WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Venom #27, by Donny Cates, Juan Gedeon, Jesus Aburtov and VC's Clayton Cowles, available now.
Venom #25 provided a glimpse at all of the book's future threats. There was, of course, the Iron Man armor suit-wearing Virus, dark god of the symbiotes Knull, the alternate universe version of Reed Richards known as the Maker and, most notably, the debut of a new symbiote character we knew nothing about. This character had long white hair, wore a mask that covered the lower portion of his face and sported sleek, futuristic armor with a red, glowing Venom logo.
Since then, Marvel has continued to hype the character's arrival, with several variant covers offering new looks at the villain and hints to his identity. While Marvel doesn't give much information on the new villain, he finally makes his official debut in this week's Venom #27.
In Venom #26, Eddie Brock, his son Dylan and the new villain known as Virus were all transported to another dimension. This parallel world, which was filled with bright, tall buildings and flying cars, seemed futuristic. However, most intriguing was a square-angled version of the Venom logo, which appeared everywhere, hinting that a symbiote-related force controlled this alternate reality.
Although they find themselves in a confusing new world, this doesn't stop Virus from continuing his fight with Eddie Brock in Venom #27. The villain unleashes all of his armor's weaponry on Venom, who fights back just as he discovers that this reality is very different from the one they left behind. Soon, however, the fight is interrupted by a team of symbiote Avengers comprised of Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, She-Hulk, Iron Man and Black Panther.
These Venomized Avengers are this world's protectors, but the symbiote logos on their chests make it clear they are not the team of superheroes we are familiar with. These are symbiote characters, and they rule this reality with an iron fist. Eddie and Dylan are able to escape them, but Virus isn't so lucky. After the Avengers deduce that the armor-wearing human is armed with anti-symbiote technology, they take him to their headquarters, The Hive, where he will be delivered to their leader: Codex.
The Hive appears to be a church of sorts devoted to the symbiotes and their leader. Codex sits atop a throne located under a glowing Venom logo and, perhaps surprisingly, a white holy cross. When he gets up, he reveals himself to be the character first teased in Venom #25. He's got the mask and the long white hair, the black costume, the cape and the red emblem. He's even got a pair of chains attached to his belt that give a flair of the ancient to his futuristic look.
The identity of Codex hasn't been revealed yet, and he remains masked throughout Venom #27. However, we still learn a whole lot about the character. He's from an alternate dimension, and that he is the ruler of a planet controlled by symbiotes. The church and the cross show that there is a religious element to his mission, a hint that he may see himself as some sort of holy savior.
What's more, the name of the character, Codex, may be a hint in and of itself. The Venom series revealed the codex was a small amount of symbiote left behind in a host, something that expanded the entire Klyntar hive mind's knowledge and reach. Only when the codices were all collected and assembled was Knull finally awakened. The name Codex implies that the character may be the center of this reality's hive mind -- and it may also hint at a connection to Knull.
Still, we don't know the Codex's identity, and the biggest question remains as to if he's someone new, or someone we already know.