Warning: spoilers ahead for Venom #28!
Most Marvel fans know that Venom, is one of the most terrifying and evil super villains in the entire Marvel Universe. Cletus Kasady truly is pure evil, and has unleashed insane levels of chaos and mayhem with his twisted symbiote, committing atrocities that are seemingly unforgivable, with some happening even before Kasady bonded with his blood-red partner in crime. However, in the pages of the latest issue of Venom from Donny Cates, it's revealed that even Carnage can be hero, given the right set of circumstances.
Most recently, the serial-killing symbiote known as Carnage had been believed to be destroyed, after Eddie Brock and his symbiote Venom seemingly killed him. This was just after Carnage forced Venom to unleash Knull, the Symbiote God, in the King In Black crossover event. However, a piece of Carnage managed to live on, residing within Venom until Eddie was able to expel it from his symbiote.
While the Carnage fans are familiar with managed to escape Venom's grasp and is once more on the loose, a new Carnage is introduced in Venom #28, the most recent issue from Donny Cates and Juan Gedeon. In the issue, Venom and his son Dylan have been transported to another Earth in the future, thanks to a malfunctioning chronal gateway. There they meet Anne Weying, the late wife of Eddie and Dylan's mother, who is dead on their Earth. However, on this Earth, she's still alive and well as the host for this Earth's Venom, as this Earth's Eddie had killed himself in the church before ever meeting the symbiote. When the Symbiote King Codex showed up with his hive-mind army of symbiotes, Anne ed the resistance against him, though there were heavy losses. Now, she commands a small squad of those who remain, including one Cletus Kasady, which shocks and initially enrages Eddie.
Anne quickly explains that while Cletus' life may have begun in the way that Eddie and fans , this Earth's Cletus got help and reformed, becoming a loyal soldier and asset to the resistance forces. While Eddie might find it hard to accept, he's looking at a Carnage that is on the side of the angels.
It's an interesting departure from what fans are used to. Carnage has generally been the epitome of evil. Seeing him as a being capable of change might be hard to swallow, but it sends a pretty dynamic and interesting message: given the right amount of help at the right time, even the darkest souls can be redeemed. Does this mean that there's hope for the standard Carnage of the regular Earth? Probably not. At this point, Carnage has done so much and has become so intrinsically evil and corrupt, it would be hard to imagine him accepting help if it were ever even offered. This other Earth's Carnage seems like he got help early on. Regardless, if Venom is looking to the resistance in order to get him and his son back home, he may just have to get used to fighting side by side with his greatest enemy.
Venom #28, by Donny Cates and Juan Gedeon, is available now.
