Perhaps the most famous of Venom’s descendants, Carnage has become fairly popular among Marvel fans all across the globe. But with the upcoming release of Venom 2, it’s time to sit down and really get to know the bloodthirsty symbiote that will be portrayed by Woody Harrelson in the film.
Though Carnage already has a killer reputation, there remain some facts about the symbiote and Cletus Kasady, his human host, that some fans may not be aware of just yet.
10 A Killer Upbringing
There’s a lot to be said about the types of rampages that Cletus Kasady has gone on after becoming the host to the Carnage symbiote, but those types of outbursts weren’t something that Cletus started after coming in contact with the symbiote.
Remember, when Cletus first came into contact with the symbiote, he was already serving 11 consecutive life sentences in prison. Even before that, however, he was responsible for killing his grandmother by pushing her down the stairs, torturing his mother’s dog, killing a girl who refused to date him and even burning down the orphanage that took him in after his father killed his mother. Yikes.
9 Highly Contagious
While Carnage may not have been around for as long as Spider-Man or Venom, that doesn’t mean that he can’t take them down. In fact, Cletus Kasady’s lust for blood and psychopathy were both so infectious, when the Carnage symbiote bonded with him, not only did his bloodlust take over completely, but it also made the young symbiote more powerful than the symbiote that birthed it.
Aside from that, the Carnage symbiote is also capable of devouring other symbiotes and assimilating them into himself. Talk about an infectious personality.
8 Blood Brothers
One thing that really separates the way Cletus and the Carnage symbiote have bonded from the way that the Venom symbiote bonded with Eddie Brock is that Carnage actually resides inside of Cletus Kasady.
When Eddie Brock escaped prison after being reunited with the Venom symbiote, it left behind the first of its offspring. However, they also left behind Cletus Kasady who had a cut on his hand, which the symbiote used to bond with the unsuspecting inmate. Due to this fact, it is nearly impossible to forcefully separate the carnage symbiote from Cletus.
7 Nearly Invulnerable
Among Carnage’s many talents is the incredible ways in which the symbiote can keep its host alive. Not only can it revive a host that has been decapitated or torn in half, but it can also take high caliber bullets without so much as scratch.
Beyond these facts, the Carnage symbiote is able to fully reconstitute itself from just a few cells. There are very few things on Earth (or any other planet for that matter) that can truly put a stop to Carnage.
6 Father Dearest
Though Carnage’s appearance in the comics is a direct result of the Venom Symbiote birthing him, the two do not share what many would call a “healthy relationship”. In fact, due to Cletus and Eddie’s core beliefs, the two symbiotes have often come into conflict.
This fact, added to the fact that the Venom symbiote feels largely responsible for the mayhem that Carnage is often found to be responsible for, only serves to amplify the animosity between the two symbiotes.
5 Carnage Rules
With a character like Cletus Kasady being granted an extreme amount of power and also being allowed to escape from prison due to Venom and this newfound power, it’s not hard to imagine what he did as soon as he got out. Obviously, he decided to come out with a new lease on life, turn things around, maybe get his GED.
Totally kidding. After escaping from prison with the Carnage symbiote bonded to him, Carnage went on a months-long killing spree. Killing nearly everyone that he came in contact with. After the killings he would leave behind only the words ‘Carnage Rules’ painted in the blood of his victims.
4 Norman Osborn
Over the course of his publication history, Norman Osborn has gone through quite a few changes. First, he went from billionaire business owner and egomaniac to the dreaded Green Goblin. At which point, he became one of Spider-Man’s most fearsome foes.
But that wasn’t the last transformation that Norman Osborn would make. In fact, after having nanites injected into him in order to stop him from becoming the Green Goblin, Norman eventually got ahold of the Carnage symbiote and after a bit of a battle with it, gained control of the symbiote and became the Red Goblin.
3 A Love Like No Other
Something that is important to note with how Norman Osborn bonded with Carnage is that, at first, Carnage took complete control of Norman. It was only after Norman offered to teach the symbiote new, subtle and sadistic ways to kill that Carnage allowed Norman to have any sort of control over it.
However, this was not the case at all when it came to Cletus Kasady. In fact, the Carnage symbiote was so enamored by Cletus that it actually gave full control over the sadistic killer. This is also a stark difference from the relationship that Venom and his hosts have shared.
2 360-Degree Senses
Though Carnage doesn’t have a spider-sense like Spider-Man, his father Venom or even his uncle Anti-Venom, Carnage does have a rather unique body. This body of his can act as a sort of full-body receptory system.
Due to the unique physiological structure of his body, any one of his cells on any part of his body can act like pretty much anything he needs it too. His cells can become eyes, noses, tastebuds, ears, anything he could possibly need to make up for that lack of a spider-sense.
1 Telepathy
Like most symbiotes, Carnage has a level of psychic ability that has yet to be fully realized. Though the heights of this ability remain unstated, there are still plenty of ways in which fans have seen him use this power before.
For example, he can use this telepathy to essentially download the insanity of his host into another person. He’s also been known to implant memories from Cletus Kasady into the heads of unsuspecting victims in order to torture and eventually break them.