Queen in Black (2026 series) #5

Last issue Venom used Dylan Brock's Chainbreaker ability to free all the symbiotes on Earth who were working for the Queen In Black Hela by bonding with her alien soldiers. But he went further by forming a mental bond with them and all the inhabitants of Earth and the planet is now Venomworld. Meanwhile in QIB: Defenders Of Light And Dark #3 Hela and Knull were brought together to directly fight each other.

This issue starts by replaying the end of QIB:DOLAD#3. Hela appears to defeat and 'swallow' Knull. The Light team (Beta Ray Bill, Cable, Dagger, Iron Man, Photon and Sunfire) then pile on her and kill her. But Knull emerges from her body with their combined powers and blasts them. However he then finds that he faces Venomworld, the planet Earth covered in black symbiote and with a giant Venom face. Knull says he's intrigued enough to not destroy the planet immediately. But Venom sends out a Chainbreaker tendril which breaks off 1 of his arms, and Knull realises his body is vulnerable because he's now mostly symbiote.

Inside Venom's mindscape we see some of Earth's heroes. Dylan Brock (Codex) is complaining that *he* is the Codebreaker and somebody's using his power but Wolverine thinks they should be glad *someone* is. Beast and Emma Frost point out that many of the people dragged into this are lifelong enemies of each other, or were even currently at war, so how long can this mental collective survive.

Outside Knull abandons his physical form and sends his essence in through Venomworld's mouth to attack the humans within ...

... and of course he shows up with the hero group we were watching. Logan calls on Emma to perform an astralball special, and Beast and Codex deal themselves in. She actually mentally 'throws' everyone available at the foe (including the Fantastic Four and various Avengers and X-Men (ones who have been involved in this event already)). Knull the god (a primal entity from before the universe was born) just bats them all away.

Then he's confronted by a giant Mary Jane Watson, the latest host for Venom. She reminds him that he's the embodiment of nothingness, and now that he's abandoned his physical form that's *all* he is. But he claims that he's going to turn *everything* into nothing, as he causes her Venom 'costume' to boil away. However she responds by letting him hear the voices of many of the 8 billion people on this world, and *he* is shredded into nothing.

But the Venom mindscape also dissolves. Emma Frost sends out an alert to all telepaths to help guide people back to their bodies. MJ collapses. And Venomworld breaks down into it's symbiote components, most of whom flee Earth.

Later Reed Richards checks MJ over and declares her completely OK and also completely human. Her previous situation where bonding with Venom was the only way to keep both of them alive seems to have been resolved. Reed suggests Venom somehow managed it, just as he managed to get all planes to safely land that had been in midair when Venomworld happened. Reed has also taken charge of the anti-Carnage substance that was part of their bond. She asks if he could track down Venom to make sure he's not dead, but he says he could be anywhere. We see that someone *does* seem to be his next host, and there's a suggestion that this isn't a good thing. (Marvel Fandom Wiki thinks it's his original host Eddie Brock.)

Meanwhile Knull finds himself back in the Un-Beyond with his black throne. But he discovers that someone has used this event to take over his seat and title. The new King In Black is the symbiote called Sleeper who reveals that he was the 1 who was wielding the Chainbreaker ability in Venomworld, and it was all part of his plan to get here. And he has a small symbiote army with him.