The MCU's second Spider-Man trilogy has a lot going for it, but Tom Hardy's Venom needs to be part of it for the new films to work. Spider-Man: No Way Home concluded with a tragic ending for Peter Parker but an optimistic future for Spider-Man. Audiences that love Spider-Man know it is the struggles and obstacles he has to overcome that shape him the most. Bringing Venom back into the MCU can help with that in a unique way.
Peter Parker is now on his own after the world has forgotten who he is, so the new trilogy will likely delve deeper into how this will affect him as he balances this new life with also being Spider-Man. When Peter messed up Doctor Strange's first spell in Spider-Man: No Way Home, he accidentally, and temporarily, brought Eddie Brock and Venom into his universe. Why Tom Hardy's Venom isn't in the MCU is complicated, but both characters are now back in their own universes. With the piece of symbiote that Venom left behind on Earth-616, it sets up a string of events for Spider-Man's future in his upcoming trilogy.
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That setup teases that Peter Parker will likely end up donning his own symbiote suit at some point, but that doesn't mean that Eddie Brock and Venom couldn't find their way back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a battle with Spider-Man first. Tom Hardy should be the one to return as the anti-hero because it could tie his universe into the MCU's Multiverse. The current versions of Spider-Man and Venom have yet to interact, and Secret Wars could bring Venom to the MCU properly. Marvel has already managed to achieve this with the previous Spider-Man film franchises, so it could certainly work for the Venom franchise. Both Holland's Peter Parker and hardy's Eddie Brock have had to deal with isolation and being alienated from society. Since Parker has no one in his life that remembers who he is, and Brock has very little social interaction with anyone outside of Venom and his ex-girlfriend Anne, the two have some common ground. Peter might struggle with his life changing so much in a short space of time, but Eddie could help him through it.
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With Sony's Venom being so well-loved and an anti-hero staple now, it's very likely Tom Hardy could return to pay off that post-credit scene and set up a battle against Tom Holland's Spider-Man. The piece of symbiote left behind in the MCU could be setting up a new Venom host since it will need someone in order to survive. If Venom really does have a hive mind as suggested in Let There Be Carnage, then the symbiote could attempt to track down the MCU version of Eddie Brock and bond with him. This could introduce the prime version of Brock's Venom and have Hardy as the portrayer.
No Way Home's huge disservice to Hardy's Venom has left viewers waiting longer for an interaction with Spider-Man to happen. Beyond Spider-Man's new trilogy, it's currently unknown what other Marvel projects the character could appear in. Spider-Man: No Way Home sets up a precedent for more multiverse adventures as it is a part of the Multiverse Saga. And Tom Hardy needs to be part of it, as Venom will be pivotal to Spider-Man's future.