Venom: Everything You Need To Know About Absolute Carnage

The Marvel Universe might still be reeling from the effects of Malekith’s invasion, but they’re about to face something a lot more… murderous. Yes, even more deadly than an army of frost and fire giants.

Absolute Carnage was announced recently at C2E2, with Venom collaborators Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman at the helm, with a release date of August. The event will centre on Cletus Kasady and his new life goal to murder anyone and everyone to ever wear a symbiote, which, thanks to Venomized, is just about everyone with super-powers on the whole damn planet. Sure, ‘murder anyone and everyone’ is Carnage’s traditional schtick, but it’s his newfound religion that is really fuelling his comeback.

So far, the event has been teased to feature connections to almost every Venom/Carnage storyline ever and has been heavily foreshadowed in the current Cates & Stegman Venom run.

In fact, those who have not read the current Venom run, and are going into Absolute Carnage only knowing the traditional versions of these characters may have many questions going in. Who is this Knull guy? What’s with the swirly face patterns? Why is Eddie dragging a kid around?

Here’s everything you need to know about Absolute Carnage, and a few predictions on the horrors Carnage’s comeback might bring to the Marvel Universe…

At the heart of Absolute Carnage is the species known as the Klyntar. Affectionately (or non-affectionately if you prefer not to be melded with alien slime creatures) known as Symbiotes, these guys have caused untold damage turning people into dribbling gooey homicidal maniacs. Or have they?

In a recent Guardians of the Galaxy story, it was revealed by the Klyntar's goals are less murder-murder kill-kill but more along the lines of creating the ultimate protectors for the galaxy, but are corrupted by their host's strong emotions, explaining why the newborn symbiote that attached to Cletus Kasady instantly went mad when it was exposed to his more stabby disposition.

While attached to their host, the Klyntar are known to leave traces of themselves on the host, permanently marking them. Furthermore, Klyntar are likely to become less powerful and more erratic when disconnected from the hive mind, which is seen in Venom's more cannibalistic early days.

The Klyntar being benevolent and simply seeking protectors is a nice story, but they left out a detail that casts a long shadow of doubt on their word. Knull.