WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for the after-credits scene of Captain Marvel #8 by Clay McLeod Chapman, James Stokoe and Clayton Cowles, in stores now.
For the past few weeks, several Marvel titles have featured after-credits scenes that are meant to buildup to the Absolute Carnage event. We've seen that Cletus Kasady, through the use of his many mind-controlled drones, has been keeping tabs on targets such as Spider-Man and the Thing, people who have previously bonded with a symbiote. What's more, the villain also dug up and stole the body of Thunderbolt Ross, hinting at more horrors to come.
But it doesn't stop there. In Captain Marvel #8, Carnage moves to attack Carol Danvers' pet Flerken/cat, Chewie. From the looks of it, things sure doen't bode well for everyone's favorite alien feline.
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In the Captain Marvel #8 after-credits scene, we find Chewie in Carol's apartment, chasing a rat. However, this is no simple rodent. Thanks to the red swirl in its eyes, we can tell that it is actually one of the beings under the control of Carnage. Chewie playfully chases the rat into the bathroom, where things take a frightening turn.
In the dark bathroom, dozens of red eyes pop up, and Chewie now finds himself facing an entire legion of Carnagized rats and birds. And before the alien cat can attack or retreat, he is literally swarmed by the infected creatures, screeching as he is swallowed whole in a wave of red symbiotes.
The result of the terrifying encounter isn't revealed, but it sure looks like Chewie didn't make it out alive. For the time being, it's unclear if Carol's pet sidekick just died, or if he was simply taken by Carnage. Either way, this raises a bunch of new questions. Were the rats after Chewie just to clear a path to Carol, or were they after him directly?
It's possible that Carnage simply wanted to get Carol's guard cat out of the way, considering that she was at one point bonded with the Venom symbiote during Marvel's Siege event. There's also the possibility that, before he met Carol Danvers, the Flerken, at one time or another, could have bonded with a symbiote, which would make this part of Carnage's campaign to eliminate all previous symbiote hosts.
For the time being, we sure have more questions than answers, but there is only one that truly matters: is Chewie still alive? We certainly hope so.
Writer Donny Cates and artist Ryan Stegman's Absolute Carnage #1 goes on sale Aug. 7 from Marvel Comics.