Spider-Man: No Way Home post-credits explained: How Venom and Doctor Strange 2 change the MCU

Spider-Man: No Way Home’s post-credits scenes are just as the epic as the movie that preceded it. They’re filled with fan favorites, surprise revelations, and sequel bait and teases for more future MCU stories. Perfect, then, for any Marvel fan who was patiently waiting for the credits to finish rolling.

But, unlike most post-credits scenes, No Way Home’s are a little more ambiguous than we expected. Below, we’ll break down each scene and present some of our biggest Spider-Man: No Way Home post-credits theories as Spidey swings into a new era.

If you want an extensive breakdown of the movie’s final act, be sure to also check out our complete Spider-Man: No Way Home ending explained guide.

Major spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home follow!

Spider-Man: No Way Home post-credits scenes, explained

Spider-Man: No Way Home post-credits scene

(Image credit: Sony/Marvel)

So, there are two No Way Home post-credits scenes. The first features Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock and Venom – now in the MCU – speaking to a bartender (Ted Lasso’s Cristo Fernandez) and trying to comprehend the amount of super-powered beings in this universe.

The bartender, it seems, has been doing a Luis-style recap of the major events in the MCU for a tipsy Brock and Venom. There’s talk of a “billionaire in a tin suit” (that would be Tony Stark), Hulk, and “an alien that loves stones” (Thanos).

Brock decides he should just go to New York to talk to Spider-Man, but a drunk Venom suggests they go skinny dipping. They do neither. Instead, Doctor Strange’s spell – the one cast at the end of the movie – puts everyone back in their original universes and Eddie disappears in a flash of light, leaving a bemused bartender and probably a hefty tab.

In one final kicker, it’s revealed that a tiny puddle of black goo is left behind – and it starts to move as we cut to black.

Spider-Man: No Way Home’s Venom post-credits scene: How did Eddie Brock get to the MCU?

Spider-Man: No Way Home Venom post credits

(Image credit: Sony Pictures Releasing)

If you haven’t seen the Venom 2 post-credits scene, it might be unclear about how Eddie Brock got to the MCU. In fact, even with that knowledge, there appears to be a serious plot hole that needs filling.

Essentially, the Venom 2 post-credits shows Eddie Brock sitting in a hotel suite, then being randomly transported to a new universe and finding out, via J. Jonah Jameson on television, that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. 

We originally assumed that scene was taking place in the MCU. However, the entire point of Spider-Man: No Way Home is that these characters are brought into the MCU because they already know that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Eddie Brock does not seemingly already know this piece of information.

One explanation could be that Eddie’s actually transported into a non-MCU place first, finds out who Spider-Man is, and is later transported again into the MCU. That seems overly complicated. Perhaps Venom somehow already knew that Parker was Spider-Man thanks to his alien knowledge. Neither Venom 2 or No Way Home has the answers. It’s possible that it could be a topic that’s broached in Venom 3 because, as of right now, there’s no real logical reason why Eddie Brock would enter the MCU and then find out Peter is Spider-Man.

Where does Venom go?

where does venom go no way home

(Image credit: Sony Pictures Releasing)

Venom goes back to its own universe along with its host, Eddie Brock. For now, that universe is very much separate from the MCU – so don’t expect to see Hardy’s Venom punching Holland’s Spider-Man anytime soon. It’s also unclear if Brock will retain memories of his very brief stint in the MCU. Again, another question for a potential threequel to answer.

What is that black goo at the end?

Spider-Man No Way Home symbiote

(Image credit: Sony/Marvel)

That’s the symbiote that makes up Venom. If you aren’t familiar, it’s pretty much a sentient black alien goo that bonds to hosts. You may also remember it from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 and Tobey Maguire’s ill-fated black suit.

If that’s now in the MCU, there are a few outcomes: it could attach itself to Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, or even the MCU variant of Eddie Brock. There’s also a chance it could find its way to Spidey’s fake BFF Flash Thompson – who took up the moniker Agent Venom in the comics. Or it could attach itself to another host entirely – perhaps the barman?

If we’re going super deep into comics lore, the symbiote also has ties to an upcoming MCU villain. In Thor: Love and Thunder, Christian Bale is set to play Gorr – a deity-slaying demigod who obtains his powers through Knull, the creator of the symbiotes.

Whatever the case, there are likely going to be two Venoms on the big screen in the near future – one in the MCU and one in the Sony-verse.

Spider-Man: No Way Home post-credits scene: What happens in the Doctor Strange 2 trailer?

Benedict Cumberbatch in Doctor Strange

(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

The surprise second post-credits scene is actually a trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. It’s not currently available online, and as such, there might be a few details you missed.

The trailer begins with the new Sorcerer Supreme, Wong, warning Strange not to cast a spell – words spoken during Spider-Man: No Way Home. Following the events of No Way Home, reality and the multiverse, it seems, is collapsing in on itself. Benedict Cumberbatch’s Strange is seen walking through what can only be described as a diseased-looking New York.

There are various quick shots of the Multiverse of Madness’ main characters: Strange, Christine (in a wedding dress), newcomer America Chavez, an injured Wong, and Wanda casting a spell.

Doctor Strange then meets up with Wanda, and tells her he’s not there to talk about Westview, the setting of the WandaVision series on Disney Plus. Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Baron Mordo also returns, looking extremely different from the last time we saw him in 2016’s Doctor Strange. He warns Strange about the “greatest threat” to our universe: Doctor Strange!

We then see a green alien throwing a bus in New York, and a surprise appearance of a second Doctor Strange, who looks far more evil than his MCU counterpart. This may also be the same Strange variant we saw in the animated series What If…? On Disney Plus. He ends the trailer by saying, “Things just got out of hand.”

What’s Wanda been up to since WandaVision?

Scarlet Witch in WandaVision

(Image credit: Disney/Marvel)

A lot to talk about here – not least of all the return of Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda. We already knew she would be in Doctor Strange 2, though it’s not yet clear how the events of the WandaVision post-credits scene will tie into Doctor Strange 2.

At the end of WandaVision, she was seen reading an ancient artifact known as The Darkhold, a book containing all manner of nefarious spells and curses. Wanda was doing all that in search for her ‘missing’ children. By the time Strange visits her, though, she is seemingly repentant.

The trailer certainly does its best to keep Wanda’s function in the supernatural sequel a mystery, though she’s seen in her full Scarlet Witch costume at one point – which hints that she might very well be up to no good and poking around in the multiverse for her own ends.

Who is the second, dark Doctor Strange?

The dark Doctor Strange in What If...?

(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

If you’ve seen the What If…? animated Marvel series on Disney Plus, you might recognize this Doctor Strange from the fourth episode: “What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?” That multiverse entry featured the Sorcerer Supreme losing Christine over and over, and eventually saw Strange attempt to reverse time to try and change her fate.

That drives him to the Library of Cagliostro, where he learns darker magic across decades in the hopes of finding the way to bring Christine back. In doing so, Strange consumes various dark entities, driving him mad in the process.

The Ancient One then reveals she split the timelines between the normal Doctor Strange and the darker version – known as Strange Supreme. Strange Supreme fights back, consuming the normal Doctor Strange and… destroys his entire reality and is left to float in nothingness for eternity.

He is later brought back by The Watcher to help save the multiverse from Ultron – and seemingly meets up with the MCU’s Doctor Strange after that. How he finds himself in the Sanctum Sanctorum is anyone’s guess at this stage, though there are clearly cracks in the multiverse and that means it’s open season for Variants (if you haven’t seen Loki, ‘Variants’ are versions of different characters from separate universes; Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man is a great example) and potentially other classic Marvel characters to creep through into the MCU.

Who is that green alien?

Benedict Cumberbatch in Doctor Strange

(Image credit: Marvel)

As per some merchandise leaks and reveals, that’s likely Gargantos, a sea creature ripped from the pages of Marvel comics. It could also be the first warning shot from a more powerful villain – potentially the multiversal threat Shuma-Gorath, who was first seen in Captain Carter’s What If…? episode.

Why does Baron Mordo look different?

Baron Mordo

(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Time has passed and we’re now dealing with the multiverse. That’s either a Baron Mordo variant – likely, given that Mordo appeared to welcome Strange in one scene – or the MCU Mordo who has found a new purpose in life. Expect Mordo and Strange not to stay on friendly terms for long, though – especially as Mordo says that Strange is the biggest threat to the universe. He’s likely talking about Strange Supreme, but no doubt there’s going to be a twist that sees Supreme Strange’s fate tied to our own Doctor Strange’s.

And there you have it. While it’s perhaps not as straightforward as some post-credits scenes, No Way Home’s after-credits stingers have toyed with the idea of Venom in the MCU seen the multiverse break down in the Doctor Strange 2 trailer. It’s clear that No Way Home has opened up a serious amount of storytelling possibilities for Marvel Studios to wrestle with.

For more from Spidey’s epic threequel, check out the likelihood of Spider-Man: No Way Home on Disney Plus and all of the Spider-Man: No Way Home Easter eggs, references, and cameos we’ve discovered so far.

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