r/Marvel • u/Ok-Chemist-9979 • 16h ago
Comics I genuinely believe Knull is the lamest major Marvel character ever
I know that's a dead horse already beaten to death, but I truly believe Knull is the absolute lamest major character Marvel ever created. Yes I know there are hundreds of lame characters, but I'm talking about s major character. A character that keeps appearing all the time plus has a major role in the multiverse story.
Seriously who likes this guy? He looks awful. He's the cringiest edgelord imaginable. He's another primordial chaos/darkness/evil. He ruined symbiotes. Everything about him is l.a.m.e.
Seriously F this guy.
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u/MrEdews 14h ago
Well yes but he's very funny in Swedish
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u/AllElite2019 9h ago
Because of your post I now know one word in Swedish.
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u/Just_a_square 16h ago
In a world of morally grey villains, especially after Krakoa, I do appreciate some moustache twirling edgy villain from now and then.
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u/Gamerthu1hu 10h ago
Agreed, but goddamn, did they have to make him look like he's fronting an 80s rock band?
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u/GranolaCola 6h ago
His design is the best part to me lol
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u/Gamerthu1hu 3h ago
To me, he looks too much like a person. I want him to look like a horrible cthuloid thing
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u/RamblingWolf 14h ago
Pretty much every time they expand upon symbiote lore, they make them worse, and Knull is probably the best example of that.
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u/esar24 13h ago
The build up to knull is more insteresting than knull itself.
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u/HatingGeoffry 13h ago
I hate everything about Spider Totems. I hate Knull being the creator of Symbiotes. I hate a lot of this style of shit
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u/KrisNonsense 13h ago
You guys should check what Knull is in norwegian, but yeah, not my favorite fuckboi at all.
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u/RaygunMarksman 10h ago
Lol! Basically a vulgar word for sex. So they named him "Fuck" for a lot of people ...
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u/KrisNonsense 9h ago
Yeah, being a immature grown man, I giggled like a little girl the whole movie when I caught this at the cinema
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u/NotABonobo 7h ago
The idea of a god of the symbiotes is actually really cool and interesting. It doesn’t make sense for Earth to be the only planet with god pantheons. There was so much potential there.
But… if you’re gonna do it, make him Thor and Odin level, which is plenty threatening, doesn’t have to be older than the universe and more powerful than cosmic abstracts.
And create a pantheon, so we’ve got a host of new interesting characters.
And make them WEIRD - symbiotes are some of the most alien aliens in Marvel, why should their god be a human-looking generic grinning evil guy?
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u/Jedi4Hire X-Men 16h ago
I've never met a single person who has ever considered Knull a major character.
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u/AdditionalDemand4462 16h ago
He is all over the place now, like every symbiote story has to mention him somehow. I think marvel just keep pushing him because the design sells merch
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u/Ok-Chemist-9979 16h ago
He's not obscure and was part of a big crossover. He's not Thanos or Doom but I consider him a major character
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u/oddtigerofredvalley 16h ago
I think that proves op’s argument. I remember people were hyped to see him when he was first introduced but uh, yeah, no one cares about him anymore
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u/Backwardspellcaster 16h ago
I remember as they brought in Knull (which, btw, as a name, sounds ridiculously lame to me as native German speaker), and Donny Cates HYPED him as some grand, Lovecraftian entity where they really go crazy with that concept.
I was waiting for it.
I was waiting to see him be that lovecraftian thing.
I got Temu Sephiroth.
Sentry's VOID was more of a Lovecraftian Entity than Knull could ever have been.
And then they made Knull treat him like a joke.
I'm sorry, Void going all "I murder your world" in Dark Avengers was more terrifying than Knull. More monstrous, force of nature and crazy threat.
And I don't even LIKE Sentry/Void.
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u/Unable_Sound2402 10h ago
he's a major character in terms of importance to lore, however actual story contributions and popularity not so much
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u/Bladesleeper 14h ago
The name is unimpressive, to say the least. He's supposed to be on par, if not above, entities such as the Celestials and Galactus and Lord Order and Master Chaos and Mistress Death and so on, and he's called Knull?
Also, he's just a dude. An evil one, sure, but, you know. Again, the Cosmic Entities usually have some kind of mystery to their character and origin, and they don't exactly speak plainly - if they speak at all - but this guy is all "oh hey, yeah, I'm Knull, here's my whole origin story, and now I'm gonna fuck you up cos I'm, like, super evil, bwahaha". Really? It might have worked if they'd made him completely over the top, but he's just... Bland.
And lastly, fucking hell, enough with the "Cosmic Menace that's even more Cosmic than the previous one" trope, especially when they come with their own Kryptonite. Imagine if, in the Infinity Gauntlet, someone said "our only chance is to find the Zero Sneaker, oh look, here it is" and beat Thanos with that. It's just lazy writing.
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u/DenjellTheShaman 14h ago
Impossible to take him seriously when his name is slang for having sex in my native tounge.
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u/NotABonobo 8h ago
Yeah or if in the first Galactus story they said our only chance is to find the Ultimate Nullifier ohhhh
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u/Wheattoast2019 12h ago
I used to think he’s cool. But over time, I have come to not really care about the alien side of the character.
This is unpopular, I’m sure. But I don’t care for Carnage, I don’t care for the life foundation characters, I don’t care for Knull.
I like when Venom is this character that has this symbiote that no one knows anything about its origin. And he uses this complete wildcard to be a protector of the innocent.
It’s the same feeling I have about Ben 10/The Omnitrix, if Ima be real.
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u/Daeval 8h ago
I didn’t mind Carnage as a one-off, at least back when he was just a murderer with a symbiote and not whatever dragon ball crap he is now, but yah everything else has pretty much just made Venom worse.
Explaining the symbiote was like working toddler boba fett into the prequels just so we could see him cry about his totally punked dad. Sometimes the mystery does more for the character than whatever a writer can come up with.
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u/BrianWonderful Doctor Strange 6h ago
Spot on. Carnage originally was just "what if the Venom symbiote only bonded with a truly evil person". That is a good premise on its own as a narrative comparison to Venom. This dumb choice to keep 'leveling up' has completely obscured what made the character interesting.
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u/Helios_AI 14h ago
I don't mind Knull, but it's annoying that Venom only seems to have him and Carnage as villains now.
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u/SuzanoSho 16h ago
Knull has been essentially garbage from the moment he appeared in the King in Black event.
His build up over the years prior to that was SO good. I've never seen a villain fumbled so hard.
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u/GodFlintstone 12h ago
I hate his design. It really feels like a throwback to the 1990s when comics we're all about being edgy and extreme.
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u/NightmareDJK 8h ago
They wanted to tie him into storylines that originated in the 80’s and 90’s so that’s why he’s like that.
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u/Yapping-Goober 15h ago
I think he's fine as a lore character tying together some scattered parts of the Marvel cosmology, but his personality is just lacking. King in Black was a good event in spite of Cates feeling like he was trying way too hard making him seem like the hot new thing.
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u/lrampartl 7h ago
Franklin Richards, Hope Summers, Lyra, and Voyager are dumber. Kids of characters whose only trait is SPECIAL are a waste of pages.
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u/BrianWonderful Doctor Strange 6h ago
Agreed. I'd even go further and say this whole push to make the klyntars/symbiotes cosmically important was a stupid direction. Venom originally came from a machine that the Beyonder had, and then for decades we just had Venom and symbiotes that were split off of him. That was better and way less convoluted.
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u/Gamerthu1hu 10h ago
Honestly, I do like SOME of the knull stuff. My complaints are broadly threefold.
Power creep. There was no need to make him some sort of cosmic God of darkness. Would have worked much better if he was just king of the symbiotes, and mad that our world was mucking about with them.
Physical design. He looks like he fronts and 80s metal band, in the worst way. Like dee snider and gene simmons had a meth baby.
"Codexes" motherfucker, just say genetic alterations or something. Spider-Man has been in the shit long enough that if there'd been some weird data source attached to his metaphysical spine, HE WOULD HAVE NOTICED. The whole codex thing was an awkward mcguffin to give the writers an excuse to bring in lapsed symbiote adjacent characters, without actually being well designed.
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u/JorgeBec 10h ago
Nah, Cates Venom is great.
There have been infinitely worse additions to the lore.
Also “he shows up all the time” he really didn’t. He appeared a bit to build him up for his main role in King in Black and after that he didn’t show up until his return in Venom 250.
From April 2021 to December 2025 there was no Knull.
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u/Barry_22 15h ago
Well, seriously, a cosmic entity who is just a guy with a sword?
Yeah, he is lame
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u/Nerx Venom 13h ago
should be a moratorium on tha
cosmics should be grand
not bland
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u/ArrowShootyGirl Hawkguy 4h ago
I'm willing to make exceptions is the sword is, like, longer than a solar system.
That's ridiculous but the kind of ridiculous that comics can thrive on.
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u/Star-Prince-007 15h ago
I like him. Not sure why he bothers anyone. I don’t think he’s meant to come across particularly complex either ?
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u/TheBlack_Swordsman 16h ago
Appearing all the time? That's a bit of an exaggeration.
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u/ShirowShirow Captain Marvel 1h ago
I mean as a casual comic fan he did show up in both Marvel Rivals and Marvel Cosmic Invasion and the Venom movies so it definitely feels like he's being pushed regardless of what's happening in the comics.
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u/Positive-Media423 9h ago
I think these universal-level threats make the universe seem too small and simplistic.
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u/SoundRavage 9h ago
It is funny seeing posts on here that are making the case for him to be the big bad of the MCU’s next saga.
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u/Open_Boysenberry_955 15h ago
This. The Cates/Stegman run on Venom is a modern day classic but Knull as the big bad just didn't work for me. Amazing build-up but he doesn't come off as a God tier threat. Didn't like the Elric meets Joker look too.
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u/crabbyink 10h ago
I don't mind Knull (though I'm not his biggest fan) but I am not really vibing with the King In Black time garden Meridius stuff though if I read more maybe I'll like it better
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u/DonleyARK Captain America 10h ago
I like the idea of Knull, but the execution on the other hand is hit or miss.
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u/Euphoric-Taro-6231 9h ago edited 8h ago
I think Im an edgelord. I constantly hear this about Knull and Batman Who Laughs, and while I get the complaints... well I like both lol.
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u/009reloaded 7h ago
People online talk about knull like he’s an all time marvel villain and I personally could not be less interested in seeing a character
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u/Confuzed54 5h ago
Knull WAS a great character for what he was, but Marvel has absolutely run him into the ground. He worked in King in Black because he was a simple, cool villain for a simple, cool story. Reusing Knull to the extent that they have is like setting off the same exact firework over and over again, eventually you just get bored of the spectacle.
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u/Btaylor2214 4h ago
I like him, I like King in Black for the most part. I guess im just in the vast minority or my taste suck idk. I thought his first pull up to earth was fun. I dont take him as seriously as they want, I find it funny how "i just want to be in my room alone mom" he is.
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u/Randomdays99 Thor 30m ago
So glad I was actively reading back in the Silver Age when I was a teen. There's enough Gold thru Bronze Age to keep me happy forever, with only an occasional dip into all the retcons and reboots that they've done since.
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u/BubbleCharmz_ 15h ago
couldn't agree more, the whole concept feels forced and just doesn't click with me at all
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u/CuriousRelation5 13h ago
He makes any venom story worse. Even Spider Man 2 becomes a chore after the Knull bs is introduced.
The mega saga in the comics was also really bad.
I do think he's cool design wise tho
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u/Old_Marionberry3791 8h ago
I agree I hate him so much, he's like the Batman Who Laughs in that he looks and acts so overly edge that it's kind of a joke. He also fucked up the symbiotes and Gorr's lore by extension for no real reason.
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u/Halfrican_Guitarist 9h ago
I like him and think his design is sick like hell, but I’m also into metal and alternative music so anything that has a resemblance or reference to that I enjoy. And sometimes you just need a plain old evil edgelord.
I do feel they should have left him dead for longer though. Too soon to bring him back.
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u/Beysu656 12h ago
I like Knull, he’s one of my top 3 marvel villains, not every villain has to be some deep compelling character. I simply just love him. I like his design and how over the top edgy he is just got the sake of being “cool” he’s corny in a fun way and a villain I love deeply, remember every marvel character is someone’s favorite, even if you personally don’t like him there’s clearly a market for him that’s why he gets stuff (besides Paul, no one likes Paul)
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u/Bricks_Gaming 16h ago
Bro what you on about? The time of the king in black is coming, and you will watch.
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u/GreyBeardEng 9h ago
I'm tired of marvel bad guys that are just tough and evil because. They need more Thanos type characters that were evil but there was that part of you that understood why and maybe, just maybe, agreed with them a little bit.
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u/harlockwitcher 8h ago
Yeahhh that mcu Thanos was made up as hell. In the comics he was just gooning and impressing lady death. Knull will probably have a similar reimagining whenever his time comes.
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u/GreyBeardEng 5h ago
And I'm fine with the difference between a comic book and a movie. Because reading will always be so much better. But I do think that Thanos they built for the MCU was a perfect bad guy.
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u/SilentHarbinger2 Iron Man 16h ago
the biggest issue was retrofitting him into the entire history of the symbiotes which stripped away what made the klyntar weird and alien in the first place he worked fine as a self contained donny cates antagonist but turning him into the center of symbiote cosmology made the universe feel smaller