One of the biggest mysteries about Venom: The Last Dance is the actor who is playing Knull, God of the Symbiotes, in the movie. Well, guess what? As revealed thanks to the review embargo for the threequel, which broke earlier today, we now know that Knull is played by Andy Serkis.
Created by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman, and first introduced in 2013’s Thor: God of Thunder #6, Knull is the god and creator of the symbiotes. He’s the guy Venom and the rest fear the most, and as it turns out over the course of an extended storyline that led to Marvel Comics’s King in Black crossover, he controls the hive mind that all symbiotes share… Which is why he heads to Earth, to retake Venom (among other reasons). Basically, he’s a Thanos-level baddie for symbiotes.
…Which is why you might think Knull would be the main villain of Venom: The Last Dance… Particularly with this being the last go around for Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock and Venom. But nope. As director Kelly Marcel explained at the movie’s New York Comic Con panel, “Knull, this is just the introduction to Knull, you could never do one and done with him. You’ll get to meet him, and what the future holds, who knows?”
Serkis previously directed Venom: Let There Be Carnage. And while he’s well known for playing CGI characters like Gollum in Lord of the Rings and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes movies, this isn’t the first time he’s played a Marvel villain… Serkis previously appeared as Ulysses Klaue in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Black Panther. I probably don’t need to note this, though I will anyway: the MCU (where those movies take place) is a different universe than the Sony movies, which is presumably why Serkis can play both characters.
Earlier, Marcel teased to IGN, “As the fans know there are many, many more symbiote stories — the universe is wide and rich, and one movie could never do justice to Knull. Beyond this trilogy, there are more stories to explore – God is coming.”
Where will Knull turn up next? Rumor has it possibly in Spider-Man 4, set in the MCU. With the symbiotes shown to have the ability to travel the multiverse, it’s not as far-fetched as it might seem. So yeah, Knull is coming for… Someone. We’ll just have to see if Venom 3 is successful enough for that to pan out.
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