Knull's introduction in Venom: The Last Dance means that both Sony's Spider-Man Universe and the MCU wasted two of their most terrifying villains. Eddie Brock and Venom's story is set to end in Sony's upcoming Venom: The Last Dance, which reunites Venom with his home planet Klyntar. As Venom: The Last Dance's trailers show, Venom will face the king of all symbiotes, Knull, who sends his forces to Earth in order to hunt down Eddie Brock's symbiote. Due to his importance in the comics, Knull could become an MCU villain after surviving the events of Venom: The Last Dance.
Custom image by Nicolas Ayala
In the source material, Knull's Marvel Comics origin says that the Celestials' arrival in his kingdom led him to wage war on the universe, forging the legendary weapon All-Black the Necrosword and creating the symbiotes to launch his conquest. Knull is inherently tied to Marvel's cosmic elements, as he's a dark force of nature that naturally opposes other Marvel entities like the Celestials and the Enigma Force, as well as famous heroes like Spider-Man and Thor. Knull's live-action debut could also have had clear links to other well-known live-action characters, but Sony's Spider-Man Universe and the MCU missed this opportunity.
Carnage And Gorr Could Have Connected The MCU And Sony’s Spider-Man Universe Closer Together
The MCU Killed Off Gorr And Sony's Spider-Man Universe Killed Off Carnage Before Knull's Debut
In the comics, Gorr steals Knull's Necrosword and becomes the God Butcher. Later on, Knull suffers his first major defeat. When Knull arrives on Earth accompanied by multiple symbiote dragons, Thor lands a lighting blast on them, cutting off Knull's links to all the symbiotes. As a result, the symbiotes turn against Knull and create their own empire. Centuries later, a Knull-worshipping cult uses a sample of one of Knull's symbiote dragons to resurrect Cletus Kasady and Carnage. When he comes back from the dead, Carnage immediately acquires knowledge about Knull and sets out to steal the King in Black's power.
Unfortunately, Sony's live-action Knull won't be able to have these connections to Gorr the God Butcher, Carnage, and Thor, not only because Gorr and Thor don't exist in Knull's home timeline, but becase the MCU killed off Gorr in his first appearance and Sony killed off Cletus Kasady and Carnage after their first fight with Venom. Christian Bale's Gorr used the Necrosword in Thor: Love and Thunder, but the weapon was never revealed to have any connection to Knull or the symbiotes. And while Carnage was a menace in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Venom ate the evil symbiote and chewed Cletus Kasady's head off his body.
Knull Could Have Made Carnage And Gorr Better Marvel Movie Villains
Gorr And Carnage's Connections To Knull Could Have Made Them More Memorable Marvel Villains
Thor: Love and Thunder's Gorr the God Butcher and Venom: Let There Be Carnage's Carnage have received similar criticisms. Both villains were supposed to be cruel and gruesome villains who kill everything that stands in their path, as their comic book counterparts are often considered the biggest threats to their respective enemies: Gorr the God Butcher is the closest Thor has to an archnemesis besides Loki, and Carnage is Venom's symbiote archnemesis. Yet, Gorr and Carnage barely got to kill a few people in their respective movies, and they met an early demise before the credits rolled.
After meeting Gorr, Carnage could have become a major Marvel antagonist in both Sony's Spider-Man Universe and the MCU
If Gorr and Carnage hadn't died, they could have played a key role in Knull's story. Carnage could have served a primary or secondary antagonist role in Venom: The Last Dance, and Gorr could have met his weapon's creator in the MCU, if Knull's visit to Earth-616 is the direction Spider-Man's MCU journey is taking after Spider-Man: No Way Home. After meeting Gorr, Carnage could have become a major Marvel antagonist in both Sony's Spider-Man Universe and the MCU (where he could have met Tom Holland's Spider-Man), and Gorr could have become an actual God Butcher, which he failed to be in Thor: Love and Thunder.
How Likely Are Carnage And Gorr To Return After Knull’s Introduction
Sony's Carnage Is Much More Likely To Return Than The MCU's Gorr
The Venom trilogy moved on from Carnage and the MCU moved on from Gorr the God Butcher quite quickly. Venom's journey is allegedly ending with Venom: The Last Dance, and Chris Hemsworth's Thor will likely face new foes in Thor 5 and beyond. Gorr died an honorable death sacrificing his life to Eternity in exchange for his daughter's resurrection, and Cletus Kasady died a clearly definitive death at the hands of Venom. But while the MCU is highly unlikely to bring Gorr back from the dead, it's still possible for Carnage to return in a future Marvel movie.
In the comics, Cletus Kasady is resurrected using genetic material from Knull's symbiote dragons, and as is usual with his symbiote, Carnage automatically comes back to life as soon as Cletus is revived. Despite his gruesome death in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Woody Harrelson's Cletus Kassady could be directly revived by Knull in Venom: The Last Dance. Otherwise, a new version of Carnage could appear in the MCU's Earth-616 alongside a new version of Venom, both of which could fight Tom Holland's Peter Parker in the MCU's upcoming Spider-Man 4 or a future Spider-Man sequel.
