A new trailer was just released for Venom: The Last Dance, and while fans are obviously hyped, they’re also more than a little confused as to what on Earth – or in space – is going on. While Venom tends to have that effect on some people, most fans were left scratching their heads because the trailer re-introduced an old face in the form of Rhys Ifans. Longtime MCU fans might recognize Ifans as Lizard, but that’s a pre-established villain role – what’s he doing here? Is this some kind of sneaky nod to the wider Marvel universe, or is someone in the writer’s room confused?
Fans of Spider-Man will surely recognize Rhys Ifans from his role in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), where he starred opposite Andrew Garfield‘s Peter Parker. Ifans played the role of Dr. Curt Connors, a mild-mannered Oscorp scientist who gets turned into Lizard after a genetic experiment goes wrong. He reprised his role, if only vocally, in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), but he was still Lizard, and generally speaking, the Spider-Man movies like to keep their villains in the same roles as much as they can. Alfred Molina is Doctor Octopus, Willem Dafoe is Green Goblin, and Rhys Ifans is Lizard – so why is he showing up in Venom: The Last Dance only credited as “hippie”?
Fans Wonder: Is Lizard a Spider-Man Reference in Venom: The Last Dance?
One thing that’s muddying the waters regarding Rhys Ifan’s appearance in the new Venom: The Last Dance trailer is that technically, Venom is a Spider-Man property. The symbiote was originally created as a Spider-Man villain, and it stayed that way for a long time. The Venom movies don’t have much to do with the webslinger due to licensing issues, but fans are wondering if Ifan’s appearance in the new trailer could be tying the third film back into Spider-Man.
Theories are, of course, flying everywhere. One fan on Twitter wondered if Lizard’s inclusion could be a nod to Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, the PS5 game released last year:
Meanwhile, other fans are paying attention to the way the trailer showed Rhys Ifans’ “hippie” with Eddie Brock, possibly suggesting a connection between the two characters who, in Spider-Man lore, are a part of the Sinister Six.
“So no one is going to mention how the f***ing Rhys Ifans (AS DR CONNORS?! / Lizard) was sitting in a truck with Eddie Brock? Make the sinister six already!”
Robert Holik/X
Nothing has been confirmed about what Rhys Ifans’ role will or won’t be in Venom: The Last Dance. For now, all we can do is wait and see what Marvel or Sony has to say about the situation, but for what it’s worth, leaving Rhys Ifans’ role as Lizard behind entirely feels like an unnecessary move when the greater MCU is already so complicated as it is.
