What Does King In Black Mean & What It Sets Up For Sony’s Marvel Universe

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Venom: The Last Dance

Venom: The Last Dance ends with Knull the Symbiote God referring to himself as “The King in Black”. Originating from the comics, “King in Black” is an incredibly important title, one that carries some major multiversal significance beyond the Symbiote God himself. That said, it’s a pretty big deal that Knull has also been confirmed as the King in Black in live-action, especially considering all that it could mean for the future of Sony’s Spider-Man universe (and beyond).

At the end of Venom: The Last Dance, Knull’s symbiote-hunting Xenophages fail to retrieve Venom and Eddie Brock’s codex, the key to ending his imprisonment on the world of Klyntar. However, the post-credits scene for The Last Dance sees Knull still trapped on his throne yet confident that he’ll eventually be freed, referring to himself as the King in Black before promising that everything will burn. Here’s what “King in Black” means in the original Marvel Comics, and what it’s setting up for the future of Sony movies beyond Venom: The Last Dance.

Why Knull Refers To Himself As The King In Black

A Cosmic Title Bestowed By The Celestials

In the comics, “The King in Black” is a title that was bestowed on the void-god Knull with the emergence of Marvel’s Celestials who brought with them light and creation, pushing the preexisting void and Knull’s abyss of darkness into the corners of the multiverse. Also known as the Onyx King, it was the job of the King in Black to serve as a counterpart to the Beyonders aka the Kings in White or Ivory Kings, maintaining order throughout the multiverse.

That said, Knull ultimately rejected the responsibility that came with his new title and openly defied the Celestials for encroaching upon his dark domain with their light. Using his powerful sword known as the All-Black, Knull decapitated one of the Celestials before he was banished back to the abyss. Likewise, The Celestial’s severed head would eventually become Knowhere as seen in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.

Marvel Comics King In Black Crossover Event Explained

Knull’s Invasion Of Earth (With Symbiote Dragon Hordes)

From the abyss, Knull created his symbiotes who later betrayed and turned on him due to his desire to bring life and light to an end, returning all to darkness. To that end, The King in Black had long been imprisoned on the world of Klyntar (the symbiotes’ word for “cage”). However, it was Carnage who eventually came to serve Knull and brought about his freedom in 2019’s Absolute Carnage event. This served as a key prelude for 2020’s major King in Black crossover event. As such, here are the biggest things you need to know about the King in Black crossover, and how Knull was finally defeated:

• Knull begins claiming and destroying planets before invading Earth with hundreds of thousands of symbiote dragons under his control and symbiote-possessed Celestials.
• Venom and Captain America rally all the Marvel Universe’s heroes against Knull, including the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and more.
• Knull and his forces are too powerful, “venomizing” multiple heroes while Knull effortlessly rips The Sentry in two and assimilates The Void into himself.
• Knull covers the entire planet in a massive symbiote, cutting Earth off from the light.
• Knull reveals he wants Eddie Brock’s son Dylan before absorbing the Venom symbiote before throwing Eddie off a skyscraper.
• Dylan’s unique power to destroy and control symbiotes is revealed as Eddie dies.
• Dylan, Thor, Silver Surfer, Doctor Strange, Jean Grey, and Iron Man rally against Knull, freeing possessed heroes and taking control of the Celestials.
• The God of Light aka Enigma Force revives and chooses Eddie Brock to become the new Captain Universe.
• Venom takes Thor’s hammer and Silver Surfer’s board to form a cosmic battleaxe, rivaling Knull in power before throwing the Symbiote God into the Sun, vaporizing Knull with the Uni-Power.
• As the Enigma Force leaves him, it’s revealed Eddie Brock is the new God of the Symbiotes and King in Black in the Marvel Universe, while Dylan becomes the new Venom.

While there’s a lot more to the King in Black crossover and its various tie-in issues, the above timeline features the biggest and most important events. It shows just how massive of a Marvel crossover it truly is, and what could be coming down the line for Sony’s universe now that Knull has been introduced in live-action.

How Sony Could Adapt The Marvel King In Black Storyline

Adapting King in Black Will Demand The Biggest Marvel Movie Sony Has Ever Done

Considering just how sprawling the comics’ King in Black crossover was across the entire Marvel Universe, it’s hard to imagine how Sony might adapt its own King in Black storyline on-screen. That said, perhaps Sony’s version will end up being more Spider-Man-focused, either using variants from across the Spider-Verse to combat the King in Black and/or using its Spider-Man adjacent villains. After all, the threat of Knull is a danger to all existence.

It’s also worth noting that even the MCU takes liberties when it comes to adapting the comics. As an example, Captain America: Civil War is not a direct adaption of the comics’ Civil War, and the same goes for Age of Ultron or any other projects that share names with original comic events. Keeping that in mind, expecting a completely faithful adaptation of King in Black feels pretty impractical, whether it’s coming from Sony alone or not. However, one can still hope that some core elements will be maintained, which may necessitate studios once again coming together.

Will Sony’s King In Black Feature MCU Characters?

Knull Could Be The Next Major Threat After The Multiverse Saga

Obviously, the comics’ King in Black storyline uses a lot of characters that currently reside in the MCU’s universe of Earth-616. After all, certain MCU characters like Thor and Silver Surfer were crucial to Knull’s defeat. As such, one would naturally hope that Sony and Marvel Studios could perhaps come together as they have for the MCU Spider-Man movies, sharing their resources and characters to provide a truly epic blockbuster event.

Given the multiversal importance of the King in Black title and the lack of future live-action projects for Sony beyond this year’s Kraven the Hunter and Spider-Man 4, perhaps a King in Black movie could happen before the Multiverse Saga reaches its end with Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027. Conversely, it’s also not a stretch to guess that King in Black would come afterward. Sony and Marvel Studios would then have plenty of time to collaborate and develop what would be a truly impressive crossover event now that Knull has made his on-screen debut.

Venom: The Last Dance is now playing in theaters from Sony Pictures.

Venom 3 is the third and final installment in Sony’s symbiote trilogy starring Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock. It follows the events of Let There Be Carnage, where the anti-hero fought serial killer Cletus Kasady, and Spider-Man: No Way Home, where Brock was briefly transported to the MCU through the multiverse.

Director

Kelly Marcel

Release Date

October 25, 2024

Studio(s)

Columbia Pictures , Marvel Entertainment , Pascal Pictures

Character(s)

Eddie Brock / Venom , Mrs. Chen , Patrick Mulligan , Bartender

Runtime

110 Mins

Main Genre

Adventure

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