I've heard about this kind of immersive therapy before... but to see it in action like this? I really think this is just the kind of thing I need. But I gotta ask... why pick Carnage? He's such a loser. And I'm not really impressed with all this weird added cult crap, either. 

—Deadpool

Appearing in 1st story

Featured Characters:

• Deadpool (Wade Wilson) (Main story and recap)

Supporting Characters:

• Spider-Man (Peter Parker)

Antagonists:

• Vulture (Adrian Toomes)
• Human Fly (Richard Deacon)
• Tarantula (Anton Miguel Rodriquez)
• Stegron (Vincent Stegron)
• Tombstone (Lonnie Lincoln)
• Mister Negative ("Martin Li")
• Hydro-Man (Morris Bench)
• Vermin (Edward Whelan)
• White Rabbit (Lorina Dodson)
• Chameleon (Dmitri Smerdyakov)
• Scorpion (Mac Gargan)
• Rhino (Aleksei Sytsevich)
• Hammerhead (Joseph)
• Swarm (Fritz von Meyer)
• Electro (Francine Frye)
• Speed Demon (James Sanders)
• Shocker (Herman Schultz)
• Cult of Knull
  • Carnage's Hive
    • Carnage doppelgängers (Ravencroft patients) (Controlled by Carnage)
    • Carnage (Cletus Kasady)
    • Man-Wolf (John Jameson) (Controlled by Carnage)
  • Doppelganger

Other Characters:

• J. Jonah Jameson
• Tarzan (John Clayton Jr.) (Mentioned)
• Jane Clayton (Mentioned)
• Wolverine (Logan) (Named only)
• Elizabeth Howlett (Named only)
• Dr. Phil McGraw (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
• Ravencroft security guard
• Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange) (Mentioned)
• God (Knull) (Mentioned)
• Misty Knight (Mentioned)
• Stilt-Man (Wilbur Day) (Mentioned)
• Wilbur's aunt (Mentioned)
• Iron Man (Tony Stark) (Mentioned)
• Hailey Wilson (Mentioned)
• Death (Mentioned)

Races and Species:

• Humans (Main story and recap)
• Human-Insect Hybrids
• Human-Dinosaur Hybrids
• Human-Scorpion Hybrids
• Human-Bee Hybrids
• Symbiotes (Main story and recap)
• Man-Wolves
• Werewolves (Mentioned)
• Dogs (Mentioned)
• Unicorns (Mentioned)
• Rhinoceroses (Mentioned)

Locations:

• Earth (Main story and recap)
  • United States of America (Main story and recap)
    • New York
      • New York City
        • Manhattan
          • Midtown
            • Eighth Avenue
              • New Yorker Hotel
          • Greenwich Village (Mentioned)
            • John's of Bleecker St. (Mentioned)
      • Westchester County
        • Ravencroft Institute (Destruction)
    • Colorado (Only in recap)
      • Carrington Cottage (Only in recap)
  • Jonestown, Guyana (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
• Hell (Invoked)

Items:

• Spider-Man's Suit and Web-Shooters
• Deadpool's Suit and Katanas
• Vulture's Wings
• Scorpion's Suit
• Rhino Armor
• Shocker's Vibro-Shock Gauntlets
• Dark Carnage Symbiote
• Godstone (Behind the scenes)
• Riot Symbiote (Only in recap)
• Agony Symbiote (Only in recap)
• Lasher Symbiote (Only in recap)
• Phage Symbiote (Only in recap)

Media References:

• Stranger Things (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
• The Shawshank Redemption (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)

Synopsis for 1st story

Fleeing from a crowd of his enemies, Spider-Man furiously berates Deadpool for inviting them to a surprise birthday party when it's not even his birthday. Deadpool protests that since he doesn't know who Spider-Man is under his mask, he has no clue when his birthday is or who his loved ones are, and thus invited the next best thing. As Spider-Man grabs Deadpool and web-swings away, Rhino asks if he was the only one who brought a birthday present, Hammerhead irritably asking if he's an idiot. Spider-Man grumbles that Deadpool invited everyone except J. Jonah Jameson, only for Deadpool to interject that he'd invited him too -- Jonah sitting alone in a festive room wearing a party hat and launching into a tirade about Spider-Man being a menace for wasting his time. As they take shelter on the roof of a nearby apartment, Deadpool asks if they lost his enemies, Spider-Man telling him to be quiet and patient. In the street below, the supervillains get bored and decide to go for pizza, Rhino sadly discarding his present. As Deadpool suggests they go for pizza too, Spider-Man furiously berates him and says that their partnership is through until Deadpool gets serious psychiatric help, giving him a Ravencroft Institute card for John Jameson. As Spider-Man web-swings away, Deadpool laughs and leaps off the apartment roof, saying that Spider-Man will get over it. Opening the Rhino's discarded present to find a rhinoceros-themed hoodie, Deadpool decides to keep it for himself.

A few weeks later - Spider-Man not having gotten over it - Deadpool shows up at Ravencroft Institute wearing the rhino hoodie. Lamentingly wondering if Spider-Man's happy wherever he is, Deadpool throws open the main door and greets the receptionist, incredulously wondering why the man doesn't respond before jumping to the assumption that he's sleeping off a hangover - not noticing the guard's throat has been torn out.

In the prison section of the asylum, several Carnage doppelgängers devour a guard as Dark Carnage addresses his cult, berating the symbiote-infected Man-Wolf for having let Misty Knight escape. Man-Wolf apologizes and says it won't happen again, Dark Carnage threatening to have him "fixed" if it does. He's interrupted by the sound of applause and turns to see Deadpool wearing 3D glasses and sitting at a nearby desk - having mistaken the proceedings for an immersive therapy session. As Deadpool slowly comes to the realization that it's not a therapy session, Dark Carnage orders his minions to kill him. Pursued by a horde of cultists and Carnage doppelgängers, Deadpool flees through the asylum and barricades himself in a breakroom. Stuffing cutlery into a pair of microwaves, he uses them as makeshift bombs to incinerate the Carnage doppelgängers before escaping.

Outside the Ravencroft Institute, which has been set ablaze, Dark Carnage snarls that Man-Wolf just blew his last chance. As Dark Carnage lifts him by the throat and pins him against a tree, Man-Wolf protests that he'll get Misty Knight and had no way of knowing Deadpool would show up looking for his human self dressed as a unicorn. Forming an arm-blade and preparing to impale Man-Wolf through the head, Dark Carnage snaps that Deadpool had been dressed as a rhino, not a unicorn... before dropping Man-Wolf and calling Jameson a genius. As Man-Wolf incredulously wonders what he's talking about, Dark Carnage tells him that Wade Wilson is the only person alive to have bonded to four symbiotes -- having bonded to the Agony, Lasher, Phage, and Riot symbiotes a few years ago to fight him. Gleefully remarking that Deadpool's spine is a codex goldmine, Carnage says that he's a metaphorical unicorn. Siccing his cult on Deadpool, Dark Carnage admits he has a more personal reason for wanting Wade Wilson dead -- he really hates him.

Solicit Synopsis

Notes

See Also

• 14 image(s) from Absolute Carnage vs. Deadpool Vol 1 1
• 2 reprint(s) of Absolute Carnage vs. Deadpool Vol 1 1

Links and References

References