Warning! Spoilers ahead for King in Black: Planet of the Symbiotes #1 from Frank Tieri and Danilo S. Beyruth
In the latest tie-in issue to Marvel’s King in Black event, it’s possible that the original Carnage may make a terrible return during Knull the Symbiote God’s invasion of Earth. Seeing as how Carnage is responsible for Knull’s freedom, it only makes sense. As such, the Ravencroft story featured in King in Black: Planet of the Symbiotes #1 may have just set the stage for Carnage’s greater return to the Marvel Universe to sow homicidal chaos and senseless violence once more.
A continuation of Marvel’s Ravencroft series, the back half of Planet of the Symbiotes #1 comes from writer Frank Tieri with art by Danilo S. Beyruth, detailing Knull’s plans for New York’s Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane. In previous issues of Ravencroft, the history of the facility and its origins were revealed, including the initial reason for its construction. Ravencroft was built due to a societal need to incarcerate the first colonial serial killer in the Marvel Universe: Cortland Kasady. Kasady was a complete homicidal maniac. He’d been driven insane by his time alone in the woods trying to rescue his wife from the dark tribes in the shadows that served as the foundation for the cult that would worship Knull all the way into the present. The name Kasady should be familiar to Marvel fans as well, as it’s also the last name of the Carnage symbiote’s first and favorite host: Cletus Kasady.
Carnage was believed to have been destroyed during 2018’s Absolute Carnage event after he had forced Venom to free Knull from his prison lightyears away in order to save his son Dylan. However, Donny Cates’ Venom Island arc revealed that a piece of Carnage had survived within Eddie Brock’s Venom symbiote. While the resulting battle saw Eddie managing to separate the two, the Carnage symbiote, retaining Kasady’s personality and memories within its cells, managed to bond to a passing shark and hasn’t been seen since. However, King in Black could be the perfect time for Carnage’s return, especially now that Knull has just resurrected his ancestor Cortland, bonding him to a special symbiote known as Plague.
Carnage has been described as Knull’s chosen and favored child, but it seems as though the Symbiote God has some pretty high praise for Cortland. Because Cletus is essentially a product of Cortland and his lineage, Knull could be considering all of Carnage’s actions as a credit to Cortland himself. However, if that’s the case, Carnage might feel slighted or envious. Perhaps he might join Venom in the fight against Plague to be the undisputed favorite son once more? Carnage has been known to be on no one’s side but his own in the past.
At the moment, this is all conjecture. Knull could just as well be saving Carnage for a later conflict, such as when Eddie will attempt regain Venom from Knull’s grasp from beyond the grave. In any case, it seems as though a Carnage return is on the horizon. After all, he was the one who set Knull’s release in motion in the first place. It’s seems like a pretty safe bet to assume Carnage will be making a big comeback in some form as King in Black continues from Marvel Comics.
