Venom’s friend is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’s weirdest cameo

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the long-awaited sequel to 2018’s Oscar-winning animated film Spider-Man Into the Spider-VerseThe long-awaited sequel to’s multidimensional misadventure is here. The next chapter in Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy’s multi-dimensional misadventure is packed to the brim with Spider-Man variants from across the character’s rich and storied history, from Miguel O’Hara (aka Spider-Man 2099, voiced by Oscar Isaac) to Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman, voiced by Issa Rae) and more.

In one of the film’s biggest curveballs, it leaps on a trend started by Spider-Man No Way Home by including cameos from several live-action Spider-Man characters — but one of them seems utterly bizarre unless you’ve actually seen the movie it’s from.

[Ed. note: The rest of this post contains spoilers for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.]

Image: Sony Pictures

Across the Spider-Verse has a cameo featuring a character from 2018’s Venom and 2021’s Venom: Carnage, Let’s Have It, just not the one you’d think. It’s not Eddie Brock nor Venom who came to the local bodega in order to greet Mrs. Chen, played by Peggy Lu.

What is the name of Mrs. Chen Chen?

Image: Sony Pictures

The scene when the Spot, Jason Schwartzman, discovers that his mind can travel between different universes is a Looney Tunes-style pop-in of Spider-Man’s various settings. And one of those settings is Mrs. Chen’s bodega in all its live-action… glory?

For those who haven’t seen either VenomYou can also find out more about Venom – Let there be Carnage, here’s the short and sweet explanation. In the Chinatown area of San Francisco, Mrs. Chen owns a convenience shop. In VenomEddie and Venom were able to save her when a man tried to force her to pay protection money. After that, she was able to become a close friend of the two. Mrs. Chen appears again in Venom: Carnage, Let’s Have It — this time, the Venom symbiote temporarily used her as a host after falling out with Eddie Brock. Persuaded by Eddie’s ex-fiancée Anne (Michelle Williams), Venom eventually left Mrs. Chen’s body to return to Eddie and help him fight against Carnage.

It doesn’t exactly fit the definition of “deep cut,” but for those audiences who have never watched Sony’s slate of Spider-Man-related offshoots, like VenomYou can also find out more about Morbius, it’ll probably go over your head. Will Eddie Brock and Venom actually make an appearance at some point in Miles’ adventures? We’ll have to wait for Spider-Man Beyond the Spider-VerseTo find out, you’ll have to go to the cinema on March 29th 2024.