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Venom villain Knull and Thor villain Hela are the odd couple at the heart of 2026 Marvel event Queen in Black

Upcoming Venom miniseries Knull is "a very dark book," but Queen in Black just might be even darker

Published on Thu Oct 09 2025

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If Knull thought that being the King in Black made him untouchable in the Marvel Universe, he’s about to find out that the reality is very different altogether — especially now that Hela has taken up her new position as the Queen in Black.

Discussing the new status quo for both Knull and Hela in the Marvel Universe following the reveal of the Queen in Black in this month’s Venom #250, Venom writer Al Ewing told the crowd at the Spider-Man and his Venomous Friends panel at New York Comic Con 2025 that Hela is using [Knull] like a human battery” to power her new symbiote-centric position as the Queen in Black. That will, of course, have unintended consequences for both parties. “You don’t really want to put Knull in a cage. You don’t want to put the god of the void — one of the ultimate evils — in a cage,” Ewing teased.

We’ll get to see more of the new dynamic between the two characters in Knull #1, launching in January 2026, co-written by Ewing and Tom Waltz, with art from Juanan Ramirez.

“He’s going to get back out [of the cage] and he’s going to get his revenge,” teased editor Jordan D. White about the new series, with preview art shown in the panel of Knull killing some Celestials — probably just to remind himself how fun it is to be a cosmic menace. “It’s a very dark book, it’s a very violent book,” White promised. But maybe some of that violence will be directed against Knull, with Ewing telling the crowd, “he’s going to go up against a really big Marvel character, and we’ll see if he can take that person down.”

All of this is leading up to a summer crossover event called Queen in Black, about which nothing was revealed beyond the title — but rest assured that plot points will be set up across the Knull series and the wider Marvel line between now and summer 2026.

Knull #1 will be released January 14, 2026. New York Comic Con 2025 continues through Sunday, October 12.

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Graeme McMillan: Popverse Editor Graeme McMillan (he/him) has been writing about comics, culture, and comics culture on the internet for close to two decades at this point, which is terrifying to admit. He completely understands if you have problems understanding his accent.