Although the Venom franchise needs a strong character to break its villain trend in Venom 3, Knull needs to be saved for the MCU. As seen in Marvel Comics’ King in Black storyline, the most powerful Venom villain of all time came to Earth to destroy Eddie Brock and claim the entire planet as his own. However, a film adaption is far more suited for the MCU than Sony’s current reality that their live-action Lethal Protector calls home.
Thus far, Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock and his symbiote have fought Riot (Riz Ahmed) in the first Venom and their arch-rival Carnage (Woody Harrelson) in the aptly titled sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Likewise, a third symbiote villain was teased at the end of Let There Carnage with Toxin, the offspring of Carnage that bonded to Detective Mulligan (Stephen Graham). However, a far more compelling villain would be Knull, the symbiotes’ creator also known as the King in Black…but not for Venom 3. Only the MCU can make the Symbiote God as fearsome and terrifying as he needs to be.
Knull The Symbiote God Explained
Existing in the ancient primordial void, Knull is an eldritch god of the cosmos who created the symbiotes, becoming the “King in Black” as ordained by the Celestials of the Marvel Universe. While Knull resisted their authority, his own symbiote subjects eventually turned against him, trapping him on the symbiote homeworld of Klyntar. Things then progressed in the comics as most Marvel fans know with Spider-Man bringing the Venom symbiote to Earth after the first Secret Wars, something that was circumvented in Sony’s Venom franchise with the symbiote landing on Earth and going straight for Eddie Brock.
However, Cetus Kasady’s Carnage became a devoted servant to Knull in the comics. As such, Carnage was responsible for freeing the Symbiote God who immediately headed for Earth with an army of symbiote dragons. This led to the King in Black crossover event in 2021 where Venom and all of Marvel’s heroes came together to prevent the world from being bonded to corrupted symbiotes as Knull sought to cover the entire world with his hivemind of darkness.
Why Knull and Marvel’s King in Black Won’t Work For Venom 3
It would certainly be nice if Venom 3 ends up breaking the franchise’s current trend by not having another symbiote villain who’s simply a different color with slightly different motivations than the last differently-colored symbiote villain. However, using Knull would be a major disservice to Sony’s universe, the MCU, and Knull himself. There’s just not enough groundwork in the existing Venom franchise to make it as meaningful, and the reality itself is far too isolated.
Apart from Venom, Jared Leto’s Morbius is the only confirmed anti-hero who exists in this reality created by Sony, though the MCU’s Vulture somehow came to this reality thanks to the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Additionally, Kraven the Hunter may exist in the same reality and some version of Spider-Man that’s yet to be seen. As such, there’s not really anyone established for Venom to ally with against Knull (who’s far too powerful to be taken on one-on-one). Any version of King in Black that Sony would try to adapt for Venom 3 would be massively limited.
How & Why Knull Should Be Used In The MCU Instead
Keeping that in mind, Knull and King in Black make a lot more sense if the character and storyline are saved down the line for the MCU. Knull is a major villain with power levels on par with the likes of Thanos, Arishem the Judge, and/or Galactus. Case in point, Knull decapitated the Celestial whose severed head became Knowhere (the current base of the MCU Guardians of the Galaxy). When villains like Knull show up, it’s all hands on deck. That means a film adaptation would need as many heroes as possible beyond Venom himself, which is obviously something only the MCU can adequately provide.
One of the best things about the King in Black storyline is the trust the Avengers put in Venom as they work to create defenses against the Symbiote God, ignoring Brock’s darker past in the name of saving the world. Venom 3 should instead be more focused on expanding the Lethal Protector’s connections to Spider-Man and perhaps start building bridges to the MCU at large. With any luck, a version of King in Black and the threat of Knull can be developed later on down the line in the MCU.
