Will Toxin be the villain in Tom Hardy's Venom 3? Taking a look at the symbiote's origins

Venom 3 is currently being shot and it will see Tom Hardy as the titular character with Kelly Marcel as the director. The plot is being kept under wraps, and so far fans have no idea who Tom Hardy's character might be going up against. However, Venom: Let There Be Carnage's ending may have given fans a hint about who Venom 3's big bad might be.

Toxin could very well be the villain of Venom 3, as the ending of Venom: Let There Be Carnage sets up the symbiote. Finding its host in Officer Patrick Mulligan, played by Stephen Graham in the film, it's highly likely that the symbiote might be the one who Tom Hardy's character will face off against in the movie. It is worth noting that his comic book origins are quite interesting.

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Exploring Toxin's origins and how they could be the villain in Venom 3

Toxin was created by Peter Milligan and Clayton Crain and first appeared in Venom vs Carnage #2 in August 2004. Being the spawn of Carnage and the grandchild of Venom, Toxin is almost always portrayed as an ally. Since Venom: Let There Be Carnage sets up Patrick Mulligan's version of the character, this article will focus on his time as Toxin.

Carnage got pregnant with Toxin and felt dislike and hatred towards his unborn spawn. Venom, who hoped that Carnage wouldn't kill the spawn, approached him to talk about the symbiote. However, Carnage wanted to kill the symbiote as soon as it was born, while Venom wanted to save it and raise it as a new partner.

One day Patrick Mulligan, one of the NYPD's finest cops, was stressed about his personal life. His wife was pregnant and the stress of his job was eating him up, so to let off some steam, he decided to go for a walk and that's when he come across Carnage giving birth. With Toxin being born, Carnage wanted a host to have it bond with, so that Venom wouldn't find the spawn, and Carnage chose Patrick Mulligan.

Carnage's plan was to destroy the symbiote before it could reach its peak powers, and when Venom got to know about this, he battled Carnage. Toxin eventually formed a suit around Mulligan only for the latter to see that Carnage had attacked his home and wife. This made Mulligan distance himself from his family as he realized he was a danger to them.

Venom then formed a pact with Carnage where he realized that the symbiote's influences would only make Mulligan worse, and then Toxin battled it out against the black and red symbiotes before receiving help from Spider-Man. Helping the symbiote fend off Carnage and Venom, Spidey had a chat with Toxin and Mulligan and convinced Toxin to fight his symbiotic urges and become a force for good. Mulligan then became a hero and tried to come to terms with this new development while quitting his job and leaving his family.

This pretty much marked the beginning of Toxin's heroic arc, however, Venom: Let There Be Carnage does set him up as a villain, meaning that he might not be the good guy he is portrayed as in the comics in Venom 3. During the climactic battle of the second film, Mulligan seems to have died after suffering an injury from Venom and Carnage's battle. However, his eyes glow blue at the end hinting at the fact that he might have absorbed some of Carnage's symbiote before it was destroyed.

The ending could pretty much hint at the fact that since Venom killed Carnage, Toxin will be vindictive about this and use Mulligan as a host to exact revenge on his father's killer in Venom 3. However, that idea does contradict his comic book personality. But these movies aren't known to be comic-accurate after all.

While Patrick Mulligan is confirmed to return in Venom 3 with Stephen Graham reprising his role, it still remains to be seen whether he will take the shape of Toxin. All will be revealed when the Tom Hardy-starrer hits theaters in October 2024.