Note: This article contains minor spoilers for Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage will expand the mythos of its titular symbiote by exploring popular characters like Carnage and Shriek. As we've now learned, the movie will also seemingly add a new element to Venom's backstory by establishing him as being LGBTQ+.
To offer some context, the film features a scene in which Venom and Eddie have a fight and split up. The symbiote then goes to a rave by himself, where he bonds with the partygoers by expressing his sadness over leaving his human host. In an interview with Uproxx, director Andy Serkis revealed that this sequence — which was thought up by Tom Hardy and the film's co-writer Kelly Marcel — is intended to be a "coming-out" moment for Venom:
"Tom Hardy and Kelly Marcel] were always about Venom coming out and going to a party that was a very sort of an LGBTQIA kind of festival, really, I’d call it, and so this is his coming-out party basically. This is Venom’s coming-out party."
When questioned further about whether he was referring to an actual coming-out party, Serkis went on to describe Venom and Eddie's relationship as a love affair:
"[Venom and Eddie] do love each other and that’s the kind of the center of the movie is that love affair, that central love affair."
Now, it's important to consider the possibility that Serkis was speaking metaphorically, and that the symbiote isn't actually in love with his host. Having said that, seeing how he confirmed Venom's rave scene to be a coming-out moment for the character, it's possible that their relationship is not platonic - even if the movie never makes that explicitly clear.
This may seem unexpected to some, but there could be precedent for the two halves of the Lethal Protector being romantically involved. 2018's Venom features a scene in which Venom possesses Anne Weying to rescue Brock from Carlton Drake's mercenaries. After the enemies are defeated, a Venomized Anne kisses Eddie to transfer the symbiote over to him.
While we don't know for sure that this scene was establishing the connection that Serkis seemingly revealed, it could be retconned as being a set-up for Venom being in love with his host.
Let There Be Carnage will dive deeper into Eddie and Venom's relationship, so it will be interesting to see it's developed through a romantic lens.
Venom's second solo adventure will swing into theaters on October 1, 2021.