom movies misunderstands what the franchise is meant to be. Hardy’s Venom is inherently silly, and that is what makes the films work. Morbius tried to play it straight and ended up being the SSU movie with the most memes. Madame Web also tried to be serious, though its bad dialogue did the exact opposite, with the movie becoming one of the most joked about superhero films ever. Venom embraces the silliness of the SSU and does wonders with that.

There are plenty of ridiculous situations in both Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which includes Eddie Brock talking to chickens, as well as him cooling off in a lobster tank and biting into a lobster. I am happy to say that the Venom: The Last Dance trailer continues the franchise’s streak. The Venom movies are all about being entertaining to the audience, and their main way to do so is through dumb fun, which is why the Venom horse reveal in the new trailer has become one of its most talked about moments. It simply rocks.

The Venom Franchise Is Nailing The Eddie & Venom Relationship

Tom Hardy’s Dual Role Is Perfect

The most entertaining aspect of the SSU’s Venom movies is the relationship between Eddie and Venom. The two characters bicker like a couple, and it is hilarious to watch unfold. All of that is made better by Hardy, who pulls off double duty. The actor voices Venom in addition to playing Eddie, with his voice being modulated to give off the more sinister tone of the character, though the utterly comedic dialogue that comes from Venom often does not fit the tone of his voice, which just makes it more funny.

Eddie and Venom’s banter is the driving force of the franchise, and Venom: The Last Dance‘s trailer featured plenty of the same beats that have made me have a great time watching the previous Venom films. Eddie and Venom continue to have great chemistry, with the characters now more in tune than ever for their final solo film. I like that the SSU took a different approach to the characters, as the sillier relationship between the duo does not come from the comics, but Hardy sells the dual role well and makes Venom and Eddie’s personalities entertaining together and apart.

Venom 3’s Story Seems Perfectly Over The Top

The Movie Raises The Stakes

As Venom states in the trailer, Venom: The Last Dance will see his “home” come get him. Venom comes from the planet Klyntar. A meteor shower appears in the trailer for the upcoming SSU movie, with a few symbiotes being shown or teased for the film. The final movie in Hardy’s Venom trilogy is unlikely to pit Hardy’s Venom against just one symbiote, as it seems to be about Venom’s race descending on Earth to get him. As Eddie says, “We may not make it out of this alive, buddy,” he and Venom could even die.

A possible symbiote invasion on Earth makes for the ideal over-the-top scenario to end the Venom franchise. The stakes are the highest they have ever been, with Eddie and Venom being the ones who have the knowledge to save the planet, risking their lives to do so. After Venom arrived on Earth in his first SSU movie, it comes as a full circle moment that his “home” is now coming to get him. I’m excited to see Venom: The Last Dance up the stakes of the franchise for an entertaining and action-packed final adventure with these characters.