Did Marvel Just Kill Venom?

The first arc of the new, critically acclaimed Venom series from Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman came to an end this week, leaving the fate of one of Marvel's most popular anti-heroes hanging in the balance.

WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Venom #6! Continue reading at your own risk...

In Venom #6, Eddie Brock and his Symbiote were fused with Rex Strickland, and the trio took on Knull, the Symbiote God. As many probably expected, Rex sacrificed himself to save Eddie, branching off from the body and tackling Knull into the furnace.

What happened next, however, was quite the surprise.

The door to the furnace remained open, giving Knull a way to escape. Knowing that the God of Symbiotes needed to be killed, Eddie made a decision. He told his Symbiote to retreat into his body and turn off his pain receptors, and then held the door shut with his back. The Symbiote tried to tell Eddie that it would kill him, but the human didn't care. He wanted to save people, and save his Symbiote.

Unfortunately, Eddie's "Other" didn't let him endure it alone. When the deed was done, and Eddie fell to the ground, his Symbiote started relaying to him a tragic message.

"We did it, Eddie," it said. "Knull's connection to his Symbiote is failing. He's gone. I can feel it... They are both...gone. It was too much. We were still...connected. I should have told you... I love you, Eddie."

With that, the Symbiote oozed out of Eddie's bloody mouth and onto the floor. It spread all around him, looking lifeless.

"I...I can't hear you," Eddie cried. "Where did you go?"

As you can see in the final page of the issue, both Eddie and his Symbiote look to be on their last legs. Honestly, the Symbiote could already be dead, and we likely won't find out until next month when the seventh issue of the series arrives. Marvel wouldn't really kill Venom, right? At this point, we just don't know.

Venom #6, written by Donny Cates and illustrated by Ryan Stegman, is available now online and at your local comic shop.