A new action-packed Venom: The Last Dance trailer is now available, and with it comes the reveal that the infamous supervillain Knull will be making his big-screen debut. Fans are excited to see this big bad, a relatively new addition to the canon, having only debuted in 2018, but it seems like no one thought to give his creators a heads-up ahead of time…
Shortly after the trailer dropped, artist Ryan Stegman tweeted: “Yes, I co-created Knull. No, I didn't know until today that he was going to be in Venom: The Last Dance. Yes, I hope I can finally afford that quiet river moat around my house.”
These posts can be read in a number of ways. There is certainly a long and unfortunate history of comic book creators being poorly compensated for their work when the characters make it to the big screen. Both Ed Brubaker and Jim Starlin have already spoken out about how little they were paid when Marvel Studios used the Winter Soldier and Thanos, to name a couple of prominent examples.
That said, we don't know the financial details and Stegman, for his part, seems excited about the news. He later posted on Instagram: “My co-creation KNULL is coming to the big screen in VENOM: THE LAST DANCE! When @dcates and I created this character, we knew we loved him, but we had no idea how much the world would love him! So excited!” Let's hope he can finally get that moat.
Venom: The Last Dance opens in theaters on October 25. For more, check out our list of the most exciting movies coming out in 2024 and beyond.
Want to know more about Knull and how he might appear in Avengers: Secret Wars? Here you go Our handy explainer.