The trailer for Venom: The Last Dance Got me worried about Sony’s plans for a Thanos-level Marvel villain: Knull. The latest trailer for Poison 3 was released in September 2024 and finally revealed more about the mysterious symbiote creatures against Earth. Rather than simply being a mindless villain for Venom and Eddie to face off against, it was revealed that the powerful Marvel Comics villain Knull will be in Poison 3.
Knull is a massive character in more modern iterations of Marvel Comics. In recent years, many have clamored for Knull to appear in an upcoming Spider-Man movie, given his inherent connections to Venom and the other symbiotes. Now, it seems that I and many others will get our wish granted as Knull makes his way to Poison 3s climactic story. however, Despite my overall excitement to see Knull depicted in live-action, I can’t deny that I have some reservations about Sony’s plans for the villain.
Villian Knull from Venom 3 is a Thanos-level threat
Knull’s comic book story proves his threat to Marvel’s heroes
First, it’s worth exploring the elements of Knull’s story that led me to see him as a threat to Thanos. Knull is the creator of the symbiotes, and has spent his previous stories waging war against some of the most powerful beings in the Marvel cosmos: the Celestials. Knull’s house of darkness is infected with light still living in the last since the beginning of time. After discovering an ability he dubbed the Living Abyss, Knull realized he could create parasitic lifeforms, later known as the symbiotes.
The Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, many other heroes, and the symbiotes all band together to stop Knull from invading Earth, and even then he can be defeated by a literal god of light…
After this, Knull began to form a hive mind of symbiotes dedicated to conquering the cosmos as an extension of his one motivation: eradicating light and life in darkness. over the thousand years, Knull has met some of Marvel’s most powerful characters, from Thor, Sentry and Spider-Man to the Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer. In one of his biggest storylines, the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, many other heroes and the symbiotes teamed up to stop Knull from invading Earth, and even then he could be defeated by a literal god of light.
The Sony Spider-Man Universe should be a villain of all, not just Venom
Knull is undersold as the villain of Poison: The Last Dance
When Knull is shown to possess this level of menace in Marvel Comics, I’m worried about his inclusion as the villain of Poison 3. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very excited to see Knull in live action and if the film can capture the best elements of his story, I’m sure Poison 3 will be the best Poison Movie after. However, it remains the case that Knull should have been a villain of the entire Sony Spider-Man Universe, not just Venom and Eddie.
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Although Eddie Brock and Venom have a particular rivalry with Knull in the comics, he is a threat that cannot be handled by them alone. The same should be the case in the Sony Spider-Man Universe. Admittedly, adding heroes like Morbius and Madame Web to Venom’s side wouldn’t give him much more of an advantage against Knull, but it would at least provide a thematic endpoint for the universe Sony has crafted so far. When you take into account these Kraven the Hunter Movie, a team to face Knull presents itself.
Morbius seemed to tease connections to the MCU, while Madam Web was as self-contained as Venom, Venom 2 and Kraven, proving the franchise’s disconnection and how good Knull would be as connective tissue.
Instead, Knull will be used as the ultimate villain in the Poison trilogy, but this is not necessarily suitable for a character of his reputation. It would have been much more effective if the other Sony Spider-Man movies had included teasers to tie them to Knull’s storyleading to an avengers –Like story in which they come together to face Knull. Whether that would have worked is another question entirely because Knull deserves to be faced by Marvel’s biggest, best heroes, but it would at least give him more meaning as a universe-altering threat rather than a one-off villain.
Sony’s Knull introduction could work to set up the villain for the MCU instead of the Sony Spider-Man Universe
The MCU could use a villain better than a villain
Admittedly, the universe I’m pointing against Knull is something like the MCU, which would undoubtedly serve his character better than Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. Therefore, it is interesting to think about how the MCU could use Knull in the future. with Poison 3 Introducing Knull, it could be the case that the character was discarded by the multiverse and emerged in the MCUAllowing that franchise to give him a soft reset and a new backstory in which he fights more Marvel characters.
Another possibility is simply that Knull was introduced and used only for Venom: The Last DanceAlthough as a soft introduction for general audiences in case Marvel Studios wants to introduce its own variant of the villain…
This would certainly make sense, as other characters have gone back and forth between the two universes in the past, including Venom and Eddie himself. Another possibility is simply that Knull was introduced and used only for Venom: The Last DanceAlthough as a soft introduction for general audiences in case Marvel Studios wants to introduce its own variant of the villain in upcoming MCU movies. Regardless of how worried I am about how the Sony Spider-Man Universe will treat Knull, there are still prospects for better explorations down the line.