Warning! Spoilers ahead for Avengers Forever #1
In Marvel Comics' new Avengers Forever series, a dark combination of Venom and the Red Skull have combined to rule over one of the multiverse's darkest worlds. Known as the Black Skull, this powerful alternate reality villain is a member of the new Multiveral Masters of Evil who have made it their mission to eradicate Avengers and take over various Earths throughout the multiverse. In Black Skull's case, that means taking over one world in particular and turning it into a dark wasteland where he reigns supreme.
In Avengers Forever #1 - from Jason Aaron, Aaron Kuder, Cam Smith, Jason Keith, and Triona Farrell - Tony Stark is the Ant-Man of Earth-818, a literal wasteland of a world. Operating as an archaeologist seeking the relics of the prehistoric Avengers who were destroyed long ago, Tony Stark is one of the few still left resisting the power of the Black Skull. Thanks to the Multiversal Masters of Evil, who murdered the Earth's Mightiest Heroes of this world, Black Skull has apparently been ruling unopposed for years.
As the issue goes on, Tony Stark's Ant-Man reveals the true darkness of Earth-818, showing it may be even worse than the wasteland world of Old Man Logan's Earth-807128. Not only does the Black Skull have an army of armored War Machines patrolling the skies as his brutal enforcers, he's also extended the reach of his symbiote so that it's even bonded with the insects beneath the ground, hunting Ant-Man as horrific Venomized ants obedient only to the Skull himself. Worse still, it's also revealed that Black Skull has essentially turned this world into a prison camp where humans are burned as fuel to power his trains. As such, it's no wonder that Stark says the word "Hope" has become a four-letter word.
While the arrival of Earth-616's Ghost-Rider and a Deathlok working for the mysterious Avenger Prime may allow the world to fight back against the tyrant, Black Skull's Earth may already be too far gone to be fully redeemed. It's certainly an incredibly disturbing and tragic Earth, and it's seemingly just a taste of what the new Masters of Evil are capable of as they've slowly begun to conquer all Earths in the multiverse. However, Ghost Rider believes that there must still be heroes out there, even if the prehistoric Avengers were all killed on Earth-818.
Either way, the Black Skull has certainly proven himself to be one of the darkest members of the Multiversal Masters of Evil. His wickedness seems to know no bounds, and his power is massive even without his army of War Machines. Will this terrible combination of Venom and the Red Skull meet his match against the Ghost-Rider? Fans will just have to wait and see as Avengers Forever continues.