Knull summons the bats for King In Black

Knull, the titular King In Black of Marvel's upcoming Venom-centric crossover event, is bringing an apparent army with him to Earth – and rather than the Klyntar symbiotes one might expect, the winged, bat-like creatures featured in Marvel Comics' latest teaser for the event bear more of a resemblance to DC's Parademons, the flying minions of Darkseid in Jack Kirby's Fourth World mythos.

"Darkness reigns!" reads the ominous text which accompanies the teaser, showcasing even more of a connection to those notorious, nocturnal, winged mammals the gargoyle-esque enemies resemble.

Knull is, of course, the dark god of the Klyntar – the alien symbiote race that birthed the Venom symbiote and its progeny and connected characters. His arrival on Earth has been teased for some time in writer Donny Cates' ongoing Venom run, and now things will finally come to a dangerous and deadly head in the limited series King In Black, which reteams Cates with his Absolute Carnage creative partner, artist Ryan Stegman.

King In Black already has several announced tie-ins, including October's Web of Venom: Empyre's End, which features Knull and bridges the gap between Marvel's current cosmic event series Empyre and the impending King In Black.

Additionally, there's a just-announced five-issue tie-in limited series from Peter David and Greg Land beginning in November. That features a flashback to the time when Peter Parker still wore the Symbiote Spider-Man suit, before it bonded with Eddie Brock to become Venom.

Black Cat, whose solo series just went on hiatus, will also factor into King In Black.

King In Black #1 is scheduled for release in December. Marvel has yet to solicit its December titles, with the publisher's November solicits expected later this month right here on Newsarama.

I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011, and now I'm the Entertainment Writer at GamesRadar+. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)