Spoilers for Web of Venom: Empyre #1 ahead!
Marvel just turned one of its greatest cowards, Talos, into an epic hero. In Web of Venom: Empyre’s End, by Clay McLeod Chapman (Scream), Guiu Villanova (Weapon H), Frank D’Armata (Savage Avengers), and Clayton Cowles (Strange Academy), a joint Kree-Skrull ship finds Talos adrift in space, with a dire warning for the whole Marvel Universe!
First appearing in 1994’s Incredible Hulk #418, Talos is a Skrull born without his species innate shape-shifting abilities. To compensate, he became a fierce warrior whose name was feared through the universe - until he was captured by the Kree and refused to commit ritual suicide to save his honor. Since then he has lived in disgrace, drifting through the cosmos and trying from time to time to get back in the good graces of his fellow Skrulls. He most notably appeared in 2019’s Captain Marvel film, where he was portrayed by Ben Mendelsohn. And now, Talos might be getting his shot at redemption—but it comes with a horrifying price.
Talos was a part of the Kree/Skrull crew patrol their space as the two species recently settled a centuries-long feud and united as one during the events of Marvel’s Empyre event. The crew discovers another ship infested with symbiotes and one by one, the symbiotes kill or assimilate the crew until only Talos remains. He makes a valiant stand against the hordes of symbiotes and manages to escape. He has a vision of the dark symbiote god Knull, and he tells Talos he will find him wherever he goes; Knull makes good on this promise at issue’s end as the rescue ship is beset upon by Knull’s symbiote dragons.
Talos got his shot at redemption, and he stood bravely against the symbiotes, but to no avail. He realizes what he did would have redeemed himself in the eyes of the Skrulls, but it came at a horrible price. He is left defeated and resigns himself to fate, and drifts through space until he is found.
Despite his disgrace, Talos is still a formidable fighter; seeing him reduced to a sad and broken shell of himself was gut-wrenching. But what was even more heartbreaking is that what should have been a triumph for him turned into a tragedy. This gives readers a good picture of just how evil Knull is—he was able to overpower one of the greatest warriors in the universe and reduce him to a broken and defeated husk.