Marvel Just Gave Carnage a New Host and It’s the Last Hero You’d Ever Expect

Carnage has been causing a lot of problems lately, which makes sense as Marvel is working on a new symbiote crossover with “Queen in Black.” However, Carnage is not a big part of that story, and the two most recent appearances of the red symbiote serial killer came in completely different stories. First up, Eddie Brock was the host of his own series, in which he killed serial killers to keep Carnage under control. Sadly, for Eddie, Carnage can’t be trusted, and the symbiote pulled the strings in the “Death Spiral” storyline, which ended with Eddie in prison. Carnage then popped back up in The Amazing Spider-Man: Spider-Versity, which saw Norman Osborn training the next generation of spider-heroes to best him if needed.

That storyline, by Jordan Morris and Joe Kelly, went off the rails when Carnage showed up, and Norman rebonded with him to stop his rampage, only to become Red Goblin again. By the end of The Amazing Spider-Man: Spider-Versity #5, the students saved Norman and pulled Carnage out of him. The twist came when the final pages revealed that Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) now has Carnage and believes she can control him.

How Did Spider-Woman End Up With Carnage?

Norman Osborn knows that there is always a chance he could go bad again, and since he is doing the best that he can right now, he wants to help build an army of spider-heroes who can stop him if the need arises. Norman brought in Spider-Woman to help train the next generation of heroes to defeat the next big threat, especially if that threat is the Green Goblin. These new students included Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, Silk, Araña, Spider-Boy, and Spider-Girl.

The series went a long way in showing that Norman was always teetering on the edge, although he was able to pull himself back up and fight to regain control of his new sense of heroism. Spider-Woman was also there with him the entire time, the one person the kids could trust, even when they remained rightfully unsure about Norman himself. The big twist came when Carnage showed up, and he wanted to find a new host and a new direction after his plans in “Death Spiral” went the wrong way for him. That is when Carnage bonded with Spider-Girl, and Norman sacrificed himself to save her, inviting Carnage back into himself instead.

This was the smart move. While Red Goblin was a major threat and Carnage was strong enough to take control of Norman’s body for a huge fight, Norman was able to fight back inside his mind much better than Spider-Girl could have. Finally, Spider-Woman used her Venom Blasts to free Norman from the symbiote and save him. Norman begged her to kill him, but she refused, helped bring Norman back, and allowed him to continue his work to redeem himself.

However, the final pages showed what happened to Carnage. While Spider-Woman blasted the symbiote off Norman Osborn, where it went remained a question. That was answered after the main story ended when Norman said Jessica was “away.” In the epilogue, Spider-Woman was in her apartment and pulled the Carnage symbiote out of her. She then delivered one of its “daily shocks,” which she said keeps Carnage docile.

This Will Not End Well for Spider-Woman

This moment led to Spider-Woman saying something ominous and proving that she could quickly turn evil if she is not careful. Spider-Woman said she should find someone scientific to separate them, but then she said, “But your power could be useful. It would be a shame to just throw you away.” This is the last thing Spider-Woman should have done. Of all the heroes in the Spider-Verse, Jessica Drew seems like the least likely to take this chance.

The entire “Death Spiral” storyline just ended, and Eddie Brock has more experience controlling a symbiote than anyone in Marvel Comics. The fact that Carnage was able to get one over on Eddie and help Torment commit murders, even reaching out while Eddie was sleeping, should say everything you need to know about this evil symbiote. Even Norman Osborn, with his hard work at turning his life around, couldn’t control Carnage once the symbiote was inside him. If Norman and Eddie can’t control Carnage, what chance does Jessica Drew have?

Spider-Woman does have extensive training with both Hydra and SHIELD, but she is still not as experienced with the symbiotes as Norman and Eddie, and this could and probably will turn out badly for the hero and her close allies. It is possible she has purposefully split away from the young spider-heroes for their own safety, knowing the danger of Carnage, but with her comments about using its power, it seems the corruption has already begun.

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