Queen in Black: Two Gods, One Rock
- Jason Daniel
- 6 days ago
- 6 min read
MARVEL COMICS · SYMBIOTE WAR · FINALE 09/30/26 · 5 MAIN ISSUES · 4 TIE-IN MINIS · FROM $3.99
Most Marvel events have one big bad. This one has two, and they hate each other more than they hate you.
Queen in Black is Al Ewing and Iban Coello's symbiote war, and its whole engine is a conflict Earth is not actually a participant in. Knull, God of the Void, was building a new army on the far edge of the solar system to come destroy us. Hela of Asgard beat him to it — she made planetfall first, with a legion of the galaxy's deadliest symbiotes at her back. Two of the most powerful evils in the galaxy are now at war with each other, and our planet is just the ground they picked.
"Is it Hela or Knull who's ascended to the Throne Of All? Either way, the only thing standing between them and all life on Earth is… the Venomworld."
The Main Series
Queen in Black #1 — Hel on Earth. Knull builds a new army at the edge of the solar system; Hela makes planetfall first with a legion of the galaxy's deadliest symbiotes. The Son of Venom is caught in the middle. Al Ewing and Iban Coello.
Queen in Black #2 — A cataclysm of light and darkness. Tony Stark assembles twin teams — Defenders of Light and Defenders of Dark. Hela's assault hits Earth, the Avengers mobilize, and the Symbiote Intelligence descends. Ten covers.
Queen in Black #3 — The middle chapter, where both Defenders teams are in the field and the war stops being something happening above Earth.
Queen in Black #4 — Venom ascending. The Hela/Knull war gets personal, Tyr unleashes his final weapon on the Avengers, and in the Baxter Building Reed Richards investigates Codex's half-symbiote power — with cataclysmic consequences.
Queen in Black #5 (Finale) — Oh, the humanity. One of them has taken the Throne of All, and the only thing between the winner and all life on Earth is the Venomworld. The ultimate symbiote battle, and Mary Jane Watson's last stand.
The #1 blind bag exclusives
If you missed the launch, Queen in Black #1 is still here two ways: the standard issue with eleven covers, and a run of blind bag exclusives — sealed, randomized, thirteen possibilities, from $6.79. It's the one part of this event where the fun is in not knowing what you got until you open it.
The Tie-Ins Worth Your Money
Marvel kept these tight — four minis, each answering a question the main book doesn't have room for. Hela #1 is the backstory. Thor #1 is the Asgardian front. Venom Unchained is Eddie Brock's road back. Defenders of Light and Dark is Stark's two strike teams.
Queen in Black: Hela #1 — The queen takes her throne, and all her secrets come out. Why were Hela and Tyr in Midgard when the Rainbow Bridge fell? How did she cage Knull? And which Thor tried to stop her? Balder the Brave goes to Karnilla for answers.
Queen in Black: Thor #1 — Beta Ray Bill fights Hela at the edge of space and thinks about being the heir to Thor's story — not knowing the story continues with Sigurd Jarlson, or that the Death Goddess has plans for the Mortal Thor.
Queen in Black: Venom Unchained #1 — Eddie Brock is in prison after a failed bond with Carnage, and the Queen in Black is coming. He wants back to Venom — but without a symbiote, how does he get out?
Queen in Black: Venom Unchained #2 — Jailbreak. Sleeper busts Eddie out, straight into a world the Queen in Black is trying to take. Eddie wants to help, or at least protect the people he loves. Sleeper has other plans.
Queen in Black: Venom Unchained #3 — The king is back? Eddie was the King in Black right up until he wasn't — and it was him leaving the throne that let Knull return and Hela rise. Can he take the crown back?
Queen in Black: Defenders of Light and Dark #1 — Unleash the heroes. Beta Ray Bill is the only hero in Midgard who remembers Hela. Tony Stark's new Black Metal Armor is the ultimate weapon against Knull. This is the mission that decides the saga.
Queen in Black: Defenders of Light and Dark #3 — Cataclysmic contingency. Both strike teams have taken a beating, emboldening Knull and Hela to finish them personally. Time for Plan B. Light and Dark collide — and unite — in the grand finale.
Defenders of Light and Dark #2 is between printings on our site right now — check back, or ask us to set one aside.
Reading Order
Why This One Reads Better Than It Had To
Two gods, not one villain. Hela and Knull aren't allies of convenience and they aren't a tag team. They're rivals for the same throne, and Earth is collateral. That structure gives every tie-in somewhere real to stand.
Al Ewing is writing it. The Immortal Hulk writer doing a symbiote war means the horror is load-bearing rather than decorative — see Reed Richards taking apart Codex's half-symbiote power in #4.
It's finite and it's short. Five main issues and four minis, all wrapping 09/30/26. No indefinite sprawl, no year-long commitment.
Mary Jane gets the last stand. The finale hinges on the Venomworld and on MJ — not on a hero punching a god harder than the god punches back.
Eddie Brock has an actual arc. Venom Unchained isn't filler. Eddie vacating the throne is why Knull came back and why Hela rose. The mini is him trying to fix the thing he caused.
Two Thrones
CTX ORIGINAL FICTION — a short piece written from nothing but the solicitations for the main series and its four minis. No spoilers.
The thing people get wrong is thinking it's about us.
It isn't. One of them was out past the last planet, patiently building an army for the express purpose of coming here and ending it, and he was taking his time about it because he is a god and time is a thing that happens to other people. The other one didn't build anything. She just came early.
That's the whole war. She got here first.
So now there are two of them on one rock, and everything that follows — the legions, the strike teams, the armor Stark welded together in a hurry and painted black, the man in a cell who used to wear the crown and gave it up — all of it is happening inside a fight neither of them started with us in mind. We are the table. They're arguing about who owns the table.
Somewhere in Asgard, somebody is asking the right questions too late. Why was she in Midgard when the bridge fell. How did she get a god of the void into a cage in the first place. Which Thor tried to stop her, and where is he now.
Somewhere on Earth, a scientist opens up something half-symbiote just to see how it works, which is how most of the worst days in this universe have started.
And somewhere at the end of it, when one of them has finally taken the Throne of All and turned around to look at what they've won, there will be one thing left standing between a victorious god and every living person on this planet. Not an army. Not an Avenger.
A woman named Mary Jane Watson, and whatever's left of the Venomworld. Bet against her if you want.
Original short fiction by CTX Comics, extrapolated solely from Marvel's published solicitations for the Queen in Black series and its tie-in miniseries. It is not an excerpt from any issue and does not reflect their actual contents.
Solicit information courtesy of the publisher. Covers, prices and availability current as of publication and subject to change. All characters and artwork are © their respective owners.
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