There was a time when we weren't sure who the antagonist was in Venom: The Last Dance. Toxin was among the most common guesses, and then a leaked teaser trailer indicated Lasher could also enter the scene. While they were slightly underwhelming choices, they seemed to be the most likely at the time. However, fans wanted to see something else, something more terrifying and fond of the darkness, someone... a little more dangerous. Yes, you know who he is.
Back in 2018, everything we thought we knew about Venom and the Klyntar was thrown out the window to make room for the King in Black himself. Donny Cates' Venom introduced a new and horrific side to the Lethal Protector's history that few could've seen coming. The god of symbiotes, Knull, debuted in issue #3 of the saga and instantly became a powerful force to be reckoned with. Furthermore, his influence can be felt across different media such as in Insomniac's Marvel's Spider-Man 2. Now, he'll finally make his big screen debut.
The latest trailer for Venom: The Last Dance pulled the curtain and revealed Knull is coming. Since then, fans have had a few questions, such as if he's a one-and-done villain (with rumors indicating otherwise) and - more importantly - if Sony can do such a key character justice. Fortunately, it seems that will be the case if the words of the King in Black's creator are anything to go by.
Donny Cates says Venom 3 is more ambitious than we can imagine
Donny Cates shared in X (formerly Twitter) that he read a script for Venom: The Last Dance, and he's now calling the movie "so much bigger, and so much more ambitious than you can imagine". As if that wasn't exciting enough, he also commented on his creation by saying " And, um….KNULL. Holy ****. That’s how you treat a king".
While that statement is incredibly exciting, it also prompts the question of what Sony's approach was when bringing the powerful supervillain to life. After all, Devin Lewis, editor of Venom (2018), confirmed one of the main goals of the comic book saga was to dive into the horror aspects of a symbiote story (The statement took place in the final pages of Venom issue #4):
"We have been working to push Venom into a considerably more horror-focused space since the initial planning stages of Donny´s run. We have both been on the exact same wavelength from the jump: Venom should be SCARY!"Devin Lewis,
With that in mind, it will be interesting if Knull can be a terrifying presence on screen. Furthermore, Venom's reaction to the return of his god could add to the horror elements as well. In comic book pages, he lost all sense of control and adopted a new scary design with a distorted spiral symbol on his head courtesy of Knull's influence (and a symbiote dragon, Grendel). Could fans see the Lethal Protector sport this look while acting more intimidating than usual? Fingers crossed that's the case!
Luckily, it won't be long before we finally figure out if Sony manages to end Eddie Brock's franchise with a bang. Venom: The Last Dance, will be released on October 24, 2024. Meanwhile, stick around with Whatever A Spider Can for everything Spider-Man-related, and let us know on our social media pages if you're excited about Knull's debut!