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Marvel Is Giving 2 Movie Villains The Future The MCU Robbed From Fans
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has brought a bevy of beloved characters and storylines from the comics to the big screen, and despite all of the years of history some of those characters already have in the comics, sometimes the MCU manages to improve on them in some substantial ways. That’s not the case for every MCU character though, and at New York Comic Con, Marvel revealed it’s giving 2 movie villains the future fans were robbed of in the MCU.
At New York Comic Con, Marvel had several announcements for fans of the symbiote corner of the world, but the biggest was the announcement of a new event titled Queen in Black. This storyline, which references the excellent story King in Black from a few years back, spins out of the shocking ending of Venom #250, which features the return of Knull and Hela of Asgard. Now everything is in place to give both Hela and Knull the MCU stories fans always wanted but were ultimately robbed of.
Queen in Black Could Be the Knull Story We Never Had a Chance to See on the Big Screen
The character of Knull would make his comics debut during Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman’s hit Venom run, but he would catapult to superstardom in the mega-event King in Black. Knull quickly became one of the most formidable villains Marvel’s heroes ever faced, and it would take just about everyone teaming together to overcome Knull and his powerful army.
If you thought that was big time, it was nothing compared to when Knull was teased for Venom: The Last Dance, and fans were hyped to see the ultimate clash finally happen onscreen. That’s not what actually occurred though, as Knull was very much a background player in the film and a far-off threat that was looming over everything, so no clash came to be, and one was only teased at the very end. Since it’s expected that The Last Dance was the final film in the Tom Hardy Venom franchise, that doesn’t leave much room for Sony and Marvel to make good on that tease, and if they don’t, that massively promising turn-around will just fade into the background of what could have been.
Thankfully, Knull isn’t being dropped from the comics, and after some time off the board, Knull is once again in the spotlight and will be warring with Hela as he looks to take back control of his throne and his power, which she has stolen from him at some undisclosed point. Knull’s story will pick up in a solo series from Al Ewing, Tom Waltz, Juanan Ramirez, and Ryan Stegman, and you can find that cover above.
Queen in Black Will Give Hela the Spotlight She’s So Richly Deserved in the MCU
While Hela got far more screentime in Thor: Ragnarok than Knull did in Venom: The Last Dance, many fans wanted to see more of the powerful Asgardian after a stellar performance in Thor: Ragnarok, but after falling to Surtur at the end of that movie, Hela was removed from the board, and her power and influence went along with it.
It’s a common flaw of Marvel films to kill off compelling villains after only one appearance, and Hela was no different. The character met her end in Thor: Ragnarok, and it robbed fans of getting to see her return to the fold at various times. Hela was one of the few who managed to deal with Thor and Loki and do so convincingly, as well as the rest of Asgard. Hela was eventually taken out by Surtur, though we wouldn’t mind if she still finds a way to stick around. It will take some work though, as she was killed pretty convincingly in the MCU.
That brings us to Venom #250, which sees Knull as a captive of Hela, and Hela is intent on utilizing the power of symbiotes to asset her leadership and keep Knull from becoming a threat to her rule. If Marvel ends up doing another Thor movie, there’s plenty to explore there with Hela, both in terms of how she relates to her brothers as well as her overall role in the MCU, but if we were to get a version of this, it could do for Hela what the first Avengers did for Loki and make him not just a Thor villain but an Avengers-level threat that needed everyone to band together in order to take them down.
As for the comics, Hela will now be stepping directly into the path of Knull by becoming the Queen in Black, giving us a story we never had a chance to get to in the comics and possibly putting Hela on a massive power level that she’s long deserved to be a part of. Two powerhouses are about to collide, and while Hela would have to be brought back to the world of the living in the MCU, you could certainly make that happen. The same goes for Knull, as you would need to commit to him for a legnthy amount of time to get the most out of the character, but you could ceratinly do that as well.
Both characters could be incredibly important to the MCU, though now we’ll have to wait and see if Hela or Knull end up getting the time they deserve on the big screen. Knull was basically a tease for a film that never happened (or hasn’t happened yet), and Hela was taken out before she had to the chance to reach her true potential. At least in the comics, that potential is finally being realized.
Marvel’s Queen in Black will land in comic stores in Summer of 2026.
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