Tom Hardy's Venom has made a surprise reappearance ahead of Sony's Spider-Man: Brand New Day, despite the wider Sony Spider-Man Universe officially concluding with Kraven the Hunter. The move underlines Venom's status as the standout success of Sony's attempt to build a Spider-Man-adjacent franchise without Spider-Man himself, and suggests the character still has a future even as other spin-offs have been shelved.

Venom, released in 2018, grossed more than $856 million worldwide and spawned two sequels, with the trilogy earning over $1.8 billion collectively. That performance dwarfs Sony's other Spider-Man Universe efforts, including Morbius, Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter, each of which took in less than $175 million. The disparity highlights why Eddie Brock remains a valuable asset for Sony even as the broader interconnected universe has been wound down.