Image/Sony
Yes! Just a few days ago, Sony released the first trailer for "Venom 2: Let There Be Carnage," and I'm sure everyone was shocked by Venom's housekeeping skills in the opening scene XD. However, in the latter half, we see Woody Harrelson's Cletus Kasady become the host for the new symbiote, "Carnage"! What is the origin of this blood-red harbinger of chaos in the original comics? Let's take a look.
Image/Marvel Comics
First appearing in 1991's "Amazing Spider-Man" #344, Cletus Kasady was originally a deranged serial killer. Fate had it that Eddie Brock, who had lost the Venom symbiote, became his cellmate. The two disliked each other, and Cletus eventually harbored murderous intent. But just as he was about to strike, the Venom symbiote suddenly reappeared, slipping through the window into the infirmary and re-merging with Eddie!
Regaining his power, Venom immediately broke through the cell wall and escaped. However, he didn't notice that a small portion of his symbiote was left behind on the broken debris of the cell, flowing into Cletus's wounds. This granted him powers even greater than Venom or Spider-Man! Due to his bloodthirsty nature, he began to call himself "Carnage."
▼ Carnage's first confrontation with Spider-Man.
Image/Marvel Comics
Ultimately, it took the combined efforts of Spider-Man and Venom to finally stop this insane killer, sending him back to the Marvel Universe's most notorious mental institution, the "Ravencroft Institute" (essentially the equivalent of DC's Arkham Asylum). Interestingly, while people find this symbiote terrifying, the real danger isn't Carnage itself, but Cletus Kasady, who makes the symbiote insane!
Image/Marvel Comics
Next, let's briefly introduce some of Carnage's significant events:
The top left depicts the earliest major event, "Maximum Carnage," which tells the story of Carnage escaping from the Ravencroft Institute and recruiting four other killers—Shriek (the woman confined in the transparent room in the trailer), Demogoblin, Carrion, and Doppelganger—to form a "family." They went on a rampage in New York City, only to be ultimately stopped by Spider-Man, Venom, and a host of other superheroes.
The top right shows the crossover event "Minimum Carnage," which, as the name suggests, is a story where everyone gets small (?). It recounts Carnage's involvement in events within the Microverse, where Agent Venom and Scarlet Spider (a clone of Spider-Man) successfully prevented him from using an army of symbiotes replicated in the Microverse to go on a killing spree. Notably, a hybrid of Venom and Carnage appeared in this story.
The bottom left features the recent "Absolute Carnage." Due to a cult worshipping Knull, the dark god who created all symbiotes, viewing Cletus Kasady as a prophet, they successfully found a way to resurrect him after he was thrown out of the atmosphere and died in the previous event, "Venomized." He thus acquired a new symbiote, Grendel (a symbiote dragon created by Knull, which came to Earth in ancient times, was defeated by Thor, and frozen until modern times), but still called himself Carnage. He began hunting down everyone on Earth who had ever worn a symbiote to awaken the long-dormant Knull and eradicate all life in the universe. Although he was ultimately defeated and died, Knull was still awakened, triggering the subsequent "King In Black" event; however, that story largely doesn't feature him, so we won't discuss it for now.
As for the bottom right, it's another major event announced after "King In Black," titled "Extreme Carnage" (yes, Marvel is incredibly creative with names). The only information currently known is that Carnage intends to target his siblings—Phage, Riot, Lasher, Agony, Scream—but his objective remains unclear.
Essentially, Carnage is a very difficult and dangerous entity to deal with, and almost no one can defeat him alone; it always requires the combined efforts of individuals like Spider-Man and Venom to triumph. As for how the movie version of Venom will defeat him? That's a good question worth pondering. Let's hope Carnage's power isn't significantly nerfed!
By: Marsus