The serial killer symbiote Carnage is receiving the most radical reimagining of its existence, as Spider-Man goes up against a wild new version of his deadliest foe. Is Marvel really planning for this to be the villain who kills off Peter Parker?
Introduced in 1992, Carnage is the offspring of the antihero symbiote Venom. Bonding to convicted serial killer Cletus Kasady, Carnage has been a lethal force of nature ever since, manifesting an endless array of bladed appendages in its pursuit of death purely for the thrill of it.
carnage’s first appearance in spider-man lore
Now, Marvel is totally reinventing Carnage with an even more insidious agenda – one that could spell the end for Spider-Man.
​​​​​​The Maker Is Officially the Ultimate Universe’s Carnage
maker manifests as carnage to kill ultimate spider-man
In the recent Ultimate Endgame #3 – from Deniz Camp, Jonas Scharf, Terry Dodson and Cory Petit – Carnage is introduced to the Ultimate Universe. As the Ultimates explore the Maker’s base (aka the City), they’re pursued by the maniacal supervillain. While the team manage to freeze him in time, the Maker quickly develops a workaround – a new physical form that can’t be restrained.
maker manifests as carnage to kill ultimate spider-man 3
When the Maker’s new form reaches the Ultimates, it scans Spider-Man’s pico-tech suit and mimics the tech, creating a new form that resembles the mainstream Carnage, but with the Maker’s head lamp. Just in case fans missed the allusion, the Maker’s new form declares, “Oh, the carnage! Isn’t it beautiful?”
maker manifests as carnage to kill ultimate spider-man 2
This is no small cameo, as Carnage’s first act on materializing is to kill Peter Parker’s Spider-Man, seemingly permanently killing off the Ultimate Universe’s Wall-Crawler. With the entire Ultimate Universe imprint set to permanently end following Ultimate Endgame, there’s very little time for Marvel to bring Peter back.
The Ultimate Universe Has Radically Rewritten Venom Lore
venom roaring in ultimate spider-man
The Ultimate Universe launched in 2024 with a simple premise – the supergenius villain known as the Maker rewrote the entire history of an alternate Earth to turn himself into the planet’s unquestioned ruler. Heroes like Peter Parker found themselves living normal lives until a young Tony Stark showed up, offering them the superpowers they should have had.
the maker vs wolverine and spider-man
While some characters like Thor and Captain America have only received minor reinventions, others like She-Hulk and Hawkeye are totally new characters. However, the biggest change has been to Venom lore.
ULTIMATE ANTI-VENOM DEBUTS
In the Ultimate Universe, symbiotes don’t exist. Instead, Venom, Carnage and Anti-Venom are made of picotech – hyper-advanced nanotechnology that can form into a shapeshifting body, animated by an AI consciousness.
Over in Ultimate Spider-Man, Peter gifted his picotech suit to his son, turning Richard Parker into the Ultimate Venom. However, in Ultimate Endgame, Peter has taken the suit back – indeed, it might be his last hope of having survived Carnage’s attack, especially because its AI is a copy of his own personality.
Ultimate Endgame Needed This Twist
marvel villain the maker
Reinventing Carnage as a new expression of the Maker is a smart move, and one that Ultimate Endgame needed. Since 2024, the Maker has been locked inside the City – a sci-fi vault within which time passes at a much faster rate. Marvel has been teasing for years how drastically the Maker must have changed after relative millennia inside.
the maker becomes his own city in ultimate universe marvel
That promise was fulfilled when the Ultimates entered the City, only to find the Maker had long ago bonded himself to every aspect of his creation. However, while this idea was surprising and dark, it looked pretty goofy, with the Maker becoming a huge face stretched across a tree-like bundle of cables.
Having the Maker easily manifest a new body in the shape of a ruthless symbiote serial killer may be less ambitious, but it adds the visceral threat that the event has been missing – especially because the Maker considers picotech outdated, and is mostly using it to mock the heroes.
Carnage was just revamped as the latest iteration of the Maker, killing Spider-Man in its vicious debut – the latest horrifying twist in the final days of the Ultimate Universe.
Ultimate Endgame #3 is available now from Marvel Comics.
First Appearance
Amazing Fantasy
Alias
Peter Parker, Ben Reilly, Otto Octavius, Yu Komori, Kaine Parker, Pavitr Prabhakar, William Braddock, Miles Morales, Kurt Wagner
Alliance
Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Secret Defenders, Future Foundation, Heroes for Hire, Mighty Avengers, New Avengers, Web-Warriors
Race
Human