Venom’s post-credits sequence is so game-changing that it has eclipsed the rest of the movie, which is full of equally weird highlights. Those include a Little Simz concert, Michelle Willams flirting with a possessed Mrs. Chen, and the late-breaking reveal that Detective Mulligan, the officer who blinded Shriek, is possessed with — well, something.
During the film’s final, church-set sequence, Shriek attempts to take revenge on the police officer, but doesn’t succeed. As Eddie and Venom flee the scene “Dark Knight”-style, the camera pans up to catch the injured Mulligan, eyes glowing white and red, whispering, “Monsters, monsters everywhere.” What’s happening here?
Turn to Marvel’s comic books for clues. 2004’s “Venom vs. Carnage” #2 introduces Toxin, a symbiote that Cletus Kassidy reluctantly gives birth to (this is not a typo) and swears to kill. He goes so far as to bond it to Mulligan, a cop he already loathes. Venom, however, intervenes, saving his grandchild before Kassidy can slaughter him. Toxin then goes on and tries his gooey hands at the whole superhero thing.
Casting an actor of Graham’s ability as Mulligan implies that Toxin might have a future in the Venom films, and given that Andy Serkis has admitted that the “Let There Be Carnage” post-credits scene almost didn’t happen, one wonders what the original plan for Mulligan really was — and what it is now.