It would be an understatement to say that Knull has been wreaking havoc on the Earth. The overall effectiveness of his bloody conquests throughout the King in Black event is evident by how many of the planet’s greatest heroes have valiantly tried yet failed to stop him, failures that have been of such magnitude that his defeat seems nothing more than a pipe dream. But maybe Earth’s last defenders should have realized that the answer has been right in everyone’s faces all along ever since the symbiote god’s debut in the Marvel Universe.
To fully grasp the sheer obviousness of it all, one need look no farther than his aliases: God of the Dark, God of the Everblack, the Anti-Light. His origin story just sheds more light on the matter. Before there was life, Knull ruled his kingdom of darkness, reveling in the black. It is assumed by how he reacts when the universe’s creation brings light into the interminable nothingness that light had never existed until now. He becomes filled with such unadulterated rage at the brightness emanating from the “Light of the Creation” that his subsequent retaliation results in him utilizing his newly created shadow to slay the very force that cast it. It is a sword of living darkness, the All-Black.
With all of those clues, it’s easy to deduce that black and darkness are clear themes here. So what weapon would one need to wield to defeat such a phenomena? Light. That is the big reveal that has eluded readers (and heroes alike) this whole time. And it has been almost literally hiding in plain sight, as Marvel chose to emblazon the answer across the cover of every issue in a highly conspicuous manner: King In Black. This realization also explains why Knull chose to cover the entire Earth in symbiotic goo, aside from serving as a physical manifestation of his clear dominion over their planet as well as an effective means of intimidation. It’s basically a giant beach umbrella blocking the light from the sun.
Though more complicated theories abound, this more obvious weakness comes to readers courtesy of the Silver Surfer who divulges why Thor and Eddie Brock’s son, Dylan, are able to make more than a dent (literally, just look at Knull’s missing jaw) in the lord of the abyss’ plans earlier on in King in Black #3 by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman. Before Cates and Stegman reveal the Silver Surfer’s identity, this then-unknown speaker claims that the source of Dylan’s power derives from a god of light while referring to both Dylan and Thor as warriors of the light, implying that light is the reason why they have been so successful when others have failed so miserably. This is enforced by his ramblings throughout the entirety of the issue about light’s relation to darkness and about the former’s inherent capacity to eliminate its black counterpart.
An even more effective image that proves light’s dominance over darkness is how both Dylan and Thor, these so-called warriors of the light, can remarkably deal physical blows to Knull when others could barely stand up to him in person. It can be assumed that Knull, the King in Black, finally emerges to face these pesky ants so he can strike back. And he does. He strikes hard. But when will the god of light finally emerge? Hopefully soon. And it’s assumed that the Silver Surfer will be his herald.
