Carnage is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually depicted as an enemy of Spider-Man and his father Venom. The character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #361 (Apr 1992),[2] and was created by writer David Michelinie and artist Mark Bagley, although the first published artwork of Carnage was penciled by Chris Marrinan. Carnage belongs to a race of amorphous extraterrestrial parasites known as Symbiotes, which form a symbiotic bond with their hosts and give them super-human abilities. The Carnage symbiote is usually depicted as an offspring of Venom that is more powerful than him due to the symbiotes' nature, and is much more sociopathic and sadistic. Like Venom, Carnage has had multiple hosts over the years, but his most infamous one remains his first, serial killer Cletus Kasady, whose personality perfectly matches that of the symbiote. Other hosts include Ben Reilly, Karl Malus, and Norman Osborn.
The character has been substantially adapted from the comics into various forms of media, including films, television series and video games. Cletus Kasady made his cinematic debut in the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters film Venom (2018), portrayed by Woody Harrelson. The character is set to return in the sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), where he will become Carnage. In 2009, the Cletus Kasady version of Carnage was ranked as IGN's 90th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.
The Carnage symbiote was derived by writer David Michelinie while Mark Bagley designed the character. The symbiote was perceived to be a darker version of Venom, and was created due to the writers not wanting a replacement for Eddie Brock as Venom. Carnage was in part created due to Venom's immense popularity with fans. The character was originally meant to be named "Chaos" and then "Ravage" before being settled on "Carnage".Carnages frist appearance was in The Amazing Spider-Man #359 (February 1992) Full appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #361 (April 1992)
After turning Venom’s world upside down a year ago, DONNY CATES and RYAN STEGMAN are about to put the Sinister Symbiote through hell again, only this time CARNAGE has come calling, and everyone who’s ever worn a symbiote is dead in his sights! He’s skirted the periphery of the Marvel Universe for months, but Cletus Kasady at last stands poised to make his grand return to New York in a blistering triple-sized story…and he wants to paint the town red it was August 07, 2019.Paint the town red...blood red! Carnage, the psychotic offspring of Venom, has returned - and he plans to slaughter everyone who's ever worn a symbiote! Cletus Kasady has skirted the periphery of the Marvel Universe for months, but now he stands poised to make his grand return to New York - and he's more powerful than ever! To make matters worse, a new player is on the board, and it's not who you'd expect! Spider-Man and Venom must face down Carnage's madness, but things aren't looking good. Barely able to escape with their lives, the uneasy allies have no choice but to drag a slew of other heroes into Carnage's crosshairs. And the hard truth is that not everybody will make it out of this conflict in one piece...if they make it out at all! Collecting ABSOLUTE CARNAGE #1-5.
