This post contains spoilers for Venom: The Last Dance.

The question at the core of Venom: The Last Dance is a simple question: Is this really the end of Venom?

Is this really Tom Hardy’s last hurrah as journalist and anti-hero Eddie Brock? Is the greatest comic book love story – a man standing in front of a symbiote and begging to be loved – finally done?

Looking at the events of the film, it’s a yes to all three. But The Last Dance has two post-credits scenes that leave open the slightest possibility that this might not be the end of the Alien’s superhero era.

In the film, Brock and Venom – the alien symbiote with whom the reporter shares a body – are pursued by a villain named Knull (CGI actor extraordinaire Andy Serkis). Knull is apparently some kind of terrible, terrible evil – a creature shrouded in shadows with startling white hair – trapped in a world of eternal darkness. The only thing that can free him is a codex (which looks like a small glowing, swirling gem) which, since this is supposedly a movie about Venom, is actually part of Venom’s body. Knull sends invincible alien creatures called xenophages after Venom and Eddie, intending to kill one or both of them and bring back the Codex so that Knull can bring destruction and despair to the universe.

Meanwhile, Venom and Brock are on the run after the events of Venom: Let There Be Carnage. They hide in Mexico, but after Venom eats some men, they decide to make a new life in New York City. Venom tells Eddie that he wants to see the Statue of Liberty, in large part because Eddie explains how it welcomes anyone who needs America’s shelter and protection. (Yes, Venom: The Last Dance actually acts as an allegory for immigration reform with a literally undocumented alien.)

Due to Knull and his xenophages and the American military’s interference, the two never make it to New York. Instead, they’re stuck in Area 51, where things are looking bleak for Venom. In the symbiote’s final stand, it absorbs Knull’s murderous beasts and douses itself in caustic acid – the only substance powerful enough to dissolve the xenophages. Venom’s final act is to sacrifice himself for Brock and the Earth, and when he and his attackers die, so does the Code.

In the final scene of the film – after a lengthy Eddie and Venom montage – Eddie visits New York City and looks at the Statue of Liberty. It’s a sight he knows Venom would have loved. And that, folks, is the end… or is it?

“Venom: The Last Dance”The film’s end credits scenes leave the door open for future symbiotes

The first of The Last DanceThe end credits scenes are short. Knull appears on the screen again and announces that Venom has died and that he is coming to take over the universe! Will he? Well, Knull’s return will largely depend on how much money this film makes. If it makes some money – Poison Films do particularly well abroad – Knull could be back. But if Knull returns, wouldn’t that also be a hint to the return of Venom? Without heroes there is no villain! That’s not how superhero movies work!

Lately, the once solid and surefire success of a superhero movie is looking more fragile, and studios are finding themselves in trouble. Marvel’s PostEndgame The design has fallen apart and the studio is hoping to bring Robert Downey Jr. back to crank the engine. Warner Bros. is set for a Jame Gunn-led reboot of its DC Comics properties. Sony’s small circle of Marvel-related films was a semi-bright spot in the landscape. So if this movie becomes a hit, they’ll probably find a way to bring the franchise back.

The Last DanceThe second credits scene takes place after all the credits have scrolled and offers a look at the rubble left behind in Area 51, where Venom died. Everything is destroyed! Everything is a mess! All of this has allowed Brock’s bartender from Mexico, who we see captured by the US military at the beginning of the film, to break out of his cell and wander through the desert.

The important part here is that we see a cockroach approaching the remains of a symbiote. (I fully understand that sentence is silly, but Venom is silly.) The gist: If that cockroach – nature’s ultimate symbol of survival – touches the symbiote, then that symbiote could potentially survive. Therefore, if part of Venom was spared from the acid, it could potentially survive through the cockroach.

This all means that even though the film has said goodbye, and it is likely a farewell to Hardy, there is still the possibility that Venom or heroes associated with Venom (e.g. other symbiotes) could live on. This ambiguity is good for anyone who loves these films, or anyone who has the strange, delusional fantasy of seeing some kind of shared Sony universe where Madame Web, Morbius, and Venom all hang out like friends, or anyone who wants to finally get the Venom x Tom Holland Spider-Man crossover that has been teased relentlessly.

As with Knull’s credits scene mentioned above, box office will ultimately decide Venom’s future films. If a lot of people see this movie and it makes millions and millions of dollars, this won’t be Venom’s last dance. Fans of closure be damned.