WARNING: The following contains spoilers for King in Black #3, by Donny Cates, Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer, Frank Martin, and VC's Clayton Cowles, on sale now.
Ever since Knull arrived on Earth during the crossover event King in Black, Marvel's heroes have pondered where exactly Thor was as the battle went on. Possessing the combined powers as the God of Thunder, Asgardian All-Father and the Power Cosmic he inherited during his time as a Herald of Galactus, Thor was one of the most well-equipped characters in the Marvel Universe to combat Knull.
While the King of Asgard still came up lacking against the dark god of symbiotes, a different rematch appears to be in the making as the Silver Surfer races towards Earth in King in Black #3.
The Silver Surfer first encountered Knull during the 2019 miniseries Silver Surfer: Black by Donny Cates and Tradd Moore. Black picked up from the first issue of Cates' run on Guardians of the Galaxy, with the Silver Surfer getting sucked into a black hole as a funeral for Thanos was revealed to be an elaborate trap by the Mad Titan to eliminate all of his assembled enemies at once. Norrin Radd survived his ordeal in the singularity, discovering that the wormhole had sent him millions of years into the past of the Marvel Universe where he stumbled across Knull at the dawn of time.
Eons in the past, Knull was poised to plunge the universe into total darkness before he faced the Sentinel of the Spaceways. While the Surfer appeared outmatched by this sinister opponent, he discovered by expending enormous amounts of the Power Cosmic, he could actually wound the dark god. This tactic came at a visible cost, however, with portions of the Silver Surfer's body losing its signature sheen and turning into an ethereal black color. By the end of their battle, Norrin had used up all of the Power Cosmic from himself to drive Knull into a long hibernation and effectively trigger the Big Bang, kickstarting life in the prehistoric Marvel Universe as it is receives his cosmic light in full.
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While his atoms were scattered across the cosmos for millions of years, the Surfer gradually reformed approximately at the same time as that he was sucked into the vortex that transported him to the past in the first place. Alive and well once again, the Surfer still lacks his silver luster from being single-handedly responsible for the Big Bang, now with that otherworldly black color coating him entirely as he resumed his patrol of the cosmos. And with Knull in the midst of conquering the world, the Surfer is racing back to his adopted home for what's sure to be an epic rematch.
The Silver Surfer was able to get the better of Knull the first time they faced off against one another, millions of years in the past. While Knull was able to recover after a deep slumber and roar back to full strength, the full extent of the Surfer's powers since his own rebirth has yet to be seen. It took the Surfer everything he had to drive back Knull in their initial confrontation and millions of years for both of them to recover. And up against the dark god of symbiotes apparently without the benefit of the Power Cosmic, Norrin Radd may find he has lost the edge against Knull this time.
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