Tom Hardy’s Venom movie might be connected to the new Spider-Man universe in some way, but it seems extremely unlikely that Spidey himself will be the main antagonist in the film. After all, it’s supposed to be a solo spinoff, not a straight-up Spider-Man movie, so anything more than a cameo would probably be too distracting. Without Venom’s chief rival out, that really only leaves one character who would make sense as the villain in Venom’s first solo movie, and it sounds like Sony has recognized that: According to The Hollywood Reporter, Carnage will be the big bad in Venom.
In the comics, Carnage is an alien Symbiote like Venom, but instead of bonding with a moderately evil reporter like Eddie Brock, Carnage bonds with a totally evil serial killer named Cletus Kasady. Sony hasn’t announced who’s playing Carnage yet, but Lin-Manuel Miranda has wanted a shot at the character for a while now. He’s never really played an unhinged maniac like Carnage before, but he probably has enough clout in the entertainment world to get whatever kind of superhero roles he might want. Who knows, maybe he’ll do a great job.
Carnage aside, the THR story also offers some hints at other villains who might pop up in Sony’s Spider-Man-adjacent universe, noting that “other projects” will feature longtime Spidey villains Kraven The Hunter and Mysterio. Those other projects could be Homecoming sequels or their own solo movies, but the idea is to “build out a world gradually” instead of just diving right in like with the now-abandoned plan for a Sinister Six movie.