While Spider-Man's storylines from the 90s are often overshadowed by the troublesome Clone Saga, the recent Absolute Carnage event brought the Marvel Universe in conflict with an overpowered Carnage and nostalgically brought us back to the 90s epic Maximum Carnage event.
Carnage had only had a few deadly appearances before the launch of the 14-part Maximum Carnage event that ran through all monthly Spider-Man titles, but he shocked fans in a number of different ways during the storyline that we'll be taking a closer look at today.
10 CARNAGE ESCAPES
The crossover launched in the first issue of the Spider-Man Unlimited monthly series and started off with a bang as a symbiote-less Cletus Kasady was wheeled into an examination room at Ravencroft Institute.
After taunting the staff about the monster hiding in him, he revealed that the Carnage symbiote now lived inside him after he was poked with a needle and he freed himself. Carnage made short work of the staff at Ravencroft as he violently tore them to shreds, setting the tone for the event early.
9 BABY MAKES THREE
During his escape, Carnage discovered another patient named Shriek was cheering him on. After releasing her, the two bonded and escaped Ravencroft, though they soon encountered Spider-Man's leftover Doppelganger from the Infinity War.
Shriek also bonded with the creature and he joined the ranks of the Carnage Family, which would soon grow to include other dangerous villains like Demogoblin and Carrion as they began their Massacre of Manhattan.
8 DEATH (AND RETURN) OF DAGGER
Carnage wasn't the only one to gain allies, as Spider-Man was soon aided by street-level heroes Cloak and Dagger after his ribs were cracked in battle with Shriek and Doppelganger. During a battle with Shriek, Carnage, and Doppelganger, it was revealed that revealed Shriek's abilities came from a prior confrontation with Cloak.
Dagger was then killed by a sonic blast from Shriek, setting Cloak on a path of revenge against Carnage and his family. Dagger's death upped the stakes of the event, though she would later return to help turn the tide of the final battle.
7 THE ARRIVAL OF CAPTAIN AMERICA
Spider-Man was forced to make some dark decisions during Maximum Carnage that included allying himself with anti-heroes like Venom and Morbius with the assumption that the ends justified the means when it came to stopping Carnage.
However, Spider-Man realized that he couldn't stoop to their levels after asking Firestar to kill Carnage, and he hopelessly backed her away from the killing stroke at the final moment. It was then that Captain America finally arrived on the scene to help steer Spidey back to the side of good and lead the final charge against the Carnage family.
6 SHRIEK CRANKS IT TO 11
While Carnage and his family were randomly killing innocent anywhere they went, there was also underlying chaos that was building among the civilians of New York City that led to violence, looting, and increasingly poor decisions.
It was soon revealed that Shriek was able to subtly broadcast her own dark feelings into the populace, and when it seemed like the heroes were about to turn the city back to their side, Shriek turned up the power dramatically and the city completely turned against the heroes trying to save them.
5 CARNAGE KILLS DOPPELGANGER
Since it was so shocking to see Carnage successfully working alongside other villains initially, it was almost expected that the family would inevitably fall apart. However, following a spat between Carnage and Shriek that turned violent, Doppelganger jumped in to defend his "mother."
Carnage was done with the "family" dynamic of his group, and when challenged by Doppelganger he acted out and killed his favorite "son," impaling him with his symbiotic tendrils and kicking him off of a building, though Doppelganger would later return to work with his "father" again.
4 THE GOOD BOMB
While it seemed like the battle between Spider-Man's heroes and Carnage's villains would have been won with fists and webs and fire, it was actually finished by the creation of the Alpha Magni-Illuminizor which was christened by Spider-Man as a "Good Bomb."
This device used the calming techniques of Iron Fist and the healing light of Dagger channeled through a device imagined by Spider-Man and created by Deathlok to take out the Carnage Family with positive energy, making their ultimate battle between good and evil quite literal.
3 CARNAGE SURVIVES
While the Good Bomb managed to weaken Demogoblin, cure Carrion, and temporarily rehabilitate Shriek, Carnage was apparently killed as he fought against the effects of the Alpha Magni-Illuminizor.
Spider-Man was personally defeated as he hoped the Good Bomb would end things without killing, but it was soon revealed that Cletus had covered another dead body with remnants of his symbiote, allowing him to later surprise the still feuding Spider-Man and Venom for a final confrontation.
2 BLACK CAT RETURNS
The final battle of Maximum Carnage fittingly featured Spider-Man, Venom, and Carnage in a three-way free-for-all that left Spider-Man broken and exhausted as he attempted to stop Venom from killing Carnage while they both tried to kill him.
Thankfully Felicia Hardy/Black Cat returned to save Spider-Man from Carnage at the last minute, despite leaving the battle earlier due to injuries and her own self-doubt brought on by her defeat at the hands of the Carnage family.
1 VENOM "SACRIFICES" HIMSELF
Carnage, still affected by the Good Bomb, was distracted throughout the entire final battle, and Spider-Man, Venom, and Black Cat were still struggling to deal with the weakened villain as he attempted to steal his mother's coffin.
When a blow from Venom finally cleared Cletus' head and brought Carnage back to full power, Venom heroically launched them into electrical generators that exploded. This knocked out Cletus and took out his symbiote while also apparently killing Venom, though he was later seen escaping to recover from the explosion.