WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Web of Venom: Wraith #1 by Donny Cates, Guiu Villanova, Dean White and VC's Clayton Cowles, on sale now.
Web of Venom: Wraith #1 picks up on a story that first began in 2019's Guardians of the Galaxy #3. In the latter, the Kree warrior known as Wraith joined Eros' Dark Guardians of the Galaxy, a team whose mandate was to hunt down Gamora, the adopted daughter of Thanos. Wraith is generally more of an anti-hero, so his presence on the team was curious. But the truth is he only joined the team because Eros promised him something in return: answers about the Exolon, the dark parasites that have granted him immortality for so very long.
Wraith seeks to put an end to his curse and, in Web of Venom: Wraith #1, he goes on a quest for answers. However, what none of us expect is that this turns out to be Wraith's final adventure in the Marvel Universe.
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Wraith first appeared in 2007's Annihilation: Conquest event. The character played a central role in the cosmic story, but he didn't have a whole lot of appearances outside of it. However, his return in 2019's Guardians of the Galaxy was noteworthy, especially considering that Eros teased the character had some sort of connection to Knull, the god of the symbiotes.
Now, in Web of Venom, Wraith uses a teleportation device and coordinates left to him by Eros to get the answers he so desperately wants. He starts by visiting his father's old lab, where he discovers that the scientist knew about Knull, and the threat of his darkness. It's why his father tried to invent a powerful source of light, to counter the menace Knull represented.
After learning of this connection, Wraith then travels to the planet Klyntar, which is essentially a cage that the symbiotes built to contain their god. Little does Wraith know however that at this very moment, on Earth, Cletus Kasady collected all of the symbiote codices to awaken Knull, as seen in the 2019 event, Absolute Carnage. Therefore, shortly after Wraith arrived on Klyntar, the planet is ripped apart and the god of the symbiotes reveals himself to Wraith.
There, Knull reveals that the Exolon, which gives Wraith his immortality, were simply a failed experiment. He created them while trying to create the symbiotes and he simply discarded them in the dimension known as the Exoteric Latitude, where Wraith would be born years later.
Knull removes the Exolon from Wraith, using them to create his new sword. As a result, Wraith is now free from the curse that made him what he was. Now, he is back to simply being a Kree named Zak-Del, but it comes at a terrible time: Knull leaves him to die in space... but Wraith still has his teleportation device. Knowing full well that this jump will be the end of him, Zak-Del enters coordinates for Earth and teleports to New York, where he warns Eddie Brock of what he has just discovered.
As he speaks to Eddie, he begins to fade and, eventually, Zak-Del ends up pulverized in the middle of a New York City street.
After being introduced 13 years ago, Wraith isn't the character who made the most appearances in the Marvel Universe, but his adventures have finally reached their end. His death may come as a shock to fans, but at least, in these last few moments, the character went out as a hero.