Ever since he first bonded to the Venom symbiote, Eddie Brock’s life has been one horrifying development and shocking revelation after another. When he ascended to the throne of King in Black, things took an ever more drastic turn. From losing his life and taking it back by sheer force of will, to being caught adrift in time itself, it seems as if Eddie’s fate is entirely outside his control. Of course, that was only ever because he didn’t truly understand his own powers, and the Kang the Conqueror has just shown him how deep they really go.
While Eddie has managed to escape from the Garden of Time, he still hasn’t ended up anywhere he had intended. Venom #9 (by Al Ewing, Bryan Hitch, Andrew Currie, Alex Sinclair, and VC’s Clayton Cowles) finds the King in Black now in the middle of Kang’s stronghold with no idea when or where that happens to be. Luckily, Kang isn’t intent on a rematch with his symbiote opponent, but rather on helping Eddie. Despite having no experiences of his own to compare to Eddie’s current state of being, Kang still understands its nuances. As Kang explains, Eddie’s shortcomings have only been because of the limitations he has set for himself.
Eddie has come a long way from the villain-turned-antihero he used to be, both as a person and in terms of what he is capable of. The discoveries of Knull, the symbiote Hive, and the true legacy of Venom didn’t just change Eddie’s life, but the way he sees the world in every possible way. Death is no longer an absolute, and time is merely another avenue by which the King in Black can travel. Kang makes it clear that all of this is thanks to Eddie existing as something that is outside every established rule and convention, which is precisely the problem that has been lurking in the background all along.
As a being of pure mind and boundless symbiote potential, the only thing that could ever hold Eddie back is himself. This is still something that he has yet to fully come to terms with, though the fact that he has begun embracing the concept is certainly a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, Eddie isn’t the only one for whom this all rings true, as he is far from the only King in Black. The others who have found themselves trapped in the Garden of Time, all exist in the same relative way that Eddie does now. Thankfully, not even Meridius has claimed complete dominion over their own abilities, although that consolation ultimately turns the entire situation into a race between Kings in Black that seems like it cannot be won.
For everything that Eddie has accomplished, he is still woefully unprepared for the truths that are soon to be revealed, least of all those Meridius has been keeping from him. If he can’t achieve his fullest potential before any of his fellow Kings in Black, the battles he has been fighting will surely be lost. Considering how far ahead in that regard Meridius already is, Eddie may be too late to stop his latest nemesis. Then again, time is no longer something that Eddie has to face head-on, and if he can get his bearings while moving through it, he might not have to fight Meridius in the first place.
Meridius is absolutely one of the most powerful foes Eddie has ever faced, and the villain has stayed ahead of him at every step in their shared journey. Meridius has also gone to great lengths to manipulate his relative past, setting a dangerous precedent for how his own downfall might come about. Now that Eddie knows that they don’t have any limits, he can begin pushing them in ways he never could have imagined. And, assuming Meridius doesn’t already see it coming, Eddie’s next move may end up erasing his nemesis’ reign as King in Black entirely.
