Last weekend, a trailer for the upcoming film, Venom: The Last Dance, was released, surprising fans with the possibility that Null would appear as the film’s main villain — a shock to the character’s original creators, Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman, as Null, the god of all symbiotes, has appeared quite frequently in Marvel film adaptations recently.
Check out the original trailer for the film, which hits theaters on October 25th, and see what we’re talking about.
When the news broke in the media, the two co-creators jokingly responded on Twitter, claiming neither knew anything. The uncertainty surrounding the matter led to a sudden flurry of coverage from major entertainment media outlets concerned about major comic book companies’ shaky history of paying creators fairly, especially when it comes to titles that make millions of dollars through movies, games, and merchandise.
When the news first broke, artist Ryan Stegman was quick to release a statement.
“Yes, I was a co-creator of Null. And no, I didn’t know he was going to appear in ‘The Last Dance’ until today. And yes, I’m excited to finally be able to build a running river moat around my house.”
Then of course there’s Donny Cates, who shared this funny tweet in the style of Venom lettering…
lol pic.twitter.com/VLKtdhmG9N
— Donny Cates (@Doncates) September 12, 2024
However, Cates later clarified:
“I was talking to Sony and I read the script for Venom: The Last Dance and it’s way bigger and way more ambitious than you’d think. And, um… KNULL. My God. That’s how you treat a king. Happy birthday.”
In fact, Venom (2018) has been slowly being adapted across Marvel brands for a while now…
Knull’s first appearance in Marvel Comics reshaped the entire symbiote universe after so many years. Revealed to be the god and creator of the symbiotes, Knull was apparently a dark being who existed in an era before celestial bodies produced life. He wants to shroud the universe in darkness, as almost all cool apocalyptic villains do. While Knull’s appearance in a Marvel film adaptation seems like a surprise, his presence has actually been hinted at in both Marvel’s long-term plans for the past few years.
Starting with the MCU, we’ll be introducing his unique weapon, the Necrosword, which we’ve already shown you.
Yes, the All-Black weapon used by Gore the God Butcher in Jason Aaron’s Thor was later adapted into the MCU in Thor: Love and Thunder. Many of the creatures Gore created with the weapon in that film, later revealed to be the original symbiotes, were black and liquid-like in nature, a sign of the sword’s true master and a hint at the sword’s secret properties.
The sword’s purpose and its history are intentionally left semi-ambiguous in the films to leave room for the entire story to be reframed or reimagined as Sony and the MCU see fit. The biggest takeaway is that the weapon will always inevitably lead to Knull.
However, this isn’t the only film adaptation of Venom’s 2018 sequel in recent years…
As reviewed last year, the video game Spider-Man 2 used a fair amount of material from the symbiote invasion of Earth storyline in King in Black, part of Cates and Stegman’s Venom series. It’s hard to prove that this is a full borrowing of ideas from the comics, given that “alien invasion” fits well into generic superhero movie plots in the comics, but it would be hard to disprove otherwise, given Marvel’s longstanding history of what counts as proprietary when working with them. The comics’ art design looks a little too similar, as you can see below. First, the flying Venom, but the symbiote invasion design and distinctive spiral head featured in the game are also almost identical to Stegman’s own work.
But how will this compensation work, and how much advance notice should creators be given? All of that is still up in the air, and I’m not a lawyer, just a reporter looking at the facts. However, it does seem like fans are being pretty defensive in ensuring Cates and Stegman are compensated in this case, given their tremendous contributions over the past few years of work.
Probably the biggest reason I’m writing this is that, according to a report from Bleeding Cool, Donny Cates was in a terrible car accident a little over a year ago, which left him with some pretty severe brain damage and some retrograde amnesia for a while. The gist of the report emphasized that Cates was in the center passenger seat when he was hit from behind, causing his laptop to penetrate almost part of his skull.
Cates has been slowly and quietly removed from Marvel titles ever since while rehabilitating his way back to health, and along the way there have been long-running rumors that he was in a number of big films, including one that I’ve heard that originally had him set to appear as part of the upcoming Absolute DC/All-In DC.
It’s worth noting that Donny Cates was one of Marvel’s most popular and fastest-rising stars right up until this incident. From what I’ve gathered behind the scenes, Cates is a bit of an oddball (very rock star, Gerard Way-ish, in my personal opinion), but he’s more than qualified for the job, and his incredible talent is due in part to the years he’s spent pitching and honing his craft to earn his well-deserved spot.
We’ve seen it time and time again, from Peter David to Brett Lewis, creators who needed crowdfunding just to pay medical bills. That’s why organizations like the Hero Initiative exist. It’s why artists need to crowdfund from their own audience to survive, despite creating billion-dollar IP based on toys borrowed from corporate coffers. Luckily, Cates seems to be okay and is making great strides toward recovery. He’s even confirmed to appear at New York Comic Con 2024. If you’re a fan, or just want to support a creator who’s on a full-on comeback tour, give him a shoutout.
The complex nature of contracting
As someone who not only reports on comics but also hires people to create my own comics and is part of the indie scene, I have to stress the somewhat complex nature of employment contracts, which have their pros and cons on all sides.
On the positive side, we’re in a tough economy right now, and an even tougher job market, so having guaranteed page rates and little hit and miss at the end of the day is certainly a benefit at this point. Work, you get paid, that’s it. That’s what a lot of artists are now tending to do as a contract of employment, not just for indie work, but for big companies, including the big two. It’s not a great thing in the sense that you have very little control over how you make your money, but it is a direct means to an end.
On the downside, such a strategy can hurt on the backend. Big companies make millions off other people’s work and ideas, and unlike employment contracts, they don’t have to pay creators for their work. Many creators are basically content to play with toys in the company’s toy box, and in return, they can keep their compensation low to keep profitability high. This is the business of weaving ideas into entertainment.
As someone who has covered multiple disciplines, this isn’t just a problem with comics, it’s a problem with the entire entertainment industry. This is the way business has thrived for quite some time. However, there are certain benefits to this.
Conversely, working for a company with that level of legacy status means increased prestige for the creators themselves, and this fandom encourages people to try other things. This is exactly how you get your own Todd McFarlane or Robert Kirkman. It’s where chance and luck meet business acumen, but often the hard way, with trial and error.
Finally, I want to acknowledge that it’s really hard for creative people right now, for a variety of reasons. These unprecedented times have not only left comics, but like most entertainment media, facing a lot of uncertainty, such as the rise of AI and a saturated market looking to expand. The competition for attention has never been fiercer, and social media has changed from a platform for growing an audience to one for distracting users with endless scrolling.
I’ve talked before about how the world is changing and how comics are changing. And I think there are a lot of people who want to keep comics alive but don’t know how to do it. Personally, I recommend starting by opening your phone and looking at your hourly usage. See what you’re spending your time on and if you’re not spending your time on things that you’re passionate about or like me, trying to change the world.
Because if you truly love something, whether it’s a person or a medium, it’s worth your precious time, and there’s only so much you can do that in life.
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