WARNING: The following contains spoilers for King in Black #1 by Donny Cates, Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer, Frank Martin and VC's Clayton Cowles, on sale now.
After travelling across the galaxy, leaving the remains of entire planets in his wake, Knull has finally arrived on Earth. While his previous battle with Eddie Brock was set on the streets of New York, his latest invasion begins by literally covering the world in his army of symbiotes. Because of this, Venom's battle with the God of Symbiotes has brought in the likes of the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and the X-Men, all desperate to prevent his dark reign. King in Black #1, from Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman, introduces more heroes into this war, allowing Knull to deliver his own form of justice for one of the Marvel universe's deadliest symbiotes: Carnage.
Towards the start of their first confrontation with Knull, the Avengers remain on the defensive, watching the immense power of their new foe, until the appearance of Bob Reynolds, a.k.a. the Sentry. As the Avenger's most powerful hero, this moment gives hope to his fellow heroes, providing a glimmering moment for the often tragic hero. After grabbing him, the Sentry then takes Knull into space and prepares to kill him. However, recalling a similar moment for one of his Horde, Knull instead rips apart the Sentry and consumes the entity, known as the Void, within him. Tearing apart his enemies has always been a standard move of the Sentry, seen in the cases of Ares and, most relevantly, Carnage. Yet given Knull's immense power, Bob received the fate that he had given to others.
Years ago, the New Avengers were formed, following the villains of the Raft escaping confinement, thanks to Electro. As one of the team's newest members, the Sentry located Carnage in his attempt to escape the prison. Sentry made the choice, after considering all the lives that had been taken by the serial killer, to simply take the symbiote into space and rip him apart. The remains of the Carnage symbiote were then left adrift in space. This action forced the symbiote to enter a period of hibernation as it focused all of its energy on surviving this fate. Eventually, Carnage would return to Earth, but this "death" held lasting consequences for the supervillain, severely depleting his power for a time.
In the lead-up to Absolute Carnage, Cletus learned of the origins of all symbiotes and became desperate to awaken the dark god of the cosmos. Realizing that he needed a stronger connection to Knull, Carnage began a killing spree across the world as he ripped the spines of former symbiote-users, in order to add their codices to his own symbiote. Once he had reached a certain amount, he would be able to call upon Knull, bringing darkness to the Earth. Ultimately, it would be Eddie that awoke Knull, making the choice to kill Carnage to save his son. Yet, it was Carnage's actions that brought Knull back to the universe. After Carnage's own path of destruction, it seems Knull rewarded his actions by avenging his former murderer in the exact same manner.
Now that Knull has removed the likes of the Sentry, it seems that he is truly free to use the Earth as he pleases. After avenging Carnage's death, the God of Symbiotes could be looking to also revive his most faithful disciple, who was last seen attached to a shark. In addition, given his link to the symbiotes of Earth, Knull's knowledge of prior events and battles could prove decisive in coming battles, giving him an even greater advantage against Earth's remaining heroes.