Summary
- In the Venom-centric storyline “King in Black,” readers witness the symbiotes take over the powerful Celestials, solidifying them as the most dangerous aliens in the Marvel Universe.
- “The King in Black” serves as the pinnacle of the 2018 Venom series, where Knull wreaks havoc on Earth by unleashing symbiote-infected Celestials, overwhelming the Avengers.
- The symbiotes’ ability to infect and control even nigh-omnipotent beings like the Celestials showcases their terrifying power, revealing that they could potentially control other powerful entities like Galactus or the Silver Surfer.
There are few aliens in the Marvel Universe that match the sheer power of the Celestials, but readers were able to see the one group of aliens that has them beat in the Venom-centric storyline, King in Black. In this story, readers see the Celestials taken over by symbiotes, which just goes to show that, as powerful and dangerous as the Celestials are, there’s no doubt that the symbiotes are the most dangerous aliens in Marvel.
The terrifying true power of the symbiotes is on full display in King in Black #1 by Donny Cates, Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer, Frank Martin, and Clayton Cowles. This story serves as the culmination of the long-running 2018 Venom series, with Knull the King in Black finally arriving on Earth to wreak devastation on the planet.
As the Avengers set up defenses to hold Knull’s dark army back, they feel confident at first that they’ll be okay. Knull is able to crush these hopes by unleashing the symbiote-infected Celestials he has at his command, completely decimating the Avengers’ forces and overwhelming them with symbiotes.
The King in Black Unleashes The Celestials
The symbiotes are among Marvel’s most famous villains, having been attached to the publisher’s most iconic character: Spider-Man. Spider-Man first encounters a symbiote during the 1984 Secret War event and ends up bringing it back to Earth with him. Unaware that the black suit he’s wearing is an actual living being, it starts to affect Peter’s mind. When he learns of this, he immediately gets rid of it, and it finds a new host in Eddie Brock. This results in the creation of Venom, one of Spider-Man’s worst enemies for a while, and now one of Marvel’s greatest heroes. While the symbiotes have always been portrayed as a threat, readers have no idea that they are a cosmic-level threat until fairly recently.
The story establishes that Knull was one of the first beings to ever exist in the universe. He wandered through the darkness of the empty space and was eventually interrupted by the arrival of the Celestials. Celestials are incredibly powerful beings with nigh omnipotence; even Kang the Conqueror considers Celestials to be the largest source of energy in existence. These beings literally create worlds and are responsible for populating universes. While Knull tries to fight them using his astonishingly powerful weapon, All-Black the Necrosword, he is eventually defeated. Once Knull returns, he seeks revenge on the Celestials, and using an army of symbiotes, manages to overrun and control them.
Not Even Celestials Can Resist Symbiotes
The symbiotes are well known for their ability to infect and control hosts, but the actual extent of this power has proven to be terrifying. If the symbiotes are able to infect and control nigh-omnipotent beings such as the Celestials, there’s little reason they couldn’t do the same to beings such as Galactus or the Silver Surfer. There are tons of evil and dangerous aliens in the Marvel universe, but only the symbiotes seen in Venom have proven to be able to bend literal gods like the Celestials to their will.
The King in Black #1 is on sale now from Marvel Comics!