Venom 2 ending explained: Why Venom obsessed with [Spoilers]

Do spiders taste good? Because that’s what Venom seems to crave at the end of Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

Warning: Spoilers for Venom: Let There Be Carnage ahead.

In the game-changing credits scene of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock finds himself in a completely different place. And on his television set in an island resort hotel room, there’s a familiar face fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe recognize: Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, amid his public unmasking at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home.

As we’ve explained before, both Venom and Eddie experience the merging of the multiverse at the end of Venom: Let There Be Carnage and find themselves in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Precisely what, or who, is causing the multiverses to merge is unclear. But what we do know is that the scene sets up a confrontation between Spider-Man and Venom, a famed comic book rivalry fans are hoping turns out better than in Spider-Man 3.

But why does Venom lick the TV with Peter’s face on it? Besides communicating the apparent fact that Venom wants to eat brains — and Peter’s looks tasty to Venom — Venom’s hunger appears to be proof of an intrinsic attraction to Peter Parker.

Now, it’s critical to point out that this has never been a real thing in the comics. Symbiotes can attach to any host and have done so, notably characters like Eddie Brock (a rival of Peter Parker’s at the Daily Bugle) and Peter’s former high school bully Flash Thompson. Heck, the two Venom films have shown symbiotes attaching to dozens of people already. There’s nothing more special about Peter Parker’s physiology than anyone else.

But it is through Peter Parker that the symbiotes entered the Marvel Universe. Peter finds the symbiote in Reed Richards ' lab in the eighth issue of the original 1984 comic book series Secret Wars. Thinking it’s Reed’s costume fixer, Peter makes contact with the symbiote, covering him entirely in a new black costume and enhanced versions of his spider powers.

After Secret Wars, Spider-Man takes the symbiote back home, and after a while, it leaves Peter’s body and connects with Eddie Brock to become a new “Lethal Protector,” named Venom.

Given that the Venom film franchise has Venom latch onto Eddie first and not Peter Parker, the film continuity is perhaps feeling an echo of its comic book origins.

That said, it’s also possible that Venom’s attraction to Peter Parker could stem from another universe: the Sam Raimi trilogy. Remember, this isn’t the first time that Venom and symbiotes have been on the big screen.

In 2007’s Spider-Man 3, the alien symbiote crashes in New York and latches onto Peter Parker and later Eddie Brock (played by Topher Grace). Like the comics, the symbiote latches onto Peter first, enhancing his aggression and ego before attaching itself to Eddie Brock.

What’s interesting about symbiotes is that their origins still haven’t been determined in the movies. While their roots in the comics are that of biological weapons created by the Elder God named Knull, none of these cinematic universes have recognized this as canon. There could be multiple species of symbiotes found throughout the multiverse. Or, they may all originate in the same universal plane and have found themselves in different realities.

Notably, Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker served as host to the symbiote and not Tom Holland. But the multiverse is a funny, abstract thing. Venom could be sensing a connection to a “Peter Parker,” no matter what they look like.

This is all, of course, just a theory, as no one knows what Spider-Man and Venom’s second cinematic showdown will look like. It’s also unknown if Tom Hardy will cameo in the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home, as well as when and where Tom Holland will show up as Spider-Man again. (The actor has said his contract is finished after No Way Home, but he’s open to renewal.)

All we can say for sure is that when Spider-Man and Venom meet, there will be maximum carnage.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is now playing in theaters.