Cletus Kasady

*"You know how I spent my endless days? I spent them thinking about how you only told one side of the story. You didn't write about the part where Cletus was abused by Mommy, Daddy and Granny! You didn't tell the world how he was a scared little boy that no one cared about and no one came to save! You never asked yourself why! That's bad journalism! I'm not a crazy man, but I am a vengeful one."*
―Cletus Kasady to Eddie Brock[src]
**Cletus Kasady** was a convicted and mentally disturbed serial killer who was sent to San Quentin State Prison and eventually placed on death row after murdering dozens of innocent people. Cletus eventually asked to be interviewed by Eddie Brock, who was secretly the vigilante known as Venom, during the interview Cletus claimed that once he escaped from prison he would unleash "carnage".

During a visit by Eddie, Cletus attacked the reporter by biting his hand, which leaked a tiny bit of the Venom symbiote along with his blood, this leak eventually became **Carnage**, a murderous Symbiote that bonded with him. The two went on a rampage around San Francisco with assistance from Shriek. However, Kasady and Carnage were devoured by Venom after a duel at a church, ending Kasady's murdering spree.

## Biography

### Early Life

Cletus Kasady was born in the Brooklyn borough of New York City to Louise Kasady and Roscoe Kasady. On the day of his birth, his heart stopped but he was revived by the doctors.

During his childhood, Cletus was abused physically and psychologically by his mother and grandmother, which resulted in Cletus showing signs of psychopathy and becoming antisocial.

Cletus killed his grandmother by pushing her down a flight of stairs, and then his mother by dropping an electric hairdryer in her bathtub. Though he killed them for their mistreatment of him, Cletus killed his mother's dog afterwards with a drill for seemingly no reason at all.
Cletus was also abused by his father and tried to fight back against his father's abuse, but he failed and was sent to the St. Estes Home for Unwanted Children, due to his sociopathic nature.

While living at St. Estes, Cletus murdered a girl who rejected his romantic advances, likely for his psychopathic and antisocial tendencies, by pushing her in front of a moving bus. Additionally, many of the orphans beat him mercilessly. However, one of the orphans, Frances Barrison, took pity on him and scared the kids off with her supersonic screech, bursting their eardrums. The two then formed a romantic bond.

### Killing Spree

*"People love... serial killers. All my secrets laid bare, Eddie. So much carnage."*
―Cletus Kasady to Eddie Brock[src]
When Cletus reached adulthood, he continued to torture and murder countless people, known for sometimes cannibalizing his victims. It's also known that Cletus dug up his own mother's grave, speculating that he has an Oedipus Complex. Cletus' killing spree came to an end, however, once he was apprehended and sent to San Quentin State Prison. After his incarceration, he was placed on death row for his crimes.

### Interview with Eddie Brock

*"Hi, Eddie."
"Hey."
"Do you mind if we forego the whole creepy serial killer thing?"
"Sure, it's good with me."
"I mean, I can turn it on if you want. Talk about the Dadaist patterns of arterial spray..."
"I bet you can."
"Tough to see you in this light, Eddie. C'mon over."
"Alright. I'm here."
"When I get out of here, and I will... there's gonna be carnage."*
―Cletus Kasady and Eddie Brock[src]

Sometime after the demise of Carlton Drake / Riot, the journalist Eddie Brock, having saved the world from the Life Foundation and recovered his job, went on a motorcycle trip to San Quentin State Prison to interview Kasady and ask him if he could cooperate to help the FBI to identify more potential bodies of his victims. After being ominously warned by one of the prison guards, Eddie goes to Cletus' cell, where he had already written with his own blood "Welcome Eddie".

During the interview, Cletus told Eddie to forgo "the whole creepy serial killer thing" as he could turn the serial-killer act on and off whenever he wanted. Later on, Cletus asked a cautious Eddie to get closer to him despite the guards' warnings and told him that he wouldn't tell him the locations of his other victims and that he planned to break out of prison, and once he does it, he will unleash "carnage" upon society.

### Second interview

*"Welcome back, Eddie Brock. I've been thinking about you."
"What do you want, Cletus? I mean, why am I here?"
"Do a man who's buried alive a kindness, won't you? Get a message out to all my... fans. And in return, I'll give you my life..."
"What?"
"...story."*
―Cletus Kasady and Eddie Brock[src]

About a year and a half after his first interview with Brock, Eddie was called again by Kasady, who saw Eddie as a kindred spirit. Eddie agreed to do the interview, to uncover where his victims were hidden. Cletus agreed to reveal his troubled past, if he printed a haiku for all his "fans" out there in the world, in which Brock agreed to do so. Eventually, Eddie managed to uncover where the victims were hidden, thanks to his symbiote Venom, and wrote an exposé on the serial killer portraying him as a remorseless sociopath, which revived Eddie's career but made the authorities officially give Cletus the death penalty, enraging the serial killer. The next day Cletus wrote an letter to Eddie, inviting him for one last interview before his death penalty, while also describing his childhood.

### Birth of Carnage

#### Spawning from Venom

*"I've tasted blood before, my friend, and that is not it!"*
―Cletus Kasady[src]
     During the last interview with Brock, Kasady started mocking the reporter by wishing him a heartbreak for uncovering his secrets. Venom wasn't satisfied with his actions and attacked the prisoner, which resulted in Cletus bitting Eddie's hand. Right after the bite, Carnage was born and bonded with its host.

#### Escaping from Prison

*"Something WICKED this way comes!"*
―Cletus Kasady[src]
Come execution by lethal injection, Cletus' sample awoke as a sentient new symbiote whom he named Carnage. The two escaped and killed/ate numerous people on the way out. Carnage agreed to help Cletus free Shriek, in exchange for killing its parent, Venom.

### Bloody Rampage

#### Infiltrating Ravencroft

*"Hi, baby. I don’t want you to freak out, okay? I'd like you to meet Carnage."*
―Cletus Kasady to Shriek[src]
After killing many people, including Dr. Pezzo, the two freed Shriek from her prison and killed the authorities who tried to stop their escape. Shriek used her power during the escape, Carnage threatened her not to do so again, since symbiotes were vulnerable to high sounds to which Cletus warned her about for her safety.

#### Kidnapping the Guests

*"A wedding?"
"Three guests"
"One for each of us."*
―Carnage and Cletus Kasady[src]

After Carnage helped Cletus and Shriek burn down the St. Estes Home for Unwanted Children, the symbiote then learned that his host wanted to marry Shriek at a cathedral and the three decided to get guests as gifts for each of them. Carnage went to kidnap Patrick Mulligan, a cop who shot Shriek's left eye years ago and was the guest that she chose for their wedding, while Shriek kidnapped Anne Weying to lure Venom and Eddie to them. They also kidnapped a priest to properly perform the ceremony. The two then presented their gifts to each other at the cathedral and prepared to get married. Soon their wedding was crashed by Venom and Eddie who came to rescue Anne.

#### Duel at Grace Cathedral

*"I'm a killer, with or without the monster, Eddie. You know what I really wanted?"
"No. What was it, Cletus?"
"I told you, but you weren't listening."
"Well, I'm listening now."
"I wanted your friendship."
"I'm sorry, Cletus."*
―Cletus Kasady and Eddie Brock[src]
During the fight Carnage knocked Shriek around, much to Cletus protests and killed the church priest to get more power. Eventually, Carnage grew tired of Shriek's presence and tried to strangle her to death, which caused Cletus to panic and try to prevent Carnage from doing so. Carnage tried to force Venom and Eddie to watch Anne die but she was successfully rescued by the heroes. As the fight with Venom reached the bell tower, a still-alive Shriek fell to her death below as her scream dislodged the bell and symbiotes, causing Eddie and Cletus to fall. While Venom saves Eddie, Cletus hits the ground and is seriously injured.

Before Carnage could merge with Cletus again, Venom ate the offspring. A dying Cletus told Eddie that what he really desired was his friendship; Eddie apologizes to Cletus but an annoyed Venom comes out and declares "Fuck this guy!" biting his head off, ending Cletus' reign of terror.

### Legacy

Despite his death, Cletus and his symbiote caused the authorities to know of Eddie Brock's relation with Venom and hunt him down, which resulted in Eddie and Venom becoming fugitives and running away to a remote island.

## Personality

*"Consequences. Every decision you ever make. Who do we leave behind, and how do we leave them? A connubial bed, empty, waiting in the darkness for the rescuer who never comes. Because of you. You and I are the same."
"No. No, we're not."
"Twisted insides, mean daddies. You feel like home to me, Eddie, like family. And really, truly, that is all I ever wanted in this world. Family."*
―Cletus Kasady and Eddie Brock[src]
Cletus is a mad, callous, and vengeful serial killer who doesn't care how many kills he's made. This mainly stems from the physical and psychological abuse he endured in his childhood, sending him to the point of sociopathy and becoming a murderous monster. When he was sent to St. Estes Home for Unwanted Children, his mental state got progressively worse as he was relentlessly bullied by the other orphans there. As stated, Cletus was driven by maniacal revenge, wanting to torture or murder those who tormented or wronged him. Cletus was believed to have cannibalistic-like tendencies such as tasting blood and sucking out the eyeballs of his victims.

However, despite his sociopathic nature, he is shown to have some morals and a genuine affection for Frances Barrison, whom he met in his childhood and was the only one who befriended him. The two would later bond romantically and attempt to marry during their killing spree. Cletus also showed horror when Carnage tried to kill her and attempted to get Carnage to stop. Apart for Frances, Cletus had a particular interest to Eddie Brock. In the end, Cletus revealed that he desired Eddie's friendship, implying that he was very lonely in prison.

## Powers and Abilities

### Former Powers

* **Symbiotic Enhancement/Symbiotic Red Suit**: Cletus had several superhuman attributes as the result of his merger with his symbiote, Carnage, which covered his body in blood-like red biomass. This increased his abilities, such as strength, durability, speed, agility and healing at superhuman levels along with the access to other powers it provided. Even in his normal state he can deploy the symbiote as a weapon. Moments prior to his death, Cletus lost the symbiote after Venom devoured it.
	+ **Superhuman Strength**: With the Carnage symbiote, Cletus was superhumanly strong. Kasady himself, however, has the strength of a regular human being.
	+ **Superhuman Mobility**: With the Carnage symbiote, Cletus could move faster than the average human who engages moderate exercise and even has superhuman levels of agility far greater than regular humans.
	+ **Superhuman Durability**: Cletus' bodily tissues are much more resistant to damage thanks to the presence of Carnage inside him, more so in his symbiotic suit where at that point, he is virtually immune to bullets and sharp weapons.
	+ **Regenerative Healing Factor**: Though Cletus could still be injured, Carnage symbiote would immediately heal both it and its host at accelerated rate.
	+ **Aerokinesis**: Using Carnage symbiote, Cletus could create powerful tornadoes and air currents by rapidly spinning.
	+ **Technopathy**: Using Carnage symbiote, Cletus could hijack technology.
	+ **Haemokinetic Shapeshifting**: Through his bonding with Carnage symbiote, Cletus gained the access to the full control over the symbiote's blood-like mass to the point of able to shape it into desired constructs and appendages.
		- **Haemokinetic Symbiotic Suit Manifestation**: Cletus could have Carnage symbiote formed around his human body into a malleable yet resilient sort of combat full-body suit that has eyes, claws, an extendable fanged mouth with a long prehensile tongue. Owing to peculiar circumstances of his symbiote's birth (being the very fragment of Venom that regenerated into an entire new symbiote upon exposure to Kasady's biomass and awakened by lethal injection in the middle of latter's execution), the transformation sequence involved Carnage rapidly manifested like rapidly growing tumor that warp Cletus' body from inside out as opposed of fluidly emerging and wrapping itself about him.
		- **Haemokinetic Construct Creation**: Cletus could utilize Carnage symbiote's ability to create bladed armaments such as swords, spikes, and darts can be used all at once.
		- **Haemokinetic Camouflage Capabilities**: Cletus could shape parts of Carnage that already emerged around his body into any type of clothing or garment that he wishes.
		- **Haemokinetic Tentacle Extension**: Cletus could also form tentacles out of Carnage symbiote's blood-like mass to bludgeon, impale, grab and smash or wrap and crush foes as well as quickly move from one place to the next and launch sharp projectiles as the form of long-range attack.
		- **Telepathy**: Cletus can communicate with Carnage telepathically.

### Abilities

* **Skilled Combatant**: Cletus is a skilled fighter as shown when he fought Eddie Brock one-on-one when neither of the them had their Symbiotes.

## Relationships

* Louise Kasady † - Mother and Victim
* Nana † - Grandmother and Victim
* Frances Barrison/Shriek † - Wife

Allies* Carnage † - Symbiote and Temporary Enemy
* Warden † - Victim
* Camille Pazzo † - Victim
* Siegfried
* Patrick Mulligan - Attempted Victim
* Anne Weying - Former Hostage
* Dan Lewis

## Behind the Scenes

* Jackie Earle Haley and Cameron Monaghan expressed interest in portraying Cletus Kasady.
* Alan Tudyk was in early talks for the role of Cletus Kasady.
* James Embree was a stunt double for Woody Harrelson in the role of Cletus Kasady.

## Trivia

* In the comics, **Cletus Cortland Kasady** is a psychopathic serial killer and Eddie Brock's cellmate. When the Venom symbiote came to break Eddie out of prison, a symbiote that was a spawn of Venom, bonded to Cletus and turned him into Carnage.

## References

The Sony's Spider-Man Universe Wiki has a collection of images and media related to **Cletus Kasady**.

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 *Venom: Let There Be Carnage*
2. ↑ *Venom*
3. ↑ *Venom 2* Is Set About A Year & A Half After First Movie

## External Links

* Cletus Kasady on Marvel Database
* Cletus Kasady on Wikipedia