Knull

For other uses, see Knull (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Kull of Atlantis or Null the Living Darkness.

This article is about the first King in Black. For the second King in Black, see Eddie Brock. For the titular event, see King in Black.

Knull
Knull as featured on a variant cover from Venom (Vol. 4) #5 (August 22, 2018) Art by Skan Srisuwan
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Thor: God of Thunder #6 (March 2013; identity unrevealed) Venom vol. 4 #3 (August 2018; full appearance)
Created by	Donny Cates Ryan Stegman
In-story information
Species	Elder God
Place of origin	Primordial void
Team affiliations	Symbiote Imperium
Notable aliases	God of the Symbiotes God of the Void God of the darkness Lord of the Abyss God-Host Grendel (avatar) Exolon God King in Black Slicer of Worlds
Abilities	Superhuman strength, speed, and durability Matter generation and manipulation Shadow manipulation Symbiote domination Symbiote creation Healing factor Shapeshifting Immortality Flight Skilled hand-to-hand combatant

Knull (/nʌl/) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Donny Cates and artist Ryan Stegman, the character debuted in Venom vol. 4 #3 (August 2018), and later retroactively established as the unnamed black-armored figure in Jason Aaron's Thor: God of Thunder #6 (March 2013). Knull is a primordial god of darkness from before the universe's seventh iteration. He created the symbiote race and the weapon All-Black the Necrosword, and he rules the symbiotes as the King in Black. His introduction altered the established fictional history of the Klyntar, Venom, and Carnage.

Knull was developed gradually across Cates and Stegman's Venom run (2018–2021), first appearing in flashback before escalating to the central antagonist of the "Absolute Carnage" crossover event (2019) and then the main villain of the company-wide "King in Black" event (2020–2021). In that event, he invades Earth with a fleet of symbiote dragons, kills Sentry, and seals the planet in a symbiote sphere that cuts it off from sunlight, before being defeated and killed by Venom, who absorbs his role as King in Black. Following the Venom War storyline (2024), Knull was resurrected in a 2026 self-titled solo series, written by Al Ewing and Tom Waltz.

Knull has been described as one of Marvel's most powerful supervillains. His creation drew widespread critical attention as a meaningful reinvention of the symbiote mythos. Knull made his live-action feature film debut in the Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) film Venom: The Last Dance, portrayed by Andy Serkis.