One of the most highly-anticipated comic book events coming up for Marvel Comics has to be Absolute Carnage. The return of Marvel’s deadliest and most vicious Symbiote villain Cletus Kassidy, the formidable Carnage, is about to rock the Marvel Universe.
In Absolute Carnage, Carnage is set on destroying and ending anyone who has ever worn a symbiote in the Marvel Universe. While some symbiotes are already gone, there are several who are unconfirmed or out in the universe still. Other than Peter Parker or Eddie Brock, here are ten symbiotes we want to see in the upcoming comic book event.
10 Lasher
The first few Symbiotes to mention here have to be the children of the Venom Symbiote. The first is the mighty Lasher, one of the five children who first appeared during Venom’s Lethal Protector storyline in the 90s. Once a foe of Venom and Spider-Man’s from the Life Foundation, Lasher has become a staple of the Symbiotes on Earth.
Lasher’s last adventure included facing Carnage during the Carnage U.S.A. storyline, and then bonding to Deadpool along with the other four siblings of his to defeat Carnage. It was last seen succumbing to the influence of Knull.
9 Phage
It stands to reason that during the Absolute Carnage storyline, Venom’s children would have a big part to play. Not only are they technically related to the Carnage Symbiote, but have already fallen prey to the influence of the dark god Knull’s influence. One of those children is known as Phage.
Forcefully born from the Venom Symbiote alongside its brothers and sisters, Phage would go on to try and get Eddie Brock to help him (and his siblings) learn to control his power like Venom and Eddie did, but would later become enraged with their “father” when Eddie refused, believing that Venom’s children are evil.
8 Riot
The next sibling to enter the Symbiote race is Riot, the blue-colored Symbiote who joined his brothers and sister in the fight of their lives. After being defeated by Venom and Spider-Man, Riot and his siblings were sent to the Vault, where they were held and studied.
Their next big battle came when Carnage, U.S.A. occurred, which featured Carnage taking over a small town along with four of the Avengers. Riot joined his four siblings after bonding with a special U.S. Army Squad, to help Spider-Man and Venom stop Carnage.
7 Agony
The final sibling to be featured here that should appear in the event (and likely will) is Agony. Agony, along with her siblings, helped defeat Carnage in the Carnage U.S.A. storyline, restoring most of the small town and bringing the Avengers back to themselves.
Later on, reports surfaced that Carnage had returned and was wrecking havoc, sending Agony and her siblings to investigate. However, it was a trap, and Carnage nearly destroyed them all. Surviving by attaching themselves to a dog, the siblings would save and merge with Wade Wilson, better known as the snark-tastic Deadpool, to stop the evil Carnage once more.
6 Sleeper
Those four wouldn’t be the only spawn of Venom to emerge in Marvel Comics. The seventh spawn of Venom was known as Sleeper. Originally bonded to Mac Gargan, The Scorpion, the Symbiote was later handed over to the company Alchemax after they helped birth the Symbiote.
When the Symbiote began exhibiting chemokinetic abilities, Alchemax CEO Liz Allan asked to sell the secretions for profit. However, Eddie Brock and the Venom Symbiote refused. Later, Venom’s first host Tel-Kar, a Kree Soldier, would use Sleeper as a hostage to get Venom back, but Sleeper would bond with Eddie to save Venom.
5 Karl Malus
One of the more unique characters to ever bond with a Symbiote has to be Karl Malus, a mad scientist with a penchant for genetic experimentation. Originally a foe of Spider-Woman, Malus often experimented on people trying to study and replicate superpowers, working for many different criminals and criminal organizations to fund his studies.
He was working for the Wizard as a recruit into the Frightful Four when he came into contact with Carnage, becoming its unwilling host and eventually being eaten by Carnage’s symbiote. However, Karl survived, becoming a human/Symbiote hybrid who can now mimic Symbiote's abilities.
4 Venomsaurus Rex
One of the strangest and most mysterious creatures to ever wear the Symbiotes has to be the Venomsaurus Rex, a T-Rex from the infamous Savage Lands who somehow bonded to the Symbiotes. The creature has most notably appeared in the future comics seen in the Old Man Logan and the Old Man Quill storylines, indicating that this creature comes into play far into the future.
Now, it could be interesting to see Carnage invading the Savage Land, hunting down a rogue Symbiote which then bonds to a roaming T-Rex, marking the largest challenge of Carnage’s mission yet.
3 ZZZXX
ZZZXX is another super unique Symbiote. A brain-eating beast, it was discovered long ago by the Shi’ar Emperor D’Ken, who had it captured and experimented on. ZZZXX was a mutant Symbiote that didn’t ask or care about its hosts in the least. It would eventually bond to Raza Longknife and become a part of the Praetorian Guard.
Later, ZZZXX would be captured and forcefully removed from Raza by the Nova Corps, who needed the Symbiote for a desperate attack. They would launch ZZZXX at an evil Charles Xavier from the Cancerverse, leading to evil Charles’s destruction.
2 Tarna’s Symbiote
A more recent addition to the growing collection of Symbiotes around the Marvel Universe is Tarna’s Symbiote. Adopting the name of its host, Tarna (the host) was a Skrull woman who joined the Agents of the Cosmos, bringing Flash Thompson and the Venom Symbiote into the team to help battle cosmic threats.
After an argument between Flash and Venom resulted in the pair’s separation for a time, the uncontrolled Venom Symbiote nearly destroyed Tarna and her Symbiote. She survived, helping Flash regain control, but Tarna’s Symbiote needed time to heal and was sent to find a new host.
1 Jimmy Hudson
The most unique character currently bonded to a Symbiote has to be Jimmy Hudson. He had many adventures in the Ultimate Universe, but soon took part in the final battle between the Ultimate Universe and 616 Universe leading up to Secret Wars.
After Secret Wars, when the multiverse was restored, Jimmy and other Ultimate Universe mutants ended up in the 616 universe. After being experimented on by Miss Sinister, he joined the X-Men Blue team. Later, he bonded to a Symbiote, becoming corrupted by the Poisons before regaining control.