Venom #3 (168)
Venom #3 (168) marks the first appearance of Knull, the God of the Symbiotes and self-styled King in Black — a primordial villain whose introduction rewrote the entire origin of the Klyntar race, retconning decades of established symbiote mythology to reveal that the noble identity the Klyntar had claimed was, in Cates's framework, a lie they told themselves after rebelling against their dark creator. The issue planted the seed for every major Venom story arc that followed, from Absolute Carnage through the company-wide King in Black event, elevating Eddie Brock from street-level anti-hero to the central figure in a Marvel-spanning cosmic conflict. It also deepened the cross-title connective tissue of the modern Marvel Universe by retroactively linking the symbiote lineage to Jason Aaron's Thor: God of Thunder run via the All-Black the Necrosword. The character Knull has since appeared in animation, video games, and live-action film, making this issue one of the more consequential villain debuts of the modern era.
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The series launched in June 2018 as part of Marvel's 'A Fresh Start' initiative, following Mike Costa's preceding Venom run, with Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman as the core creative team. Cates has recounted that at his very first Marvel editorial summit he laid out the entire arc of his run — from the opening issues through King in Black — a plan that remained largely intact through the series' conclusion, a remarkable degree of long-range plotting for an ongoing monthly. The Knull concept was built by weaving together Aaron's earlier Thor mythology and introducing a new cosmological layer to symbiote lore, with Stegman's visual design — including Knull's distinctive spiral symbol, which TV Tropes notes was inspired by the Carcosa emblem from True Detective — providing an immediately striking aesthetic for the character. The creative team were not consulted when Knull was later adapted for the 2024 Sony film Venom: The Last Dance, a situation that drew public attention when Stegman revealed on social media that neither he nor Cates had been informed in advance.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Knull (also designated the King in Black and God of the Symbiotes), created by writer Donny Cates and artist Ryan Stegman; published June 27, 2018.
- Written by Donny Cates; pencils by Ryan Stegman; inks by J.P. Mayer; colors by Frank Martin; letters by VC's Clayton Cowles.
- The issue also features Miles Morales as Spider-Man and Eddie Brock as Venom as its other principal characters, with Miles positioned as an obstacle to Brock in the story's action.
- Knull's appearance here was later retroactively linked to the unnamed black-armored figure in Jason Aaron's Thor: God of Thunder #6 (March 2013) — the first possessor of All-Black the Necrosword, Gorr the God Butcher's weapon — making #3 the formal debut of a character whose shadow had unknowingly appeared years earlier.
- Knull's introduction constituted a major retcon of the Klyntar/symbiote origin, reframing the 'noble alien race' backstory established in the 1995 'Planet of the Symbiotes' storyline as a fiction the symbiotes invented after imprisoning their creator.
- The issue is part of the opening 'Rex' arc (issues #1–6), which was collected in Venom by Donny Cates Vol. 1: Rex and also reprinted in the Venomnibus by Cates & Stegman (2022).
- The series ran under Marvel's 'A Fresh Start' publishing initiative and went on to span 35 issues plus Venom #200 (2021), encompassing the Absolute Carnage and King in Black event storylines.
- Multiple variant covers exist for this issue, including a PX Previews Exclusive SDCC 2018 black-and-white Stegman cover, a Jorge Molina cover, Skan Srisuwan variants, multiple Unknown Comics Tyler Kirkham exclusives, and at least four printings — the third printing being notable for being the first to depict Knull directly on the cover.