What Is Absolute Carnage?
Absolute Carnage might be described as a spiritual sequel to 1993's Maximum Carnage. While its plot isn't directly connected to Maximum Carnage, Absolute Carnage again features Spider-Man and Venom teaming up with a wide variety of Marvel heroes to deal with the threat posed by Cletus Kasady.This time around, however, Carnage is flying solo. Where in the past Cletus Kasady was interested only in causing chaos and bloodshed, he now has a more specific mission. He's intent on killing everyone who's ever bonded with a symbiote, hero or villain. By absorbing the trace remnants of the symbiotes in their bodies, Carnage hopes to achieve his ultimate power and finally free Knull, the god of the symbiotes, from his eternal prison.Marvel's New Symbiote Mythology
If you haven't been reading comics like Venom recently, you may not be aware of Knull or his place in the mythology of the symbiotes. The current volume of Venom has introduced Knull, a godlike being revealed to be the creator of symbiotes like Venom and Carnage. Knull existed in the black void before the Big Bang. He was angered when light and life exploded into being and invaded his endless dark realm. Ever since the Big Bang, Knull has been waging war against the Celestials and other cosmic deities, hoping to restore the perfect nothingness that used to be everywhere.During the course of that war, Knull created the symbiote race known as the Klyntar. The symbiotes exist as a hive mind controlled by Knull himself, and their weakness to fire and sound is basically a design flaw created from their original forging. However, the connection between Knull and his creations (also known as the codex) was severed, and now Knull remains trapped in a prison within the Klyntar homeworld, waiting for the day when he can break free and resume his war on creation. Through Cletus Kasady, Knull has found his most devoted and capable servant.The Road to Absolute Carnage
Before getting to the main event, we should cover the essential comics fans should read to prepare for Absolute Carnage.Most of the direct build-up to Absolute Carnage has taken place in the current volume of Venom, which is written by Donny Cates and mostly drawn by artist Ryan Stegman. That makes sense, as Cates and Stegman are also the creators behind Absolute Carnage itself. Interested readers should check out the first trade paperback, Venom by Donny Cates Vol. 1: Rex. This book collects the story that rewrites Venom's Marvel history and introduces Knull. The second volume, Abyss, is less directly relevant to the events of Absolute Carnage, but it does deal with some important developments in Eddie Brock's personal life.Also key is a one-shot special titled Web of Venom: Cult of Carnage #1, from writer Frank Tieri and artist Joshua Cassara. This book, as much as any other, directly sets the stage for Absolute Carnage. It resurrects Cletus Kasady (following a brief period where he was dead and Norman Osborn inherited the Carnage symbiote), reveals the bond he's shared with Knull since birth and establishes Kasady's new mission of hunting down and killing every person who's ever bonded a symbiote. That includes traditional Spider-Man characters like Peter Parker, Eddie Brock and Mac Gargan as well as other Marvel heroes like Captain America, The Thing and Wolverine. All of them are now in Carnage's crosshairs, as he seeks to absorb their trace symbiote fragments, reassemble the codex and open a doorway for Knull.Finally, readers should also hunt down the recent Free Comic Book Day 2019 - Spider-Man/Venom comic. The Venom portion is handled by Cates and Stegman and acts as a direct prologue to Absolute Carnage. It may be tough to find a print copy at this point, but the digital version is available to read for free on Comixology.
See Also
Absolute Carnage: All You Need to Know About Marvel's Deadly Summer EventHow We Arrived at ‘Absolute Carnage’Lesereihenfolge: Absolute CarnageAbsolute Carnage (2019) Reading Order! - Comic Book HeraldAbsolute Carnage: What to Read
The Absolute Carnage crossover officially begins with the release of Absolute Carnage #1 on Wednesday, August 7 and runs until early November. In addition to the core Absolute Carnage miniseries (which was originally announced as being four issues but has since expanded to five), Marvel will publish a number of other Absolute Carnage-branded tie-in books. Alongside those releases, both the ongoing Venom and Amazing Spider-Man titles will tie into Absolute Carnage. Marvel released this checklist for all the comics involved in Absolute Carnage:Naturally, fans who want to follow the main story threads without buying dozens of tie-in books can follow Absolute Carnage alone and get a complete story. The rest of these books will focus more on how other characters like Spider-Man Miles Morales, Deadpool, Ghost Rider and Hulk are impacted by Carnage's global attack. Amazing Spider-Man will build on the recent "Red Goblin" storyline from 2018, as Norman Osborn and his grandson Normie are targeted by Cletus Kasady.
If any tie-in book is worth prioritizing, it's probably Venom. This is the only Absolute Carnage tie-in also written by Cates. This book will deal with Eddie Brock struggle to protect his son Dylan from an army of symbiotes.
What's Next for Marvel?
As massive as Absolute Carnage is in terms of scope and importance to the Spider-Man/Venom franchise, it also serves as the next step towards a major mystery project Marvel has been teasing in 2019. According to this image, Absolute Carnage, along with War of the Realms and House of X and Powers of X, is a piece of a larger puzzle that culminates in a new project in December 2019.What this mystery project might be is still anyone's guess. We don't expect Marvel to reveal much until their December 2019 solicitations are revealed in September. However, we wouldn't be surprised if this book revolves around Knull. If Carnage is ultimately successful in freeing his god, then the entire Marvel Universe will have reason to fear the wrath of Knull. Marvel has already been making efforts to tie Knull to other Marvel characters through books like Thor and Silver Surfer: Black. That could all be in preparation for a Knull-focused crossover event to cap off 2019.Another, wildly different possibility is that Marvel is setting the stage for an X-Men vs. Fantastic Four crossover. The two teams were shown butting heads in the recent House of X #1. With Charles Xavier's recent power grab reverberating across the Marvel Universe, these former allies may find themselves becoming bitter enemies, with powerful mutant Franklin Richards caught in the middle.Jesse is a mild-mannered writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
