Marvel just enacted several huge changes to Venom lore, with major implications for the franchise’s biggest villain and future events. These are much-needed changes for Venom, and a continuation of the character’s recent surge in popularity.
The King in Black Has Major New Superpowers in Venom Lore
Knull Is Now a True Part of Marvel Lore
In today’s Knull #1 – from Al Ewing, Tom Waltz, Juanan Ramírez, Erick Arciniega and Clayton Cowles – Marvel essentially reboots the big bad God of Symbiotes. Introduced in 2018, Knull is as an aspect of the primordial void and created the entire symbiote species. He was killed in 2020’s King in Black, but now makes his grand return.
The big new change to Venom lore is the reveal (aka retcon) that Knull will return to life whenever there is no King in Black. Venom took this title, and its vast cosmic power, after defeating Knull, but quickly lost it. Because Knull was tied to the cosmic order by the Celestials, the lack of a King in Black means he automatically returns to life when the crown isn’t claimed by someone else.
Second, Knull experiments with his (vastly diminished) powers, realizing that as the God of the Void, he can exert supernatural control over absence. In its basic form, this makes him a powerful teleporter able to appear in any unoccupied space.
At the moment, Knull is vastly weakened but he states that as he collects more symbiotes, his powers will grow. However, with Hela trying to claim his power as the Queen in Black, he’ll need to take on several of Marvel’s biggest villains to build back his former might – and his next opponent is Thanos.
Our Take on This Huge Venom Rewrite
Knull was introduced as an absolutely unfathomable cosmic being with beyond-godlike power. That made him a great overarching threat for a massive event like King in Black, but hard to fit into Marvel lore as a recurring threat in the years since. In King in Black, all of Earth’s united heroes couldn’t even hurt Knull, so how could he become a repeat threat like Thanos or Ultron?
Knull #1 provides the answer in myriad ways. First, Knull’s powers are now explicitly tied to how many symbiotes are under his control. Second, he can be defeated countless times, but will always return unless there’s another King in Black. Third, his powers have been better defined, with impressive control over ‘voids’ that stops short of his former omnipotence.
In the first issue of Knull’s solo series, the creative team have cut the character down to size. He’s still a major, intimidating threat, but now one who can fit into the Marvel Universe without breaking the logic of the wider shared universe. It’s a smart move by Marvel, allowing Knull to remain Venom lore’s greatest villain, while also scaling him down to a far more manageable character in narrative terms.
Knull #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.
- First Appearance
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The Amazing Spider-Man
- Alias
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Eddie Brock
- RELATIONSHIPS
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Eddie Brock (primary host and ally), Peter Parker/Spider-Man (initial enemy, later uneasy ally), Anne Weying (former wife of Eddie Brock and occasional host), Cletus Kasady/Carnage (offspring of the Venom symbiote and a deadly enemy)
- Alliance
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Vigilante