In Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Marvel villain Carnage demonstrates most of his usual powers such as the regenerative healing factor and constituent-matter generation. Thanks to these abilities and the malevolence of his host, Cletus Kasady, the villain does cause plenty of carnage before being stopped by Venom.
While Carnage's powers in the sequel are impressive, he has even better ones on the pages of Marvel comics. These abilities have often given him the upper hand when facing off against Venom, Spider-Man, and law enforcement officers. Nevertheless, the two have always found ways to trounce the symbiote.
Thought Transfer
Carnage has the ability to plant his thoughts and views into a person's head. This enables him to control them and turn them into useful lies.
More than helping him commit crimes, the ability helps Carnage in thwarting any attempts by humans to puppeteer him. The move, which is a great alternative to him committing outright violence, proves that Carnage isn't just one of the smartest characters in Venom: Let There Be Carnage but one of the smartest characters in the comics too. For example, in Carnage: Mind Bomb, he screws his tendrils into the psychologist Matthew Kurtz's head, implanting impure thoughts inside. Instead of counseling Carnage, Kurtz goes on to attack guards.
Spider-Sense Blocking
Carnage is undetectable to one of Spider-Man's most unique powers, his Spider-Sense. As a result, he has caught the hero off-guard on several occasions, injuring him in the process.
Normally, the Spider-Sense is the biggest advantage that Peter has over his adversaries. By using it, he can always sneak in undetected or anticipate whatever attack is coming then come up with appropriate defensive strategies. As shown in The Amazing Spider-Man #361, Carnage's ability to block this power highly inconveniences the web-slinger. When Peter goes to the St. Estes Home For Boys to investigate his friend's death, he doesn't realize Carnage is there. Consequently, he gets brutalized by being thrown through walls, leaving him needing some time out.
Oxygen Creation
In places where there is no oxygen, the Carnage symbiote is able to breathe by growing small sacks in his mouth. These sacks convert carbon dioxide or any other form of air into oxygen.
The best villains are often those that don' die easily and this power place Carnage in that category. Manufacturing oxygen is quite advantageous to the symbiote since he can survive anywhere, including outer space, thus ensuring his reign of mayhem continues. Even when Sentry takes him to space in New Avengers #1 and abandons him, Carnage remains alive for months.
Extreme Strength
One of the saddest things about Venom is that his own spawn always tries to kill him. However, in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Venom overpowers Carnage in the church scene, proving he is much stronger. In the comics, Carnage's strength is greater than that of Spider-Man and Venom combined. In The Amazing Spider-Man #362, the two ambush Carnage as he is fixing a snack at a crime scene but he overpowers them both.
Traditionally, Spider-Man has never been known to be one of the stronger superheroes. His skills mostly lie in his art of maneuvering hence it's understandable that Carnage would make light work of him. As for Venom, there's hardly an excuse since Carnage was developed from his DNA. Logically, he should be stronger but there's the sense in making Carnage more powerful so that he can be a more intimidating villain.
Sound And Fire Immunity
In Venom: Let There Be Carnage, both Venom and Carnage were get weakened by sound a number of times. The two also tend to avoid fire at all costs but in the comics, Carnage becomes immune to these elements when he chooses gang leader Norman Osborne as a host in Amazing Spider-Man #796.
Osborne is one of the Marvel villains who have dodged death the most and this has given him the confidence to experiment. It's unclear why Carnage becomes immune to fire and sound when merged with Osborne but the villain's general endurance could be a factor. Apart from the immunity, this version of Carnage is also okay with co-existing with different forces. Osborne takes the Goblin formula too while still merged with Carnage and this doesn't affect the symbiote in any way.
Cell Shrinking
In what could be his most impressive feat, Carnage once shrinks to a molecular level in Amazing Spider-Man #798. He does this so that he can escape from the Ravencroft Institute through communication cables.
Once again, Carnage proves he is better than Venom in almost every way. The latter can shrink too but only to a size that resembles a small pool of spilled water. By journeying through cables, Carnage also proves that he is immune to electric currents. The act also proves that his cells can multiply much faster since he is able to grow back to his normal size once outside.
Carnage-Sense
On the pages, Carnage can see everything that's around him. This is because every pore of his body has a sense of sight, making his large eyes practically useless. This ability is also known as the Carnage-Sense.
This ability, coupled with the symbiote's perfect reflexes, makes him a headache in combat. As a result, his foes are normally forced to improvise. In Amazing Spider-Man #799. Spider-Man sprays Carnage's back with paint so that he won't see what's behind him. It only works briefly since the symbiote's skin self-cleanses in a short while thus eliminating the paint.
Costume Regeneration
The symbiote can transform itself to look like normal clothing on Kasady or any of his temporary hosts. It can also act as camouflage in order to avoid being spotted.
While Carnage's large body size is a blessing in combat, there come moments when stealth is needed, and the size ends up being a disadvantage. Luckily, this power eliminates that problem. The Carnage costume also keeps Kasady safe whenever he is in human form since any bullet attacks bounce off. This is best demonstrated in Carnage #1-5.
Weapon Formation
Another amazing Carnage power on the pages of Marvel comics is his ability to create weapons out of his body and launch them at enemies. The types of weapons range from knives to spears.
While the ability is impressive, it requires Carnage to act quicker than he normally does since the weapons disintegrate within ten seconds of leaving his body. Why there is a timeframe is a mystery but it's possible that the writers of Exiles #12 just wanted to add another unique thing to the character.
Technology Control
Carnage can direct symbiote pieces of himself into any type of technology and use them to control whatever device they are on. He only uses power once in Carnage #2 while fighting the Iron Rangers.
It would be accurate to conclude that Carnage is overpowered but that's what makes him such a formidable villain. Regrettably, he doesn't get to use most of these powers in the movie. The running time is also a limiting factor but hopefully, he and Kasady will show up again in the near future.