Knull

Knull, the self-proclaimed King in Black, stands as one of Marvel's most terrifying cosmic villains and a landmark creation of writer Jason Aaron and artist Butch Guice. A primordial god of darkness who predates the Marvel universe itself, Knull existed in the void before light was introduced to the cosmos. When the Celestials began their work of creation, Knull took their intrusion as a personal affront and forged the first symbiote from his own living darkness to wage war against the forces of light. His first appearance in Thor: God of Thunder #6 (2013) marked the beginning of a mythology that would quietly reshape the entire symbiote corner of the Marvel universe — making that issue an essential pick-up for any serious collector.

Knull's powerset is nothing short of staggering. He commands the full spectrum of the symbiote hive-mind through a psychic network known as the Symbiote Codex, allowing him to possess and manipulate every bonded symbiote in existence simultaneously. Beyond that, he wields reality manipulation, dimensional control, weather mastery, size alteration, and a host of divine abilities that make him a threat on a universal scale. His signature weapon, All-Black the Necrosword — the very first symbiote — is capable of killing gods, and its own collected appearances have become highly sought after among weapon-focused and cosmic Marvel collectors alike.

The 2020-2021 King in Black event series, written by Donny Cates with art by Ryan Stegman, brought Knull to the forefront of the Marvel universe in spectacular fashion. Arriving on Earth encased within a sphere of chained symbiotes, Knull plunged the planet into darkness and systematically neutralized Marvel's most powerful heroes. The event crossover touched nearly every major Marvel title, creating a sprawling collection of tie-in issues, variant covers, and key moments. Donny Cates had been seeding Knull's lore since his landmark Venom run beginning in 2018, making those early Venom issues retroactively crucial reads and hot collectibles.

For collectors, Knull represents exactly the kind of character whose early appearances reward patient long-term investment. Thor: God of Thunder #6 is his technical debut, but Venom #3 (2018) delivered his modern reimagining and is widely considered the key book in his collecting profile. The King in Black #1 features some of the most visually arresting variant covers in recent Marvel history, many of which have held strong secondary market value. Whether you are chasing raw copies, CGC slabs, or first-print variants, building a complete Knull collection is a rewarding deep-dive into one of Marvel's darkest and most consequential modern mythologies.