Venom 3 is easily one of the most hyped movies for 2024 and with the final trailer for Venom: The Last Dance the hype has been multiplied by magnitudes with the reason being the introduction of Knull. Even though it’s not clear how much of a presence Knull himself will have in the movie, the introduction of this character itself is something that will potentially carry forward in Spider-Man 4. There are speculations that Knull might play the main villain in the upcoming Spider-Man movie but is there any evidence that supports this claim? Let’s find out.
First Off, Who Is Knull in Marvel?
Making his first appearance in 2018 with Venom Vol. 4 #3, Knull was introduced to us with the title of “King in Black” as a cosmic entity that would balance out the Beyonders in the universe. However, he went against the the duties he was entitled to and waged a war against the celestials to end the very idea of light. Instead of doing his task of protecting the multiverse, he went off doing his own thing with a single mission in his mind to bring the universe back to the darkness he was born from.
Knull created the first Symbiote in the form of his sword, The Necrosword but when his weapon was stolen from him, Knull created an army of Symbiote dragons which he sent from world to world engulfing them in his darkness. However, when Knull tried to attack Earth, Thor stood against him and destroyed one of the Symbiote Dragons because of which the rest of them broke into multiple individual symbiotes resulting in the formation of Klyntar. Later on, Klyntar turned against Knull and after he was defeated he was trapped in a dormant state in the Klyntar homeworld hive for thousands of years.
Knull’s Appearance in Venom 3 Could Be the Beginning of a Massive Storyline
Now that we know of Knull appearing in Venom 3, there is no way that his appearance is a one-and-done kind of deal. We already know that Venom 3 is going to be the conclusion of Sony’s independent Venom franchise with two previous films. However, there is no confirmation that this story is going to be the last time we are going to see Venom and Eddie. Since Knull has been introduced, there is a possibility that the organization seen hunting down Venom and Eddie belongs to the Cult of Knull seen in “The King of Black” comic issues.
Both trailers for Venom 3 have shown us not only Venom but multiple Symbiotes held captive at a secure location. The final trailer for Venom: The Last Dance also shows us a clip of multiple Symbiotes crashing on Earth. In the story of “The King of Dark,” Knull is freed by the Cult of Knull and he takes control of all the Symbiotes present on Earth to take over the planet. The trailer also clearly says “These Symbiotes did not just crash here but were sent to Earth” which is a nod towards a version of this story being set up.
Now that the standalone Venom franchise is coming to an end, there is a steadfast possibility that it will crossover into the main Marvel continuity and we might get to see Knull be the main villain for Spider-Man 4. How, you ask? let’s look into all the evidence we have for this to happen.
Knull Can Be the Main Villain for Spider-Man 4
Now, we know that Spider-Man 4 is already in the pre-production stage where the casting and scriptwriting are in full force. When Spider-Man 4 was announced, it faced certain delays regarding the debate of whether Spider-Man 4 should be a multiversal movie or not. Finally, it was confirmed that Spider-Man 4 will indeed explore the multiversal elements.
This brings us to the point that Spider-Man 4 could bring us a crossover connected to the aftermath of Venom 3. Since the very first Venom movie, there have been hints regarding the crossover between Sony’s Venom franchise and the main continuity 616 Spider-Man played by Tom Holland. In the post-credit scene of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, we see a clip of Eddie Brock and Venom being teleported into the main MCU where we see Venom look at Spider-Man on TV and instantly display hatred for him.
After that, in Spider-Man No Way Home, we see that a piece of Venom symbiote is left in the MCU timeline. However, the first trailer of Venom 3 shows us that it was captured. This piece of Venom could be picked up by Knull making him attack Earth in Spider-Man 4. In the comic version of this invasion, we see Knull kill Eddie, and Eddie’s son, Dylan Brock takes up the mantle of Venom only to later resurrect Eddie. However, in the case of Spider-Man 4, we could see Peter get his Symbiote suit and carry out the said story.
With the pace at which things are going, Spider-Man 4 will not come out before 2027, and since it will probably happen after Avengers Doomsday and Secret Wars, Marvel has enough space to keep building up Knull as a villain for Spider-Man 4. So, let’s wait and see what Marvel has in store for us ad till then, stay tuned with us for further updates!
Aparna Ukil
