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Magic: The Gathering x Spider-Man crossover is delving into the Venom King in Black comic book lore, too
Venom fans, assemble! There's a card referencing Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman's run in Magic: The Gathering's Spider-Man crossover set

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Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman's King in Black event in Marvel Comics was only a few years ago, but it already feels like a momentous time in comic book history. And frankly, that's what a huge, company-wide crossover should feel like. They should all turn us into old people saying, "You just had to be there." Now, the work that Cates and Stegman did on Venom and later on in King in Black has now been immortalized in Magic: The Gathering's upcoming Universes Beyond set, entitled Marvel's Spider-Man.
There's a card in the Marvel's Spider-Man set called Grendel, Spawn of Knull. Venomheads (I have no idea what Venom fans are actually called) will recognize Grendel as a catchall name for the symbiote dragons that first debuted in Cates and Stegman's Venom run, before going on to wreak havoc across New York City in King in Black later on. There is a particularly great tie-in story to King in Black from Planet of the Symbiotes #2 by Marc Bernardin and Kyle Hotz where American Kaiju (Godzilla with an American flag emblazoned on his chest - look it up if you don't believe me) fights off hordes of Grendel dragons. Pure symbiote goodness. Check it out below.

Naturally, Grendel, Spawn of Knull is a black card, calling out the role that the dragons played in King of Black, of course. It's refreshing to see that the Spider-Man MTG set pays homage to the rich lore that Cates and Stegman developed for Venom in recent years. Because let's be real, Spider-Man comics flirt with body horror every now and then (I see you, Spiders-Man, Savage Spider-Man, and that time Peter was running around with eight limbs in The Amazing Spider-Man #101), and Venom has given both creators and fans the chance to indulge in all the goopy, cosmic weirdness that would feel out of place in a typical Spidey story.
Magic: The Gathering x Marvel's Spider-Man will be released on September 26, 2025.
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