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Venom 2 trailer appears to feature chilling Avengers Easter Egg in background

It doesn’t spell good news for the MCU superhero group

Jacob Stolworthy
Tuesday 11 May 2021 11:43 BST
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Venom: Let There Be Carnage trailer

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The Venom 2 trailer appears to feature a hidden Easter egg referencing the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Avengers.

On Monday (10 May), the first look at Venom: Let There Be Carnage was released, treating fans to “chaotic” footage from the forthcoming sequel.

Tom Hardy will reprise the role of Eddie Brock, the Spider-Man Marvel Comics character who becomes unwittingly possessed by a super-powered alien symbiote.

Fans were excited to see footage from the new film that has been delayed for an entire year – but many have missed the MCU reference tucked away in the background.

Since 2019, a deal between Marvel and Sony has ensured that Spider-Man and characters associated wIth the web-slinger, including Venom, can exist in the MCU.

This crossover appeared to be confirmed in the trailer for Jared Leto’s Morbius, in which Michael Keaton reprised his role as Vulture having first appeared in the MCU’s Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Now, in the trailer for Venom 2, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment appears to reference the Avengers – and it doesn’t spell good news for them.

At one stage, Stephen Graham, who has joined the cast as Detective Mulligan, can be seen reading the Daily Bugle. Within its pages, a headline seems to namecheck the MCU superhero group.

Avengers in danger? Newspaper headline in ‘Venom 2’ trailer seems to suggest so
Avengers in danger? Newspaper headline in ‘Venom 2’ trailer seems to suggest so (Sony Pictures Releasing)

The word is cut off, so it reads: “-engers”. Other words that follow headline include “lose” and “nightmare” – not words you’d associate with good news.

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While it doesn’t explicitly say “Avengers”, it’s hard to think what other word would fit onto the page. Screen Rant notes it could be “passengers”, but that seems unlikely considering the placement of the word at the front of the headline.

It could be that the word “nightmare” is a reference to a villain introduction teased in WandaVision, in which Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff completes her transformation into the Scarlet Witch.

In the comics, Nightmare is the ruler of a Dream Dimension and, crucially, has the ability to draw power from the psychic energies of the subconscious minds of dreaming beings.

Headline could link to ‘Doctor Strange’ sequel in which Scarlet Witch will appear
Headline could link to ‘Doctor Strange’ sequel in which Scarlet Witch will appear (Marvel Studios)

Wanda will appear as a main character alongside Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) in the sequel Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in 2022, but before that, the sorcerer will appear in Spider-Man: No Way Home, which is being released in December.

Perhaps this headline in Venom 2 is teasing the fallout of WandaVision that will be explored in the Doctor Strange sequel after being set up in the third MCU Spider-Man film (apologies if that gave you a headache).

Venom: Let There Be Carnage, directed by Andy Serkis, will be released on 15 September.

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