On the eve of the release of Sony’s standalone “Venom” film three years ago, I said it was hard to imagine the character being introduced independent of Spider-Man.

They pulled it off, to varying degrees of success. And before the COVID-delayed sequel “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” finally arrived in theaters last week, the comic book side expanded Venom’s story to make Spider-Man a part of it rather than the foundation.

While Spider-Man brought the alien symbiote that would bond with disgraced reporter Eddie Brock to become Venom to Earth after “Secret Wars,” a new “Venom” volume that debuted in 2018 revealed this wasn’t the first such creature on our planet.

With a mysterious, malevolent being named Knull stirring in deep space, Brock learns S.H.I.E.L.D. cultivated symbiotes from the corpse of an alien dragon and used them to enhance soldiers during the Vietnam War. One of these soldiers recruits Brock to help his compatriots, who are acting under the influence of Knull.

Knull is revealed to be a primordial god of darkness who created the symbiotes millenia ago. The “planet of the symbiotes” Venom and Spider-Man visited back in the day was actually a cage created by the creatures to imprison their master. And that stylized spider emblem on Venom’s chest? Apparently, it’s a dragon.

Knull became a looming threat over the Marvel Universe, cutting a destructive swath through space en route to Earth. It culminated in this year’s “King in Black” storyline, in which the planet was encircled by symbiotes and virtually every Marvel character got involved. The ending led to a new status quo for Venom that is just now being explored.

One milestone in the build-up was the “Absolute Carnage” crossover, which brought back the first of Venom’s offspring — the antagonist of the new movie.

Back in his villain days, Brock shared a prison cell with serial killer Cletus Kasady. When the symbiote helped him escape, it left behind a spawn. Bonding with the creature turned Kasady into Carnage, a prolific killing machine that took multiple team-ups between, Spider-Man, Venom and a host of other characters to stop.

The Carnage symbiote later birthed its own offspring, which bonded with a New York City police officer to form the hero Toxin.

Carnage was one of the villains who escaped from a super-prison known as the Raft, leading to the formation of the New Avengers. He didn’t get very far, as the Sentry flew him into space and unceremoniously ripped him in half.

But this is comics. You know that wasn’t the end.

Carnage would survive and resurface to antagonize Spider-Man, the Avengers and even Deadpool. In the event “Axis,” he was caught in the wake of a spell that inverted the personalities of various heroes and villains. Carnage tried to be a hero and apparently sacrificed his life to stop a bomb planted by the inverted X-Men.

See above.

He returned to his villainous ways, eventually dying again, then coming back in the service of Knull. Though Brock tried to eliminate him in the wake of “King in Black,” the villain has continued to survive and cause problems in the Marvel Universe.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.

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Recommended Reading

* “Maximum Carnage” — A 14-part epic in which Spider-Man and Venom put aside their differences and enlist an army of heroes to take on Carnage and his twisted group of killers.

* “King in Black” — The culmination of a multi-year storyline as the malevolent Knull, source of all the symbiotes, arrives on Earth, plunging the planet into darkness and leaving Eddie Brock as the last hope for the planet and maybe the galaxy.

* “Axis: Carnage” — After a magical mishap, Carnage sets out to be a hero, but his insanity and bloodlust keep getting in the way. Not for younger readers.