So the
Venom film is still in theatres and I've noticed people are still talking about it, making
YouTube videos and generally discussing anything tangentially related to the symbiotic
Spidey villain, including discussing a character who
may appear in the movie's post-credits scene. Guess I'll jump on the bandwagon by talking about the spawn of
Venom, the murderous maniac
Carnage in the MC2!
Despite all the
previously discussed appearances of the
Venom symbiote in the
MC2, we didn't learn anything about what happened to it's offspring until
Amazing Spider-Girl #9-12 where
S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Maria Hill tasks
Special Agent Arthur Weadon and his team of former villains with safeguarding the transport of an item referred to only as '
Specimen 297'.
Naturally, things go awry when the convey
Weadon's team are guarding is attacked and
Specimen 297 is taken. When
Spider-Girl intercepts those attempting to make off with
Specimen 297, a stray shot pierces the container, allowing it's contents to escape. We learn that the operatives are actually
S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on a top secret mission and that the
Carnage symbiote is now loose.
With the
Carnage symbiote newly bonded to a host, it attacks
Midtown High students at the
Café Indigo. However,
Carnage is prevented from killing anyone by his new host and after seeing
Courtney Duran afraid, flees.
Also worth noting is that the
Carnage symbiote mentions being split into many splinters by the scientists studying it. Digging into the who's and why's of
S.H.I.E.L.D. transporting the dangerous
alien symbiote specimen through
New York or why another group within the organisation was sabotaging the operation, it suffices to say that it was politically motivated...
Events take a dark turn when
Carnage appears at the
Parker's family home while
Peter Parker is looking after his infant son,
Benjy. Sensing danger,
Peter attempts to sneak
Benjy out of the house only to be accosted by
Carnage. When
Mayday and
Mary Jane return home, they find
Peter and
Benjy gone and an ominous message on the wall...
While threatening baby
Benjy, we see that
Carnage's new host is resisting the
symbiote's murderous tendencies, and we learn the reason he came to the
Parker home:
Mayday. Ignoring
Peter's pleas,
Carnage takes
Benjy and heads off, promising to fulfill a promise to his host.
Tracking down
Carnage,
Spider-Girl and the symbiotic villain battle until
Mayday appeals to the host:
Moose Mansfield. We learn that
Carnage has promised to help
Moose's dying father in exchange for his co-operation.
Carnage heads to the hospital, driven on by
Moose's desire to help his father. This is followed by one of my all time favourite sequences of storytelling ever, ending with a shocking reveal...
Yup,
Kid Carnage!
Spider-Girl attempts to neutralise her baby brother while avoiding
Carnage long enough to reach the sonic gauntlets the police had recently confiscated following a super-battle. Unfortunately,
Agent Weadon's team show up to apprehend
Spider-Girl. Somewhat more fortunately,
Carnage makes short work of the team.
When
Spider-Girl points out
Carnage might be able to actually cure
Moose's father of cancer,
Moose convinces the symbiote to head back to the hospital with the promise of compliance. Having bought time,
Mayday organises for her father to pick up the sonic gauntlets and armour from the
Midtown South Police Precinct and meet her at the hospital.
Carnage makes his way through the hospital toward
Mr Mansfield, encountering
Moose's girlfriend
Courtney and cousin
Donna as he fights through security.
Spider-Girl holds him off so that
Peter can use the sonic device to stop Carnage. But
Peter freezes at the sight of
Benjy, fearing his infant son will be harmed.
Forced to take over, May uses the sonic device on
Benjy, driving the symbiote off of her brother but also causing him to lose his hearing. Racing after
Carnage,
May forces the symbiote from
Moose moments before it could bond with his father and save his life.
With the
Carnage symbiote dead,
May's baby brother
Benjy deaf and
Moose's father on the verge of death, the story reaches it's conclusion. While
Specimen 297 appears to be destroyed, we are left to wonder if the other
299 remaining specimens will be destroyed.
Which leads us to
Spider-Girl: The End where we are shown a possible future where
May 'Mayday' Parker died, which led to
April Parker aka
Mayhem killing several villains and eventually the hero
American Dream. This prompted the government to hand over samples of the
Carnage symbiote to
Blackworks Paramilitary Services in an effort to create an army of '
Bio-Predators' to combat
Mayhem.
Possibly as a result of using mercenaries, these
Bio-Preds went rogue, becoming a swarm of destruction that absorbed or killed everyone in their path. Immune,
Mayhem atoned for her crimes helped defend humanity against these creatures, but eventually mankind was forced underground to survive. In a last ditch effort,
Mayhem was sent back in time to avert the series of events leading to the end of the human race.
I think it goes without saying that clearly the government did
not destroy the remaining
299 Carnage Specimens. Never trust a politician.
Until I bond with the spawn of an alien symbiote, I remain
frogoat
