Marvel's Former Carnage Host Cletus Kasady Reveals A Terrifying New Power
Spider-Man and Venom's nemesis Cletus Kasady is back (again), and the character's latest evolution sees former Carnage symbiote host (and sadistic serial killer) reveal the power of his newest symbiote – and like everything with Kasady, it's something straight out of a horror movie!
Carnage's name has been invoked for the new Carnage Reigns crossover event, which pits Miles Morales/Spider-Man against Cletus Kasady and the Carnage symbiote after the two were separated. The storylines before Carnage Reigns saw Kasady and Carnage take on a new form – a combination of a symbiote "hacked" by Extremis and bonded to Iron Man armor, which was created and used during the Marvel heroes' war against Knull, the symbiote "King In Black" (during that 2020-2021 crossover). The two had a falling out, and the Carnage symbiote successfully completed its own quest for god-like power, leaving Casady jealous, and eager to prove he is every bit as terrible as Carnage is.
Carnage Reigns Alpha #1 Spoilers: Kasady's New Powers Explained
In the Carnage solo series, Cletus Kasady started to explore a new power through the Extrembiote, which let him absorb people and physical matter into the symbiote and recreate it as an extension of himself. One of the final scenes saw Cletus flip out on the patrons of Todd's Diner, after being mistaken for Carnage. The massacre attracted the police and Miles Morales, with the young Spider-Man assuming he is walking into a hostage rescue.
However, when Miles gets inside the diner, he finds that things are unusually normal. After being dark and empty, a light gets switched on and the diner is suddenly full of patrons who seem unfazed and unharmed – but Miles knows it's all wrong. The cook spots Miles in his invisible form and it isn't too long before it's revealed that the only actual people in there are Kasady's Extrembiote and serial killer friend Ken Neely.
Over the course of the story, it's revealed that Kasady's new Extrembiote powers allow him to absorb the entire building and all his victims and recreate them using his symbiote. Moreover, while the Extrembiote main body is still active, Kasady creates any number of secondary bodies that pop out of the walls and slaughter Agent Gao's special forces team – nearly killing Mac Gargan/Scorpion as well. Kasady even goes so far as letting one of his secondary bodies impersonate Dominic, the surviving diner cook Miles thinks he's saving – only to have it be another sadistic trick by Kasady.
In the end, Miles' generates a massive Venom strike that overloads Kasady's Iron Man armor Arc Reactor, causing the villain to explode. However, given that he is now like the T-1000 and the alien from The Thing rolled into one, it's a fair bet that blowing up the Extrembiote main body could simply spread Cletus Kasady's reality-warping power all over Brooklyn.
Carnage Reigns Alpha #1 is on sale at Marvel Comics.