Venom 3 Has Recruited A Doctor Strange Star To Join Tom Hardy

It’s been over a year since Morbius was released, but Sony’s Spider-Man Universe will be picking back up later this year with Kraven the Hunter, the franchise’s first R-rated entry. But that’s just one of a handful of other movies lined up for the SSU, with another one including Venom 3. While a specific timetable for the threequel hasn’t been set yet, word’s come in that Tom Hardy will now be joined by a Doctor Strange star in it.

Having already contributed his talents to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as two different versions of Karl Mordo, Chiwetel Ejiofor is reportedly boarding Venom 3. Unfortunately, Deadline didn’t share any details about his role, so it’s hard to say if Ejiofor will play another villain, or if he might be an ally this time around. Either way, this will also mark his first time working alongside Hardy, who will of course be back as Eddie Brock and his symbiote other half.

Ejiofor made his superhero movie debut in 2016’s Doctor Strange, with that version of Karl Mordo starting out as one of the mentors for Benedict Cumberbatch’s Stephen Strange, only to decide that Earth has “too many sorcerers” and dedicate his life to eliminating them. However, rather than that Mordo returning to cause trouble in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the sequel instead introduced Earth-838’s Mordo, who was part of that universe’s Illuminati and the only member to surviving Scarlet Witch’s slaughter at their headquarters. Although Multiverse of Madness’ end-credits scenes laid the groundwork for Doctor Strange 3, it’s unclear if Ejiofor will back for that as any version of Mordo.

Given that Venom: Let There Be Carnage ended with Eddie Brock and the Venom symbiote being deposited into the MCU, only for Spider-Man: No Way Home’s mid-credits scene to toss them right back, it’s possible that Venom 3 might have a multiversal component, and thus might mean Chiwetel Ejiofor could appear as a Mordo. For now though, my money’s just on him being cast as a new character. Along with Venom 3, Ejiofor’s other upcoming movies include The Pod Generation and The Old Guard 2, both of which come out later this year.

Ejiofor is the third actor to be added to the Venom 3 cast, as it was revealed in April that Ted Lasso star Juno Temple would be coming aboard. Behind the scenes, having written the first two Venom movies, Kelly Marcel will now sit in the director’s chair on top of continuing her scripting duties with Hardy. Venom 3 began pre-production in February, but it hasn’t been shared yet when principal photography will begin.

CinemaBlend will continue passing along casting updates for Venom 3 has they trickle in, but for now, you can stream the first Venom movie, as well as both Doctor Strange movies, with a Disney+ subscription. If you’d like to watch Venom: Let There Be Carnage, you’ll need to be subscribed to Starz.