Warning: The following contains spoilers for Spider-Man/Venom Free Comic Book Day Special by Donny Cates, Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer, Frank Martin and VC's Clayton Cowles, available now.
The King in Black is coming. Knull, the God of the Symbiotes, was freed from his cosmic prison in the conclusion of the Absolute Carnage event series and is making his way towards Earth to conquer the planet.
Absolute Carnage was the first Marvel event to feature Eddie Brock and Venom as its main protagonists: Writer Donny Cates, artist Ryan Stegman, inker JP Mayer, colorist Frank Martin and letterer Clayton Cowles have redefined the Lethal Protector's place in the Marvel Universe.
Venom moved past his origin as a major Spider-Man villain, to working side-by-side with the web-slinger in Absolute Carnage. The pair's goal was to defeat the resurrected mass-murderer Cletus Kasady, but the threat of Knull still looms on the horizon. Venom tries to warn the Avengers about the type of threat Knull poses, with Iron Man's main takeaway being that Knull is on the same level as a Celestial.
This is no small statement, since Celestials are the gigantic space gods that gave life to the Marvel Universe as it exists today.
The Spider-Man/Venom Free Comic Book Day Special features this conversation between Venom and Earth's Mightiest Heroes, though the beginnings of the talk also appeared in Venom #25.
Eddie and his symbiote barely survived the "Venom Island" story arc that saw them stuck on a deserted island fighting the last remains of the Carnage symbiote. Back on the mainland, Venom turns to the Avengers and reveals his recent history with Knull, as well as how the symbiote god is currently heading to Earth. Iron Man is admittedly upset at Venom for awakening a threat of this magnitude. Knull has gone toe-to-toe with a Celestial and come out the victor.
The Celestial Iron Man refers to is now the space port known as Knowhere -- at least, its severed head is. Venom #4 revealed Knull's origin through flashback sequences that featured the villain battling a group of Celestials after the Big Bang created the universe. Not wanting the Celestials to stamp out the darkness he called home, Knull used his symbiote sword to cut off the head of a Celestial.
Later, Cates confirmed the head Knull cut off is Knowhere, a space hub that became famous in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Knull later occupied the severed head and used its technology to craft his symbiote sword into the Necrosword, a weapon wielded by Thor's nemesis, Gorr the God Butcher. Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic's King Thor miniseries, which took place hundreds of years in the future, also saw Loki return with the Necrosword in his final battle against his brother.
Knull once again crossed paths with another Marvel powerhouse in the Silver Surfer Black miniseries by Cates and Tradd Moore. Whereas King Thor was a future story, Silver Surfer Black went back to the early stages of the Marvel Universe, after Silver Surfer was sucked into a black hole in Cates and Geoff Shaw's Guardians of the Galaxy.
The battle between Knull and Galactus' former herald drew in Ego the Living Planet, another massive cosmic entity in the Marvel Universe. For Knull to be able to withstand the combined abilities of Silver Surfer's Power Cosmic and a sentient planet demonstrates perfectly why he should be considered a Celestial-level threat to Venom and the Avengers.
Marvel is shaping its next big event around Knull invading Earth in King in Black -- and rightfully so. He may have begun as an enemy of Venom, but by the time Knull and his army descends on Earth-616, it's going to feel as if the full might of a Celestial has attacked its superheroes.