Synopsis
Prelude[]
Narrowly escaping the apotheosized Carnage symbiote, serial killer Kenneth Neely seeks out the one person he can think of capable of stopping its omnicidal rampage: Cletus Kasady. Insulted by Neely claiming they're similar, Cletus is about to kill him before Neely says that the world only thinks of the symbiote as Carnage and no longer fears him; deciding to take the Extrembiote for a test drive.[1] Arriving at Todd's diner in Brooklyn, Cletus devours the patrons and staff, leading to a standoff with the NYPD. Spider-Man arrives on the scene while searching for Scott Rawson--a missing livestreamer who'd been killed by Cletus--and is horrified to recognize Cletus' handiwork,[2] suffering PTSD from having been connected to Carnage's Hive.[3]
Brooklyn Dine and Dash[]
Miles infiltrates the diner and is shocked to see the patrons and staff seemingly alive and well, confronting Neely as to what's going on. Outside, NYPD Sergeant Chloe Ahmed calls in for backup and is shocked when the Cape Killers, a black ops team of captured supervillains led by Agent Julia Gao, arrives. Agent Gao dispatches the Scorpion, who has a grudge against Carnage for having broken his spine, and a squad of soldiers into the diner. Inside, Cletus attempts to devour Miles, but he breaks free and manages to escape with Dominic, one of the diner's staff. Manifesting copies of himself to slaughter Agent Gao's soldiers, Cletus fights the Scorpion while mocking him. As Miles and Dominic reach the roof of the diner, the latter reveals himself to be Cletus in disguise. Before Cletus can eat Miles, the Scorpion intervenes and buys time for Miles to punch Cletus with a bioelectric Venom Strike, overloading the Extrembiote's Arc Reactor and causing it to explode.[3] The diner collapses, burying Miles and the Scorpion under the rubble, and Cletus and Kenneth retreat to the former's former lair in the subways under Grand Street--leaving a copy transformed into Rawson as a distraction. Managing to defeat the Cletus copy and escape from the rubble with the Scorpion's help, Miles is press-ganged into joining the Cape Killers by Agent Gao.[4]
Stark Unlimited Showdown[]
Determining that he needs to replace the Extrembiote's Arc Reactor before the damaged power-core immolates him, Cletus attacks Stark Unlimited's Greenwich Village headquarters. Angered to learn he couldn't get a replacement Arc Reactor, Cletus opted to instead merge the Extrembiote into a Stark Sentinel MK II and hack into Stark's communications network. Given medical treatment, Miles joins the Scorpion, Taskmaster, Electro, and Hightail in trying to stop him. Cletus "rewards" Kenneth by bonding him to an offshoot of his symbiote spliced with Iron Man armor, but uses a copy of his consciousness to control it and sends him to fight the Cape Killers. Cletus is successful in taking over the Stark Sentinel, laughing off Miles' attempt to Venom Strike him again, and broadcasts a signal to turn everyone with a Stark-brand device into a rampaging berserker.[5]
Stanley Osborn is among the affected, nearly killing Liz Allan before being stopped by his older half-brother Normie--the host of the Rascal symbiote. Revealing Rascal to be partially comprised of the Carnage symbiote, Cletus challenges Normie to try to stop him. Joining the fray as the Red Goblin, Normie strips Kenneth of his Extrembiote offshoot and begins using this newfound ability to free civilians under Cletus' control--though it takes a toll on his and Rascal's mental state. Feilong, Stark Unlimited's CEO and one of Agent Gao's benefactors, dispatches a pair of Stark Sentinel MK IIs to kill the infected civilians before redirecting them to fight Cletus directly, outfitting them with a nanite solution that will sever Cletus' connection to the Stark network.[6] Deciding to recruit more backup, Cletus dispatches three symbiote-infused suits of Iron Man armor to a trio of fanboys who'd been celebrating his triumphant return.
Dragon-Slayer[]
Not trusting Feilong to be able to stop Cletus, Agent Gao sends the Cape Killers to try to use Normie and Rascal to absorb the Extrembiote, but this backfires when Cletus notices them and mind-bombs Normie. Felong's mechs are destroyed but successfully upload the nanovirus, preventing Cletus from broadcasting the signal to any more people. Enraged, Cletus transforms the Extrembiote into a colossal cyborg symbiote-dragon.[7] The Cape Killers narrowly escape and ineffectually try to fight back against Cletus, only being saved by the timely arrival of Iron Man in a new knight-themed suit of armor. Depleting his armor's energy reserves in an attempt to slay the symbiote-dragon, Iron Man is caught off-guard when Cletus rapidly recovers and mortally wounds Miles. Iron Man uses some nanites to heal Miles and encase him in a suit of Iron Spider Armor.[8]
Summoning his horde of brainwashed civilians and the three Carnageized Iron Men, Cletus overwhelms the Cape Killers and Iron Man until the Red Goblin rejoins the fray. Devouring Kenneth and reabsorbing the scattered pieces of the Extrembiote, Cletus--goaded by Kenneth's codex within the Symbiote Hive-Mind--decides to leave Earth to reunite with the Carnage symbiote, become a god, and come back to finish them all off. However, Miles manages to distract Cletus long enough for Iron Man to dive into the Extrembiote and activate an EMP that seemingly destroys it.[9]
Aftermath[]
With Cletus defeated, the civilians are freed from his control. The Cape Killers celebrate a victory and Miles returns to his family, though Iron Man takes back the Iron Spider armor and cautions that this may not be the last they've seen of Cletus. Amidst the wreckage, a surviving piece of the Extrembiote begins to form into a Cletus avatar.[9]
Videos[]
