The latest chapter in the Symbiote Spider-Man saga has just brought two classic villains back into the spotlight to terrorize the wall-crawler.
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Symbiote Spider-Man: Crossroads #1,on sale now from Marvel Comics.
Spider-Man’s time in his black symbiote suit stands out as one of Marvel’s most important eras, and it’s just been revisited once more in the pages of Symbiote Spider-Man: Crossroads. Peter Parker’s sleek look isn’t the only thing making a return, however, as two classic villains have just returned: the supernatural Moondark and the evil Asgardian Karnilla, Queen of the Norns in Symbiote Spider-Man: Crossroads #1 by Peter David, Greg Land, Jay Leisten, Frank D’Armata and VC’s Joe Sabino.
The relatively obscure Moondark first appeared to menace Spider-Man and the Werewolf by Night in 1973’s Marvel Team-Up #12 by Gerry Conway, Len Wein and Ross Andru, and he hasn’t managed to become one of Spider-Man’s more prominent foes in the years since. Even after surviving an encounter with Ghost Rider, Moondark could never garner any proper respect.
When a mysterious woman offers Moondark a job, he is quick to accept, and soon enough finds himself pulling off a daring museum heist in pursuit of a powerful amulet. Better yet, his exploits have been telegraphed well ahead of schedule to the city’s foremost wall-crawler, ensuring that Moondark gets another shot at taking down Spider-Man. Unfortunately, Moondark hadn’t expected Black Cat to show up alongside the hero, so the villain doesn’t stand a chance. Of course, Moondark wasn’t working alone, and no sooner is Moondark taken out of the fight than Karnilla introduces herself into it in his place.
When she was first introduced in 1964’s Journey into Mystery #107 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Karnilla proved herself to be a complex figure when she both nearly caused — then heroically prevented — the murder of Balder by Loki. In the years since then, the Norn Queen’s allegiances have waned, though her powers have been consistently capable of putting up a fight. Where Moondark failed, Karnilla is plenty successful, especially when it comes to sending Spider-Man for a spin.
Karnilla’s specific intentions or why she is after the artifact she has come for may not be clear at the moment, but there is no doubt that as the bigger picture comes into focus so too will the stakes at hand.
It’s hard to imagine that the Norn Queen herself would reach out to a failed villain such as Moondark if she didn’t absolutely need the help, although it is equally hard to imagine what she could be after that would necessitate such an ask. With any luck, answers to all of these questions aren’t far away, and whatever Karnilla is up to will be as easy to thwart as her first choice in lackey.
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