This post contains a preview for Venom #255
For over three decades, Carnage has been one of Marvel’s most terrifying and sadistic villains. Since his debut in the early 1990s, the red serial-killer symbiote has embodied pure chaos regardless of his host. However, Carnage may be about to lose his title.
As seen in Marvel’s new Death Spiral event, Carnage’s legacy is boldly being challenged. Recently making his debut as a serial-killing supervillain in his own right, the new Marvel villain Torment used his latest victim to call Carnage out. Now, a preview for Venom #255 (Death Spiral Part 3) sees Carnage reacting alongside his current host, Eddie Brock.
“Carnage Ruled” — Marvel’s New Villain Torment Is Coming For The Symbiote’s Throne
Following Torment’s brutal murder of The Shocker in Death Spiral Part 2, this new preview for Venom #255 from Al Ewin, Carlos Gómez, and Frank D’Armata sees Eddie Brock and Carnage reacting to the news coverage and images from the bloody crime scene, featuring the words “Carnage Ruled“, presumably written by Torment himself using Shocker’s blood.
Right away, Carnage immediately points out the significance of that phrasing (while grossly popping out Eddie’s eye to “get a better look” at Brock’s newspaper). The message is written in the past tense, suggesting that Torment believes Carnage’s reign as Marvel’s most sadistic villain has come to an end.
Naturally, Carnage sees the message as a direct challenge, with Torment believing that he and Eddie aren’t killing enough. However, this is by design. The entire reason Eddie is Carnage’s host in the first place is to keep the violent symbiote in check, creating an uneasy truce.
Desperate to kill more, Carnage appears to be impressed and envious of Torment. Likewise, Carnage further suggests he knows and admires the new Marvel villain’s pattern and methods. This definitely tracks, seeing how we already know that Carnage knows more and has a deeper connection to Torment than he’s letting on to Eddie.
Carnage’s Secret Role In Marvel’s New Death Spiral Event
Unlike Eddie’s traditional symbiosis with Venom, Eddie’s connection with Carnage is far from balanced. By redirecting the symbiote’s bloodlust toward the very worst criminals, Eddie hopes to limit Carnage’s evil upon the world. However, Brock claims he’s fully willing to throw both of them in a furnace if he has to. Clearly, there’s a lot of tension in this new symbiote partnership.
Case in point, Death Spiral has already shown us the dark truth about Carnage and Torment: they’re working together.
As seen in Death Spiral #1, Carnage has secretly been communicating with Torment while Eddie sleeps, putting Brock, Peter Parker’s Spider-Man, and Mary Jane’s Venom on Torment’s radar, explaining why he’s been killing victims with their last names or those who have ties to one of the three names (Shocker had a cousin who married into a Watson family).
While Torment’s full methodology has yet to be revealed, the basic idea looks to be that each murder is part of a “spiral” that brings the new Marvel foe closer to his ultimate targets. As such, the twist here is that Carnage looks to be helping Torment build up his reputation.
With that in mind, perhaps “Carnage Ruled” is their way of masking their secret partnership and throwing Eddie off the scent, though it’s also possible that Carnage likes the idea of having a sadistic “protégé” to carry on his legacy. Either way, it’s going to be fascinating to see what the full issue has in store when Venom #255 hits the racks later this week.
Venom #255 releases March 11th from Marvel Comics.
- First Appearance
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The Amazing Spider-Man
- Alias
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Eddie Brock
- RELATIONSHIPS
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Eddie Brock (primary host and ally), Peter Parker/Spider-Man (initial enemy, later uneasy ally), Anne Weying (former wife of Eddie Brock and occasional host), Cletus Kasady/Carnage (offspring of the Venom symbiote and a deadly enemy)
- Alliance
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Vigilante