WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Venom #3, available now from Marvel Comics.
Ever since the events of King in Black, the symbiote corner of the Marvel Universe has become both more prominent and more complicated than ever. While Eddie Brock's role as the living god of the symbiotes has dragged him farther from Earth than he could have possibly imagined, the situation back home has boiled over into what can only be described as a symbiote arms race. Even worse, the players in this cold war are two of the last organizations that should ever be in control of the powerful alien lifeforms.
Not long after Eddie Brock ascended to the throne of King in Black, his life became a whirlwind of strange imposters and unsettling symbiote attacks. Worse still, all of this has culminated in Eddie's apparent demise at the hands of the Life Foundation. This shadowy organization that created new symbiotes and has long been the bane of Venom's existence has now turned its efforts towards gaining a better understanding of these beings as a whole. Venom #3 (by Ram V, Bryan Hitch, Andrew Currie, Alex Sinclair, and VC's Clayton Cowles) reveals that the Life Foundation has collected plenty of living specimens to study, and that they aren't the only ones who are working towards this end.
While the Life Foundation has been largely working from the shadows, Alchemax has been the premier name in anti-symbiote warfare ever since Knull's reign of terror came to its end. Following Eddie Brock's triumph over the former King in Black, Alchemax wasted no time in rolling out their latest iteration of the Guardsmen. These newly equipped super soldiers have proven themselves capable of hunting down the symbiote refugees left behind in the wake of Knull's defeat. They have also managed to get their hands on both Dylan Brock and the Sleeper symbiote. As if this wasn't enough, the company is also tied to Eddie Brock's most horrifying enemy: Carnage.
Alchemax weren't the only ones to take advantage of Knull's downfall, nor were they the most menacing. Of everyone to clamor through the chaos towards glory, it was Carnage that made the most progress. After being left for dead by Eddie Brock, the murderous symbiote clawed its way up the food chain all the way to the heights of the political office. With the already twisted son of a U.S. senator as its host, Carnage orchestrated a vicious daytime attack against the public that set him up to ride a wave of anti-alien sentiment towards a seat in Congress. Not only that, but this has also given him the perfect position from which to work alongside Alchemax's leadership, ensuring that both sides of the next symbiote war are under his command.
There is no doubt that the Life Foundation and Alchemax both have their sights set on developing the next generation of living weapons. In fact, the only question left is which one of them is going to come out on top, with Alchemax currently leading the race.
As the impromptu arms race continues, Dylan and Sleeper search for a way to escape their captors before they come face to face with Carnage. Even then, it is sure to take everything in their power to keep the Marvel Universe from spiraling headfirst into a different, but no less deadly type of Civil War.