Venom: The Last Dance may be weeks away, but there’s an awful lot we don’t know about the third entry in this Marvel series. Thanks to the final trailer, we’ve only just learned that the symbiote god Knull is being introduced in the sequel as the film’s villain. That still leaves many other questions. Is this actually the last Venom movie? Are Chiwetel Ejiofor and Juno Temple playing existing Marvel characters or brand-new creations? Will Venom ever face Spider-Man?!
But perhaps no mystery is nagging us more than the identity of Rhys Ifans’ character. Ifans’ casting was revealed back in June 2024, but we still have no idea whom he’s playing. Is he reprising the role of Dr. Curt Connors, a.k.a. The Lizard, from The Amazing Spider-Man? Is he playing Knull? Or is he someone else entirely? Let’s break down what little evidence we have so far.
Is Ifans Playing The Lizard Again?
As mentioned, Ifans is hardly a newcomer to the Spider-Man franchise. He previously appeared as Dr. Curt Connors in 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man, opposite Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker. Ifans’ character wound up serving as the main villain of that film, transforming into The Lizard and hatching a plan to transform everyone in New York into reptilian monsters.
The Amazing Spider-Man and its sequel certainly left the door open for more from the character, teasing the prospect of Michael Massee’s mysterious character “The Gentleman” assembling the Sinister Six. 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home sort of made good on that promise by bringing both Garfield’s Spidey and Ifans’ Lizard into the MCU temporarily. Though we mostly only saw Ifans’ character in CGI Lizard form, so that was more of a voiceover role.
Is it possible Ifans is returning to his Marvel role for a third time? Frankly, we doubt it. We could certainly see how Dr. Connors and his biological expertise might fit into the plot of a Venom sequel all about the military hunting Eddie Brock and his symbiote. That said, there’s been no indication that the Venom movies take place in the same universe as the Amazing Spider-Man films. There doesn’t even seem to be a Spider-Man in this universe, so why would there be a Lizard? Bringing Ifans back as Dr. Connors, even a variant, doesn’t seem to make sense in the context of this cinematic universe.
Is Ifans Playing Knull?
A more likely possibility is that Ifans has been cast as Knull. We don’t get a close look at this new villain in the latest trailer for Venom: The Last Dance. But what we do see is a character who very much resembles Ifans as he appeared in the Harry Potter movies - a lanky man with long, blond hair. That pretty much matches the description of Knull in the comics, who has a distinctly humanoid appearance despite being a several billion-year-old god.
We could easily believe that’s Ifans in the shot below:
The new Venom movie appears to be sticking fairly close to the comics with its depiction of Knull. He’s an inhuman figure decked out in black armor and with a twisted smile that would make the Joker jealous. We can’t tell from the trailer whether Knull’s armor will sport its trademark red dragon emblem. But if so, that may be how Tom Hardy’s Venom finally gains the inspiration to adopt his own chest emblem from the comics.
The idea with casting Ifans as Knull may be similar to how DC shows like Smallville and Arrow have handled legacy actors. Those shows feature a lot of familiar faces from earlier shows and movies, but generally the veteran actors were cast in new roles that evoked the old ones, such as John Wesley Shipp playing Henry Allen and Jay Garrick on The Flash and Christopher Reeve playing Dr. Virgil Swann on Smallville.
Here, too, Venom: The Last Dance may be acknowledging Ifans’ importance in the Spider-Man canon by bringing him back, but giving him the opportunity to cut his teeth on a completely different character. Ifans started out playing the first major nemesis for Garfield’s Spider-Man. Now he’s playing the ultimate foe to Hardy’s Eddie Brock. The Marvel multiverse works in mysterious ways.
Of course, it’s always possible that neither of these theories is correct. Ifans may be playing a completely different role, one not even based on an existing Marvel Comics character. Let us know which option you think is most likely in the comments below.
For more on Sony's Spider-Man Universe, brush up on all the Spider-Man movies in development and learn why Nic Cage's Spider-Man Noir isn't the hero this universe needs.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
