Warning! This article contains spoilers for Death of the Venomverse #1 Symbiotes like Venom and Carnage are perhaps the most formidable species in the Marvel Universe, with only a few notable weaknesses to speak of that consistently lead to their downfall in battle. However, during Carnage’s twisted mission of violence and murder across the multiverse, he has finally overcome some of the symbiotes’ biggest weaknesses, and in doing so, has officially surpassed Venom.

Carnage originated as the offspring of the Venom symbiote that inhabited the body of serial killer Cletus Kasady, becoming the Carnage fans are most familiar with. While he came from Venom, it was obvious from the start that Carnage was a whole other type of symbiote entirely. Not only did he have a lust for violence and bloodshed the likes of which Venom never had, but Carnage could manipulate this Klyntar form in ways Venom never could. Carnage could transform his hands into daggers or axes, and he was always pushing himself to become even stronger with every murder he committed - even going so far as to torment and slaughter an entire town just for fun. Now, Carnage is taking things to the next level in Marvel Comics’ latest event: Death of the Venomverse. In this storyline, Carnage is traveling the multiverse, killing Venom variants and consuming their symbiotes, allowing him to steal their unique abilities as a result. Not only that, but the Carnage symbiote is doing this solo, without the need of Cletus Kasady or any other host.

Carnage Eliminates The Symbiotes’ Greatest Weaknesses in Death of the Venomverse

In Death of the Venomverse #1 by Cullen Bunn and Gerardo Sandoval, Carnage is murdering Venoms from across the multiverse, using the power of interdimensional travel Carnage stole from the Spot during the ongoing Carnage series. Carnage’s plan (presumably) is to kill as many Venoms as possible and absorb their powers to essentially become a symbiote god. At that point, Carnage will be strong enough to challenge the most powerful Venom in the multiverse: Eddie Brock of Earth-616 aka the King in Black. In this first issue, Carnage kills a classic Venom reminiscent of the original ‘80s character, he kills Mania in a universe where she is the primary Venom, and he kills a Venom who inhabited the body of Electro.

While nothing but catharsis was gained from killing the classic Venom, Carnage stole the Hellmark from Mania and the power to channel and manipulate electricity from Electro-Venom. This means that, by the end of this issue, Carnage is without two of the three main weaknesses of regular symbiotes, including Venom. The first one was already present at the start of the book, as Carnage is without his host and therefore doesn’t need to worry about protecting him. The second one was the weakness to fire, and that was conquered after Carnage gained Mania’s Hellmark, allowing him to manipulate and be engulfed in hellfire without any negative effects.

Though Carnage still has a weakness to intense sonic vibrations, the fact that he’s stolen so many powers already - including and especially from fire-based and electricity-based Venoms - means that it’s only a matter of time before he finds a ‘Banshee-Venom’ out there in the multiverse, and absorbs their sonic scream powers, making him immune to that weakness as well. While the specifics of how Carnage will overcome his final weakness is purely speculation at this point, the fact that he beat his ‘fire’ and ‘host’ weaknesses so easily proves that the last one will be eliminated sooner rather than later. However, even as it stands, Carnage has already officially surpassed Venom with the two major symbiote weaknesses he’s overcome already.

Death of the Venomverse #1 by Marvel Comics is available now.