WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Venom #21 by Donny Cates, Mark Bagley, Andy Owens, Frank Martin, Erick Arciniega and Clayton Cowles, on sale now.
In Absolute Carnage, Cletus Kasady unleashed the full fury of his Carnage symbiote on the entire world when he went after everyone who had ever bonded with a symbiote before. While he was believed dead for a while, the character was revived by a cult devoted to Knull, God of the Symbiotes. With a grotesque new appearance, Carnage unleashed an army of his drones and proved why he was one of the most dangerous villains in the Marvel Universe.
However, the supervillain was eventually defeated by Eddie Brock, Venom. At the end of the event, Eddie sliced Carnage in half, seemingly eliminating his twisted symbiote spawn once and for all. But Venom #21 reveals Carnage is back, and he was never really gone to begin with.
In Absolute Carnage #5, Eddie Brock, now bonded with symbiote codices that once belonged to the Avengers, became a hybrid of Venom and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. With this new symbiote, he took the fight straight to Carnage, who himself had stolen the Venom symbiote from Eddie and merged it with his own.
During the fight, the time came for Eddie to either save the world or his son, he didn’t hesitate to protect Dylan: Eddie cut down Carnage by slicing Cletus in half and reabsorbing the Carnage/Venom symbiote hybrid. This act reunited all of the codices, connecting to the Klyntar hive mind and awakening Knull.
Cletus was dead, Carnage was gone, and the threat of the supervillain was finally over. But that isn't exactly what happened since Eddie's actions fulfilled Carange's greater mission.
In fact, in Venom #21, we learn that while Cletus Kasady is dead, Carnage is very much alive — inside Eddie’s mind. What’s more, this dark revelation comes at the worst possible time for Eddie, who meets the Avengers about a potential membership offer. As it turns out, Carnage is still alive inside Eddie because he absorbed it into himself when he defeated Cletus. Eddie may have taken back his Venom symbiote, but Carnage was also inside it, and Carnage has very much a mind of his own.
Now, Eddie has to deal with both the voices of Venom and Carnage in his head. Determined to defeat Carnage once and for all, Eddie travels to the Island of Bones, a desert island he plans on turning into a battleground between himself and Carnage. As the issue comes to a close, Carnage succeeds in taking over the Venom symbiote, becoming a frightening monster in the jungles of the island. Even though the odds seem stacked against him, Eddie isn’t afraid, and he's ready to hunt Carnage down until he gets his symbiote back.