Marvel’s ongoing Summer of Symbiotes has featured crossover events like Carnage Reigns while setting up the climactic End of the Venomverse. New symbiote characters like Misery and Madness made their debut as established heroes like Normie Osborn and Eddie Brock explored their new roles as Red Goblin and the King in Black, respectively.
Since the symbiotes first appeared during the original Secret Wars event, their history and place in the Marvel universe have shifted and changed over the years. Knull’s debut as the God of Symbiotes further expanded on their Marvel history. The symbiotes' lengthy history can be daunting for new fans, especially with Venom and the Summer of Symbiotes' ongoing revelations.
Knull Created The Symbiotes Out Of Living Abyss
Knull was born of the living abyss of darkness he controlled in the early stages of the development of life in the Marvel universe. As the God of Darkness, he naturally rebelled against the God of Light who brought life to the universe. Hoping to fight back with a massive display of force, Knull began experimenting with his living darkness in order to create a powerful army.
However, Knull didn’t succeed with the symbiotes on the first try and spent numerous years experimenting. He created All-Black the Necrosword before losing its power. He also created the beings known as the Void Knight and Mister E as early proto-symbiotes. Event Wraith’s Exolon symbiotes from the Exoteric Latitude were more of Knull’s failed experiments.
The Grendel Dragons Arrived On Earth And Fought Thor
After Knull created his symbiotic beings, he used them to help him wage war on the universe of Light. He took over countless planets using the symbiotes to control and consume any living being they encountered. Knull even created powerful symbiote dragons that became known as Grendels after a pair of them arrived on Earth in Scandinavia during the sixth century.
There they encountered a young and reckless Thor, who used his lightning to sever Knull’s connection to the hive mind that controlled the symbiotes. The Grendel symbiotes became the first to settle on Earth. The government would get its hands on one of the Grendel dragons, which it used to launch the Sym-Soldier program during the war that turned Rex Strickland into an early host.
The Symbiotes Imprisoned Knull Inside Klyntar
After centuries of Knull’s corruption and enslavement of the universe, the symbiotes began to turn against their creator. Goodness and morality entered the hive mind through the influence of their more altruistic host bodies. This newfound appreciation for the Light gave the symbiotes enough power to overthrow Knull and end his conquest of the living universe.
The symbiotes formed a dense and ever-shifting prison around Knull that became a living planet of symbiotes. This planet, and the species itself over time, became known as Klyntar. The word Klyntar actually meant cage, and the symbiotes kept Knull's existence a secret to ensure he stayed trapped and powerless inside the planet of Klyntar.
The Agents Of The Cosmos Purged Corrupted Symbiotes
Some of the symbiotes who rebelled against Knull decided they wanted to help the universe instead of enslaving it. They developed a unique cosmic awareness which allowed them to tap into a mysterious Voice of the universe. Symbiote hosts who could hear the Voice were then welcomed onto a peacekeeping team known as the Agents of the Cosmos.
Flash Thompson discovered the Agents of Cosmos during his time with the Venom symbiote. After Klyntar purged his corrupted Venom symbiote, Flash began to hear the Voice of the Cosmos himself. Every member of the Agents of the Cosmos bonded to an alien symbiote, though they were largely wiped out by the multiversal threat of the Poisons.
Spider-Man Freed His Symbiote From Battleworld
One of the most important and well-known alien symbiotes in the Marvel universe would go on to become the Lethal Protector known as Venom. However, it first appeared during the original Secret Wars event. After Spider-Man damaged his costume in battle, he used an alien machine to create a new costume. However, he instead released the alien symbiote from a holding cell.
Over the years, the Venom symbiote became corrupted and infected with dark emotions and impulses. Venom developed the unique desire to form a strong bond with a host who it would protect instead of consume. However, security forces locked it up and scheduled it for disintegration before Spider-Man released it on the alien Battleworld.
The Symbiote Bonded With Eddie Brock To Become Venom
Spider-Man wore his new black costume during the Secret Wars and eventually brought it with him to Earth. He unknowingly kicked off a bold new age for the symbiotes that would define their modern history. Peter Parker eventually discovered that his new costume was a living symbiote, and he rejected a permanent bond and forcibly removed his handy new suit.
Rejected and hurt, the alien symbiote reached out to find a new host dealing with similar issues. It found Eddie Brock at the lowest point in his life and decided to bond in their shared moments of weakness. They became Venom and initially launched an all-out mission of revenge against Spider-Man. However, Brock and the symbiote eventually found their calling as a new Lethal Protector.
The Venom Symbiote Sired Its First And Most Influential Offspring
During their earliest exploits together as Venom, Spider-Man separated Eddie Brock from the symbiote to put him in jail. Brock was put in a cell alongside convicted serial killer Cletus Kasady, who promised to kill his cellmate the first chance he got. When the Venom symbiote arrived to rebond with Eddie Brock and break him out of prison, it left behind its first symbiotic offspring.
The new symbiote bonded with Cletus Kasady, which tainted the offspring. They became known as Carnage and launched a brutal killing spree that forced Spider-Man and Venom to put aside their differences in order to stop his rampage. Carnage kicked off Marvel’s current era of symbiotic growth, as the symbiotes continued to add to their ranks with new offspring.
Spider-Man Stopped A Corrupted Planet Of The Symbiotes
Characters like Spider-Man and Eddie Brock were becoming fast experts on symbiotes. However, they soon discovered there was much they still didn’t know during the Planet of the Symbiotes storyline. The first of a few different symbiote origins appeared during the event, which introduced a planet covered with corrupted symbiotes who wanted to take over Earth.
Fans and Venom himself later learned that previous hosts had tainted and corrupted the Klyntar symbiotes from the Planet of the Symbiotes. While the rest of the Klyntar attempted to move past their dark beginnings, the Planet of the Symbiotes wanted to continue their expansion on Earth before Venom killed them all.
Venom And Carnage Both Reproduced New Symbiotes
While Carnage was one of the first and most influential symbiotes born on Earth, he was far from the last. A dark corporation called the Life Foundation captured Venom and forced his symbiote to birth five new offspring. Carnage also birthed his own offspring that would become Toxin, which would become even more powerful than Venom or Carnage.
The Life Foundation symbiotes found a new path as Hybrid, though they soon fell back into government control. They eventually escaped and became Madness, while the Carnage symbiote continued adding new offspring as well. New symbiote characters like Scorn, Raze, Mania, Sleeper, and even the various Anti-Venom hybrids continued to expand Earth’s symbiote family as well.
The Multiversal Poisons Targeted Symbiotes During Venomverse
The powerful symbiotic family of Venom continued to grow on Earth, though Eddie Brock soon discovered the existence of a “Venomverse” filled with multiversal variants. A group of multiversal beings known as Poisons attacked these symbiotic variants. They hunted symbiotes bonded with living hosts, then took control of them before consuming them alive.
When the Poisons infected and consumed their symbiotic prey, they added a powerful new Venomized Poison to their multiversal army. Eddie Brock led a group of symbiote-bonded heroes against the Poisons and eventually ended their multiversal threat. However, Carnage launched a new attack on multiversal Venoms at The End of the Venomverse during the Summer of Symbiotes.
Knull Escaped Klyntar And Took Control As The King In Black
Eddie Brock and the rest of the universe soon learned the true history of the symbiote race after the Absolute Carnage event unleashed Knull once again. Carnage consumed the leftover symbiote codecs from former hosts in order to fuel Knull and repower his connection to the symbiote hive mind. Knull escaped his cage, destroyed the planet of Klyntar, and recreated his symbiote army.
As the King in Black, Knull led his symbiote army on a renewed mission of universal conquest that led him to Earth. He used his symbiotes to grow his army using fallen Marvel heroes. Thankfully, Eddie Brock led the heroic resistance to save Earth from the God of Symbiotes. Venom’s symbiote could resist Knull’s control over the symbiote's hive mind, giving him an edge in the battle.
Eddie Brock Defeated Knull And Became A New King In Black
Unfortunately, Eddie Brock was nearly killed in his first confrontation with Knull. The Silver Surfer brought the Enigma Force to Earth, which chose Venom to become an avatar of Knull’s eternal enemy, the God of Light. Newly empowered as the latest iteration of Captain Universe, Venom renewed his fight against Knull with the help of a few powerful cosmic accessories.
Using the Enigma Force, Venom combined Silver Surfer’s surfboard together with Thor’s enchanted hammer Mjolnir to create a powerful cosmic axe capable of killing Knull. Venom struck a final blow against Knull and usurped his role as the King of Black. Brock gained new powers while his son Dylan took over as Earth’s Venom to lead others through the Summer of Symbiotes.