Cullen Bunn Teases His Massive Death of the Venomverse Plans (Exclusive)

Approach to Writing Carnage

ComicBook.com: It’s great to see you back crafting more Venom stories once again. I was a big fan of your 2017 Venomverse series with Iban Coello, but this time Carnage is your Big Bad. What was your approach to tackling Carnage, who is out for multiversal domination over all Venoms?

Cullen Bunn: For me, Carnage is the living embodiment of the series title. He is the Death of the Venomverse, and I wanted to treat him as this unstoppable, violent, remorseless force of nature. A force of hopelessness. Carnage is a killing machine, but he is a killing machine with a goal. He’s getting better… which means he’s getting much, much worse. He’s challenging himself. And as every issue of the series progresses, readers will see him growing more and more powerful, getting closer and closer to his goal. The question I think will rise in the minds of the readers will be, “How can our heroes ever hope to stop this monster?” And that is the question they should be asking. Carnage takes no prisoners.
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Favorite Venom Characters

What Venom characters are you excited to revisit, and which new characters have surprised you so far?

It’s an interesting project, because there are so many characters at work here. In some cases, I only get a short time with some of them, and I have to make those moments count.

I don’t think it surprises anyone that writing Andi Benton—Mania, Scream, Silence—is a joy for me. Andi stands out as one of my favorite creations at Marvel, and I’d do just about anything to write that character and take her in some interesting directions.

Keep in mind, just because she’s a favorite doesn’t mean she makes it through the series. I’m the worst to some of my favorite characters.

There are a few other characters I was excited to revisit, but there were definitely some surprise break-outs. Our lead, Agent Venom, is a lot of fun for me. Virus is fun. There’s a Venomized version of Rhino I really like. I didn’t expect to love Eddie Brock Spider-Man, but I do.

One of the things I wanted to do in this book was create a couple of new “Venom” characters who were much, much more than just “Captain America with Venom” or “Moon Knight with Venom.” To that end, there are two new characters I think readers will really love. I know I’d love to do more with them. There’s Chaos Engine, who is a venomized rock-and-roll warrior and Asgardia, who may have connections to the relationship between Valkyrie and Flash Thompson. I love-love-love both of these characters. The designs are so good. I don’t get to spend enough time with them, of course.
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Carnage vs. Knull

Carnage vs. Knull for the King in Black crown looks like a can’t-miss matchup. From Knull’s perspective, what is his mindset after he’s confronted by Carnage, or after he becomes aware of Carnage’s ultimate goal?

Knull is playing an interesting role here, because in a long list of potential victims, he’s just another check box on Carnage’s list. He’s a “god in distress” that our heroes want to rescue. Okay, okay. That’s an oversimplification. But Carnage strikes at Knull in his moment of ultimate triumph, taking him by surprise to some degree. Knull might actually see a bit of himself in Carnage, though that’s not going to stop him from trying to kill him. Heck, it’s probably the reason he wants him dead.
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Future of the Venomverse

Death of the Venomverse obviously alludes to some major ramifications for how the series will end. Using one or two words, how would you describe the future of the Venomverse after Death of the Venomverse conclusions?

The future of the Venomverse?

In one or two words?

Grim.
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