Published Apr 5, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT
Nicolas Ayala is a Senior Writer for the Comics team at ScreenRant, with over five years of experience writing about Superhero media, action movies, and TV shows.
Marvel confirms which Spider-Man character will bond with a symbiote for the next chapter in Peter Parker's story. Marvel's symbiote lore has grown beyond the scope of power-boosting suits, with a whole world of extraterrestrial creatures that envelop the Avengers themselves and new villainous symbiote entities entering Spider-Man's orbit on a regular basis.
Although it introduced famous characters such as Carnage and even Knull himself, Sony's Venom trilogy only scratches the surface of Venom's comic book mythos. It might take a while, but Marvel Studios will likely venture into this corner of the multiverse one way or another.
Meanwhile, a whole symbiote arc is heading towards its climax as Venom, Carnage, Spider-Man, and Torment fight their final battle.
Torment And Carnage Fuse Together To Create A New Marvel Symbiote
The Amazing Spider-Man #26; Written by Joe Kelly; Art by Francesco Manna, Ed McGuinness, Mark Farmer, and Marcio Menyz
The Amazing Spider-Man #25 ends with Agent Anti-Venom's return and Torment's arrival at Dylan Brock's house, where Dylan and Paul live what could be their last seconds on Earth. A preview for The Amazing Spider-Man #26 skips a little ahead and reveals the creation of a new symbiote through the fusion between Carnage and Torment. How exactly they merge is yet to be revealed, but Torment's awakening resembles Ultron's MCU creation in Avengers: Age of Ultron, where the villain is confused by a foreign consciousness and reads JARVIS' memories.
In The Amazing Spider-Man #26, Carnage takes a small peek at Torment's human backstory, but he's unable to discover his real identity. Meanwhile, Torment confirms that Carnage has only agitated the conflict, and that he's waiting for the perfect moment to wreak havoc. Still, neither Torment nor Carnage are in full control of their shared body. Instead, they puppeteer it while secluding their deepest thoughts and memories from each other.
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Visually, Torment and Carnage's fusion is simple but striking. It looks like a red variant of Torment, with white spiral symbols and Carnage's unmistakable jagged mouth, plus Torment's golden spiked tendrils. The biggest addition is perhaps the many white spikes all over their body, which makes them resemble a symbiote version of DC Comics' Doomsday. Add Shocker's vibration-based gauntlets to the mix, and Venom and Spider-Man definitely find themselves outmatched.
Carnage, Torment, And Venom May Not Survive Death Spiral
Marvel's Symbiote Lore May Be Heading Towards A Major Shake-up
Marvel's "Death Spiral" crossover has pushed the symbiotes to a breaking point. Given that the arc is set to conclude ahead of The Amazing Spider-Man's legacy issue #1000, at least one major player is likely to die. Additionally, the distribution of the surviving symbiotes might face a radical reshuffle. While Mary Jane has been a breakout hit as the All-New Venom, her tenure is widely expected to be temporary; and with Flash Thompson currently racing toward the conflict carrying the Anti-Venom symbiote, it's possible that somebody else will leave the battlefield wearing it.
Having been hunted throughout the spiral, Dylan Brock may finally gain a symbiote specifically tailored to his unique, half-codex physiology, allowing him to step out from his father’s shadow and become a hero in his own right. The most intriguing outcome, however, lies with Eddie Brock and his potential connection to the discarded remains of the Torment entity. If Eddie survives the separation from Carnage, his King in Black prowess could allow him to subjugate Torment.
How do you think "Death Spiral" will end?
The Amazing Spider-Man #26 is available from Marvel Comics April 8, 2026.
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First Appearance Amazing Fantasy
Alias Peter Parker, Ben Reilly, Otto Octavius, Yu Komori, Kaine Parker, Pavitr Prabhakar, William Braddock, Miles Morales, Kurt Wagner
Alliance Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Secret Defenders, Future Foundation, Heroes for Hire, Mighty Avengers, New Avengers, Web-Warriors
Race Human
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First Appearance The Amazing Spider-Man
Alias Eddie Brock
Alliance Vigilante
Race Klyntar (Symbiote species)
English (US) ·