Warning: The following contains major spoilers for Venom: The Last Dance! Turn back if you haven't seen the new Marvel movie yet!
As you can guess from the title, Venom: The Last Dance is the send-off for the Venom franchise, bringing the adventures of Eddie and his symbiote pal to a close.
Now, if you've seen the movie, you'll know the ending is a major tearjerker – Venom chooses to sacrifice himself to prevent big bad Knull from escaping his prison, which leaves Eddie alone. Though, luckily, the final Venom 3 post-credits scene hints that a tiny part of Venom survived.
When 12DOVE caught up with director Kelly Marcel in London, she told us about the "beautiful memory" of filming that emotional ending.
"We got to shoot the movie in order, so the last scene really was the very last scene, Eddie lying on the ground there," Marcel says, referring to Eddie taking cover while Venom makes his grand sacrifice. "And I think that everybody was super emotional. You could see how much it had meant to everybody over the years, because we've taken most of our team with us through all three movies, and there just was this sort of collaborative well up of emotion on the set that was really lovely and felt cathartic and emotional for everyone."
It's certainly a sad farewell for the duo, who have been unlikely buddies since the first movie brought them together.
"In the first movie, they meet, and they don't really want to be together," Marcel reflects. "And in the second movie, they've been together for a while, and they're sick of each other, so they split up. And in the third movie, it feels like they've reached symbiosis. They've left everything they know and love behind, and now it's just the two of them, and they're resolute in their being the lethal protector and moving forward together in their partnership."
The problem, though, is that their existence could lead to Knull's freedom. "And then, of course, it's their very partnership that is at jeopardy and puts the world at risk," Marcel continues. "And so it's sort of a tragedy in a way, because they want to be together and they can't. And so I feel like the relationship's come full circle in that way. And I love their bond, too. I love their friendship. I think it's the axis on which everything spins."
Venom: The Last Dance is in theaters now. For more on the movie, check out our Venom 3 review for our spoiler-free verdict, or you can see what else is on the way with our guide to all the upcoming superhero movies.
