| Knull | |
|---|---|
 Knull, as featured on a variant cover fromVenom (Vol. 4) #5 (August 22, 2018) Art by Skan Srisuwan. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance |
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| Created by | Donny Cates Ryan Stegman |
| In-story information | |
| Species | Elder God[1] |
| Place of origin | Primordial void |
| Team affiliations | Symbiote Imperium |
| Notable aliases |
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| Abilities |
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Knull (/nʌl/) is asupervillain appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics, commonly in association withVenom andCarnage. He was later retroactively established as an unseen enemy ofThor and theSilver Surfer, as he was behindGorr the God Butcher's mission to hunt down and kill various deities, in addition to having come into conflict with the Silver Surfer via a temporalblack hole through time. The character is depicted as an evil deity who created the weapon known asAll-Black the Necrosword and the alien races known as theKlyntar/Symbiotes and Exolons, reigning over them as theKing in Black. The character would go on to play a more important role in theMarvel Universe, in particular over theevent series of the same name.
Knull has been described as one of Marvel's most powerful supervillains.[2][3][4][5][6]
Knull made his cinematic debut in theSony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) filmVenom: The Last Dance, portrayed byAndy Serkis.
The character was first introduced inVenom vol. 4 #3 (Aug 2018), giving a nod to a nameless being appearing inThor: God of Thunder #6.[7] The character would be mentioned in various issues ofWeb of Venom,Guardians of the Galaxy and "War of the Realms". After that, Knull was the main antagonist inDonny Cates'Silver Surfer: Black.
Knull returned inKing in Black as the main antagonist, which centers on his attack on Earth with his symbiote army.[8]
Knull is a primordial deity that came into being following the destruction of the sixth iteration of the cosmos.[9] He was originally content to drift through "the endless void" until theCelestials arrived and began creating the 7th iteration of cosmos–the Marvel Universe. The Celestials, aware of the threat Knull might pose, offered him the position of "King in Black" and the responsibility of ensuring stability in their new universe,[10] but upon realizing that the Celestials' "Light of Creation" was slowly despoiling his kingdom of darkness and making him little more than a pawn of the Celestials, Knull retaliated by creating his firstsymbiote in the form of a large sword, with which he decapitated the Celestial tasked with monitoring him.[11]
The other Celestials banished Knull and the severed Celestial head deeper into the Void. He then used the head to forgeAll-Black the Necrosword by combining his symbiote sword with extracted cosmic energy from its brain, a process that inadvertently createdKnowhere.[12] In doing so, he unintentionally gave the symbiotes their weaknesses to high sonic frequencies and fire. He created a symbiote armor and, with All-Black, started killing the other deities, until he crash-landed on an unnamed planet whereGorr took All-Black from the incapacitated Knull.[13]
Knull eventually reawakened and discovered he could bond his living abyss to "lesser creatures" and control their new forms as vessels. He created an army of symbiotes with himself in the center of the hive mind and used them to spread across the universe, thus establishing the Symbiote Hive and killing the "light and creation" in the process. He continued killing gods, while also enslaving others. At some point, he was approached by the time-displacedSilver Surfer who had been weakened after Silver Surfer had created a little star to free a world from Knull's control. After a brief fight, Knull was able to bond a symbiote to Silver Surfer, but the latter was saved byEgo, the Living Planet.[14] When Knull reached Silver Surfer, he tried to defeat him and re-infect Silver Surfer with his abyss, but Silver Surfer, who had gathered the energy of the cosmos, created a star which was enough to defeat Knull.[15]
When one dragon-like symbiote arrived on medieval Earth to claim the planet as part of the Symbiote Hive, the youngThor arrived in aid of the Viking villagers and defeated the dragon, which the villagers called "Grendel", causing the connection between Knull and the symbiote hive mind to break. The symbiotes that were scattered over the universe, now free from Knull's control, began bonding to benevolent hosts and learning about theLight. The symbiotes rebelled against their god and trapped him inside an artificial planet formed of billions of symbiotes, which they called Klyntar—"cage" in their language.[11]
After thousands of years,S.H.I.E.L.D. discovered the body of the Grendel and bonded the pieces of the dragon to soldiers to create Super-Soldiers to fight in theVietnam War. The procedure was dubbed theSym-Soldier program. This reawakened Knull, allowing him to take control of the Sym-soldiers who went rogue before being captured byNick Fury andLogan, except one piece, named Rex, which escaped Knull's control.[16] Years later,Eddie Brock (Venom) unknowingly freed the dragon and, after a battle against Eddie andSpider-Man, the dragon began searching for Rex to free Knull.[17] However, Venom merged with Rex and eventually trapped the Grendel in a blast furnace, incinerating it and Rex both.[18] Afterward, theMaker and Project Oversight retrieve the Grendel's codex from the furnace.[19]
InCarnage Born, afterScorn joined a cult worshiping Knull, they stole the Grendel's codex andCletus Kasady's deceased body, and after implanting the codex inside Cletus, theCarnage symbiote's codex was absorbed by Grendel, causing Grendel to become god-like. After the contact with Knull, Cletus decided to free Knull by collecting every codex of every host who had at some point bonded to symbiotes to overload the symbiote hive mind and scatter the Klyntar.[20] After Cletus reunited withDoppelganger andShriek, they reformed the cult dedicated to worshipping Knull. They then returned to Doverton, Colorado, where they got the codices from citizens and animals who were infected by Carnage duringCarnage USA.[21]
During "Absolute Carnage", as Carnage grew stronger, so did the connection between Knull and the symbiotes, as witnessed whenPhage,Agony,Lasher,Riot andScream also became corrupt.[22][23] Knull was finally reawakened after Dark Carnage tricked Eddie into killing him after claiming the remaining codices. Knull promptly destroyed Klyntar, manifesting a suit of draconic armor and coalescing its constituent symbiotes into a fleet of symbiote-dragons. Meanwhile, Knull was tracked down byWraith who wanted Knull to remove the Exolon (parasites that attach to a host while feeding on their soul) from his body.[24] Knull revealed to Wraith that Exolons were just his failed experiments on symbiotes and he dumped that "trash" in The Exoteric Latitude, he stripped the Exolon from Wraith's body turning it into his sword and kicked off Wraith into the space.[25] Soon, he resumed his campaign against the light all the while journeying to Earth,[26] using his living abyss to claim entire planets to his cause,[27] while haunting Eddie with pointed nightmares,[28] and briefly imposed his influence over Dylan Brock to ensure that he would pledge allegiance to the Symbiote Imperium.[29][30]
At the time when theGuardians of the Galaxy were investigating the death of Zn'rx Emperor Stote during the Galactic Council's meeting at the Proscenium and find that theChitauri Peacekeeper and the Profiteer were responsible sometime after the events of the "Empyre" storyline, Zoralis Gupa of the planet Silnius takes an urgent call while mentioning to the person on the other side to warn all neighboring systems. He tells Victoria that it's the End of Everything as different planets are starting to die in the planets owned by the Shi'ar, the Kree/Skrull Alliance, and the Zn'rx while rendering the galactic economy fragile enough to go bankrupt. Knowing that she won't make a profit, the Profiteer teleports Peacekeeper and the bio-bomb away. While thanking Zoralis Gupa for fooling the Profiteer with the bluff, Zoralis Gupa states to Super-Skrull and everyone present that something darker thanGalactus is destroying the worlds and its name is Knull.[31] EmperorHulkling dispatchedTalos to investigate the Kree and Skrull bases that went dark with Av-Rom, Keeyah, M'lanz, Virtue, and Tarna. Two days later, a Kree/Skrull Alliance armada headed by General Kalamari finds Talos' escape pod. After recuperating in the sick bay, Talos recaps to Kalamari about what happened on his mission that involved an encounter with Knull. Talos then informs Kalamari that his distress beacon on his escape pod is a warning that Knull is coming. Outside the ship, Knull is riding a Symbiote Dragon as he swoops in for an attack.[32]
Sensing Knull coming at the start of the "King in Black" storyline, Eddie Brock alerts the Avengers. Knull unleashes the Symbiote Dragons on Earth as theAvengers, theFantastic Four, and theX-Men fight them even when Knull is shown to haveCelestialsArishem the Judge and Tefral the Surveyor possessed by his symbiotes. WhenCaptain America gives the command to the other heavy hitter they enlisted, it turns out to be theSentry. He takes Knull into Earth's orbit and tried to do the same thing he once did to Carnage only for Knull to do a reversal upon being familiar with what happened to Carnage that time. Knull breaks Sentry and assimilates the Void into him upon it emerging from Sentry's body. Venom and Captain America react to this asIron Man urges them to retreat. Knull then proceeds to have his Symbiote Dragons form a sphere around Earth to cut it off from the Sun and has the living abyss swallow some of the superheroes includingStorm whichProfessor X reacts to. As Venom, Eddie goes to confront Knull and offer his services to him. Knull grabs Venom as he recognizes Eddie as the one who killed Grendel, then he states to Eddie that the Brock he is looking for isDylan Brock. When Eddie begs for Knull to take him instead, Knull rips the Venom symbiote off him and absorbs it into his body while planning to absorb Dylan into him as well. Eddie is then dropped by Knull into the symbiote-covered streets below.[9] Knull finds out where Dylan is and is about to get him when Thor arrives. Together, Thor and Dylan help free some of the infected heroes including theHulk. Thor and Knull fight and Thor gains the upper hand until Knull distracts Thor by bringing in his symbiote-possessed Celestials and stabs Thor in the back.[33] Knull plans to control Dylan since the latter has the Symbiote codex, but Dylan fights back freeingCyclops,Invisible Woman,Doctor Strange,Black Cat, and theHuman Torch. Doctor Strange morphs into a stronger form and together the heroes fight back against the symbiotes.Namor, Thor and Storm deal heavy damage whileJean Grey's psychic powers immobilize Knull, seeing Knull's past and realizing that the God of Light (another name for the Enigma Force) is the one thing that can take down Knull before passing out. Silver Surfer arrives to where the Enigma Force is and frees it from the Symbiotes. Knull reels in pain and Eddie is chosen to be the newCaptain Universe.[34] As Silver Surfer faces off against him, Knull recalls his previous fight against him. Through the God of Light, Silver Surfer assumes a chrome form and turns his surfboard into a sword while Knull transforms his armor into one that would enable him to combat Silver Surfer. As Knull begins to fight Silver Surfer, the members of the Avengers, Fantastic Four and X-Men charge towards Knull so that they can aid Silver Surfer. Just then, Venom appears having been transformed into Captain Universe stating that he'll handle Knull from here. As Knull claims that he has killed Venom many times, Venom manages to make use of Mjolnir and Silver Surfer's surfboard which he then merged into a battle axe that is in the shape of Venom's spider emblem. Using his battle axe, Venom starts to shred his way through the Symbiote Dragons upon noting that Knull has become afraid of him. Knull even unleashes a Symbiote-controlled Celestial to aid him, only for Venom to behead it. As Venom rips off Knull's armor, Knull states that the darkness is in Dylan. Venom then picks up Knull, flies into the air, and punches through the Symbiote barrier surrounding Earth, where Knull states that the Void is eternal and the abyss has teeth. Venom then states he doesn't care if he is right as he plunges his hand into the sun and uses the Uni-Power to vaporize Knull. As a result of Knull's death, the Venom Symbiote translates to Eddie the language of the hostless Symbiotes and the Symbiote Dragons that he has become the new God of the Symbiotes now that they are free of Knull's control.[35]
As the new King in Black, Eddie learns from his future self known as the Eventuality that the Kings in Black are picked by the Celestials to serve the same purpose as theBeyonders—maintaining the multiverse—but they work from the inside instead of the outside. Knull had refused the work and rebelled against the Celestials.[10]
Knull somehow returns in The Giant Sized Spider-man 2025 issue when Kid Venom arrives Knull's voices comes into his head and brainwashes him to prepare for his return.
In the 2019 reboot version of Marvel 2099, Venom learns that his creator Knull is still alive somehow.
A version of Knull appears as the final target of Carnage.
A version of Knull appears as the vacant Oni still being the creator of symbiotes.
Knull possesses superhuman strength and durability.[9][36][37] He is depicted as an immortal being.[38][6] He is able to generate and manipulate eldritch darkness, as he can manifest darkness to create weapons and living creatures, whom he calls the "Living abyss."[11][36][39][40] He is able to forge different types of symbiotes with various abilities, such as dragon-like symbiotes.[41][42] He can remotely influence and control the symbiotes he creates.[11] Knull is also a shapeshifter, being able to turn his human-like mouth into fanged jaws with an elongated tongue—a feature passed on to the symbiotes.[15] With his regenerative healing factor, Knull can recover quickly from injuries.[11] Knull also has the ability to fly.[9]
He is an expert combatant, using All-Black to killCelestials and other gods, while wearing an armor made from symbiote-matter. Knull's armor is decorated with a red dragon and spiral emblem, which was based on Spiral ofCarcosa fromTrue Detective.[43]
Despite his severed connection to the symbiotes, his influence can still be observed as whenGorr,Old Galactus,[44]Ego,[45] andKing Loki,[46] after being infected by All-Black, continued Knull's crusade to annihilate all existence. WhenMalekith bonded with the Venom symbiote he called himself the Butcher of Thor.[47][48] Venom formed a similar emblem with mixed design of Knull's emblem and the Spider-Woman emblem worn byJulia Carpenter.[49][50] Similarly, the Nameless, a group ofKree explorers, after being infected by the Exolons, had their skin slowly fade with their outward appearance now resembling Knull.[51]
Ian Cardona ofCBR.com referred to Knull as a "cross between Marvel'sDracula and the main villain behindSpider-Verse,Morlun", writing, "There is an ethereal, wraith-like quality to his demeanor. He's got the appropriately haunting build, with his broad shoulders and chest covered by armor that makes him appear both regal and powerful. He has terrifyingly sharp teeth, and the signature symbiote tongue."[52] Bradley Prom ofScreen Rant called Knull one of Marvel's "memorable antagonists", saying, "It took all of Earth's heroes, along with intergalactic heroes such as the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Kree-Skrull alliance to finally stop him. However, before they all teamed up, Knull beat Silver Surfer, the Avengers, the X-Men, and more, forcing the ultimate team-up to stop one of the most powerful Marvel Comics villains in history."[3]
Knull received particular attention in Sweden and Norway, due to the wordknull being the noun form of "fuck" (referring to copulation), in Swedish and Norwegian.[53][54][55]
Knull appears in theSpider-Man promo "The Secret History of Venom", voiced byBen Pronsky. This version created theKlyntar to serve as living weapons against theCelestials before eventually abandoning the former after deeming his first creations, the Symbiote Sisters, useless to him.
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