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As Carnage’s sinister agenda for the United States takes shape, the symbiote supervillain has teamed up with a future Marvel threat wreak havoc.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Extreme Carnage: Phage #1, on sale now from Marvel.
Whether working in service of the dark god Knull in the crossover event Absolute Carnage or as a poorly controlled experiment by the American military, Carnage has had a surprising number of benefactors over the years seeking to harness his pure, murderous capabilities.
In the immediate aftermath of the crossover event King in Black, Carnage gains a wealthy and well-connected new backer in the form of a nefarious corporation with a dark legacy in the 2099 timeline: Alchemax.
Created by Peter David and Rick Leonardi in 1992’s Spider-Man 2099 #1, Alchemax was a global conglomerate that reigned as the most powerful megacorporation in the Marvel Universe in the year 2099. Driven entirely by corporate greed and with entire cities on their payroll, including multiple corporately-owned law enforcement agencies, the heroes of the 2099 alternate future often found themselves tangling with the more unscrupulous efforts of the conglomerate’s activities. Miguel O’Hara, the Spider-Man of this timeline, eventually took control of Alchemax himself and began using its vast resources to rebuild the planet after Earth endured several catastrophes, unintentionally paving the way for Miguel to take leadership of the company. And as Extreme Carnage: Phage #1 — by Steve Orlando, Gerardo Sandoval, Victor Nava, Chris Sotomayor and VC’s Travis Lanham — ramps up, Alchemax continues its villainous legacy in the present.
The origins of Alchemax were revealed in 2013’s Superior Spider-Man #19 by Dan Slott and Ryan Stegman. Harry Osborn’s ex-wife Liz Allan combined her own corporation Allan Company with her son Normie Osborn’s stake in Oscorp and the remnants of Horizon Labs to form Alchemax. Norman Osborn himself revealed he quietly orchestrated the creation of Alchemax so he could leave his grandson with a powerful corporate legacy to eventually inherit. Given the supervillain behind its founding, Alchemax displayed sinister tendencies and business practices in its earliest days, with several morally questionable machinations around the Marvel Universe conducted by the company.
As Arthur Krane makes headway in his political campaign, it is revealed that one of the politician’s key benefactors is Alchemax. While Krane continues to hit the campaign trail, Alchemax detains Andi Benton, a superhero that ran against the symbiotes in Absolute Carnage and King in Black. With Carnage personally hunting Andi during the initial crossover event to gain the symbiote codex in her spine, the supervillain definitely has unfinished business with the young hero. And while Flash Thompson scrambles to rescue his former protege from the clutches of Alchemax, he finds he may have arrived too late to save Andi from the vengeance of Carnage within Alchemax’s halls.
Alchemax has indicated that they detained Andi primarily to study her symbiote connection to Scream for their own nefarious ends but, with the corporation’s tenuous links to Arthur Krane, it appears that Alchemax may have made yet another deal with the devil to benefit its own profit margins. That said, there appears to be tension between Alchemax and Carnage, especially regarding Andi’s fate, suggesting that this partnership may only extend so far. And as Krane inches closer to realizing his political ambitions, Alchemax may find they’ve gone into business with the wrong figures as Carnage reminds everyone how murderously chaotic he truly is as he launches a new, bloody rampage.
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