The evolution of Venom’s symbiote race in Marvel canon is head-spinning to say the least as the symbiote started as a mysterious costume which was then revealed to be a sentient alien which was then revealed to be tied to an eldritch god–and while the consistent revelations about the symbiotes seems convoluted, the species’ story actually explains why they decided to call themselves the Klyntar.

The Venom symbiote made its first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #252 and readers learned exactly how he got the costume in Secret Wars #8. In Secret Wars, Spider-Man comes across a mysterious substance that bonds to him and grants him a new black suit which was a far cry from his original costume. Once the symbiote was discarded by Spider-Man, it latched itself to Eddie Brock, turning him into Venom. After the symbiote bonded with Eddie Brock, the symbiote's history was further explored both in Venom’s solo comics and in other stories like Guardians of the Galaxy where the name Klyntar was first used to identify the Venom symbiote. However, while the Guardians uncovered the symbiote’s true name, the reasoning behind that name wasn’t revealed until fans learned of the King in Black.

In Venom #4 by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman, Eddie Brock is brought face-to-face with the essence of Knull, the King in Black aka the God of the Symbiotes. Knull’s presence is brought forth before Venom after he takes down an ancient symbiote dragon known as a Grendel that was seemingly defeated by Thor centuries earlier and laid dormant. While the King in Black wasn’t physically on Earth at this point, his influence is powerful enough to infiltrate Eddie’s mind from across the galaxy and show him the truth about who he is, what the Klyntar are, and the truth behind their purpose in the universe. Eons ago, the King in Black created the symbiotes from the abyss to battle beings of light and reclaim the glorious darkness that existed before the Marvel Universe. After Knull created the symbiotes in order to extend his reach across the cosmos as he had direct control over all of their minds simultaneously, the symbiotes found a way to break free of their master’s control. With their newfound free will, the symbiotes attacked Knull and trapped him in a ‘planet’ that was an accumulation of countless symbiotes all gathered together for the sole purpose of keeping the King in Black locked away within their center, and the symbiotes named this planet–and by extension their entire race–Klyntar, which was their word for ‘cage’.


As revealed by Knull in this issue, the main function of the Klyntar race is to keep the King in Black locked away, thereby neutralizing his control over their conscious minds which are equal parts singular and hivemind. What is interesting about the fact that the symbiotes named themselves ‘cage’ is that their name technically no longer applies. In the King In Black crossover event, Knull escapes his cage and reigns terror upon the cosmos until Knull is killed by Venom in the series’ final issue. Now, Klyntar is an empty cage designed to trap an all-powerful god, leaving an entire race of aliens without a true purpose for the first time in eons.

While Eddie Brock has filled the gap left by Knull as the King in Black, he is not being trapped within Klyntar and is instead a benevolent ruler of the symbiotes. However, he does have access to this god-tier cage that has been left vacant, leading one to wonder if another godly entity will be trapped within the horde of symbiotes by the order of Venom himself–as the Klyntar will inevitably need to honor the name of their race once again.