5 Best Knull Comics to Celebrate His Marvel Return

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Following the events of King in Black, Knull has returned in a new Marvel comic series. After his defeat, he found himself in Hela’s realm, the underworld. This new series focuses on Knull escaping Hela’s control and attempting to reclaim his power. However, it’s revealed that Hela orchestrated his escape, hoping to control Knull’s abilities for herself, and the consequences of this plan are currently unknown. It’s exciting to have Knull back, and this series offers a great opportunity for fans to revisit some of his most memorable comic book appearances.

With the launch of the new Knull comic series from Marvel, here are five essential stories to read to get you up to speed.

5) Absolute Carnage

While Absolute Carnage doesn’t directly feature Knull, it’s essential reading to understand the origins of this powerful character. The story revolves around Carnage’s return and his desperate attempt to connect with Knull, the ancient god who created the symbiotes. To stop him, Eddie Brock once again becomes Venom and teams up with Spider-Man.

This series dives into the concept of the codex – a mental link connecting all the symbiotes to each other and to their creator, Knull. Controlling all the codices allows communication with Knull, and that’s Carnage’s ultimate aim: to release the god from his imprisonment and unleash chaos. This story directly sets up the events of King in Black, as Carnage actually achieves his goal.

4) Web of Venom: Empyre’s End

Web of Venom: Empyre’s End serves as the final Web of Venom story leading into the King in Black event. This standalone issue revisits characters from previous Venom comics, including Tarna (from Spaceknight Venom) and M’Lanz (from Venom: First Host). The story begins by focusing on Skrulls, two of whom have a shared history with Venom.

This story was a piece of the larger Empyre event, ultimately leading to the alliance between Hulkling and Wiccan. But at its heart, it’s a Marvel horror story: Knull unleashes a wave of symbiotes, attacking everyone in their path as he prepares to invade Earth. This is one of the most frightening and gripping Knull stories, really showcasing how terrifying he is when commanding his symbiote forces.

3) Silver Surfer: Black

Silver Surfer: Black is a compelling story where the Surfer is pulled into a black hole and travels through time and space. He faces off against Knull while simultaneously struggling with a weakening of his Power Cosmic, leaving him incredibly vulnerable. The series truly tests the Surfer’s strength and challenges him with tough choices.

Most Knull stories focus on him trying to take over the universe and plunge it into darkness. However, this particular story delves deeper into his character, showing him trying to corrupt Silver Surfer’s very soul – a much more frightening approach. Instead of a typical universe-saving mission, Silver Surfer has to fight for his own soul as Knull tries to break him, making this one of the most intense and disturbing stories featuring the villain.

2) Knull’s Debut (Venom, 2018)

In 2018, the creators of Venom, Donnie Cates and Ryan Stegman, first introduced the character Knull. This followed a storyline where Venom aided a Vietnam War veteran—previously experimented on by SHIELD—in rescuing his fellow soldiers. They discovered these soldiers had been taken over by symbiotes, which led to a larger mystery involving a massive, dragon-like symbiote called Grendel.

Knull made a dramatic entrance into the Marvel Universe, immediately demonstrating his immense power by killing a Celestial. This issue revealed his origins: how he created the All-Black weapon, relentlessly hunted and killed Celestials for revenge, and ultimately birthed the symbiotes. These events established him as the King in Black and served as the foundational story for everything that followed regarding his character.

1) The King in Black

The 2021 storyline The King in Black was the largest and most significant story ever told about Knull. It expanded across the entire Marvel universe, with multiple spin-off titles. Protecting Earth from the god of the symbiotes required a massive effort, bringing together heroes like the Silver Surfer, the Avengers, and Doctor Strange. Even with all their power, and the addition of Dracula and his vampire army, it was a difficult fight.

The story really highlighted just how incredibly powerful Knull was. Things only started to turn around when the Enigma Force merged with Venom, transforming him into Captain Universe. As Captain Universe, Eddie Brock forged a unique weapon from Mjolnir and the Silver Surfer’s board, which was ultimately what defeated Knull and saved the world. This event was a massive Marvel crossover, solidifying Knull’s place as one of the most formidable villains in the comics.

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2026-01-21 21:15