Carnage Once Got Ripped In Half (AND LIVED)

Carnage may be one of the most difficult villains to take down in Marvel Comics, considering he was able to survive being ripped in half and thrown into space. Though the Carnage symbiote that Cletus Kasady wears is extremely versatile and powerful, Kasady himself is an ordinary man, besides being a deranged serial killer.

But when Kasady wears the symbiote, he becomes far more lethal, not only being able to mimic Spider-Man’s powers, but also capable of creating sharp weapons on command. Not to mention his having strength that far exceeds his predecessor Venom. Kasady does share common weaknesses with all symbiotes, however: fire and sonics. But due to the symbiote bonding with Kasady’s blood, Carnage can never fully be destroyed. All these powers mixed with Kasady’s deranged mind and disregard for human life is enough to give even the most experienced hero a difficult time. However, despite being difficult to defeat, Kasady would soon find out that he isn’t totally indestructible when he came across The Sentry.

During 2004’s New Avengers #2, Electro orchestrated a mass breakout at the supervillains prison the Raft. Nearly every single inmate had escaped, including Carnage. However, a handful of heroes were already at the scene, including Daredevil, and his law partner Foggy Nelson. The lawyer duo had been sent to the Raft in an effort to convince Sentry, one of Marvel’s greatest heroes, to come out of his self-imposed exile in the super prison. Sentry had believed himself responsible for his wife’s own death, and wanted to prevent himself from committing any more murders. However, during the breakout, Sentry refused to leave his cell and help incapacitate the escaped villains. But when Carnage entered the fray he began to overwhelm the heroes on hand, Daredevil included. After an impassioned plea from Foggy, Sentry sprung into action, grabbing Carnage, flying him into outer space, and ripping him in half.

While this might have seemed like the end for Carnage, he survived. The symbiote, upon realizing what happened to its host, placed Cletus in a coma-like state. It then gave all of its nutrients to Kasady – nearly starving itself – to keep his host alive as long as possible. Eventually, businessman Michael Hall (who had placed satellites in space) found Cletus and the Carnage symbiote, and brought them back to earth.

The symbiote, in a weakened state, was used by Hall in his line of prosthetics and robot guards in an effort to make the technology more reliable. Hall, however, decided to spare Kasady and keep him prisoner in a seemingly secure lab, equipping him with his own set of prosthetic legs. Though the two were separated for a time, it wouldn’t be long before Kasady and Carnage were reunited. After a convoluted plot involving robot guards and a Ravencroft psychiatrist with a Carnage-infused prosthetic arm, the symbiote eventually made its way back to Kasady. Though Michael Hall may have had good intentions, he incorporated an organism he didn’t fully understand into his technology, and as a result, one of the deadliest villains in Marvel Comics was reborn.

Though heroes and villains in comics seemingly never die, it’s surprising that Carnage was able to survive something as lethal as being ripped in half. The Carnage symbiote effectively acted as life support for Kasady, and without the suit, there’s no doubt that Kasady would have died immediately by the Sentry’s hand, in outer space or otherwise. It’s interesting that, despite heroes often having a no-kill policy, that no one checked outer space to ensure that Kasady was indeed dead or incapacitated. Furthermore, for a symbiote that often doesn’t show concern of its hosts’ well being, and would use any host as a means to murder and harm others, it chose to keep Kasady alive at its own expense. Had Michael Hall not found Kasady when he did, it’s entirely possible that Carnage would have died out in space, running out of nutrients to support its host. However, Kasady and Carnage made their way to earth, and proved that Carnage can survive anything, even being ripped in half.