Within the sprawling story of a comic-book cosmos, the alien god Knull has long been a force that washed over worlds without judgment, and in S.W.O.R.D. #4 he pauses on Krakoa to weigh which mutants are worth keeping and which are worth ending. A Screen Rant critic reads this hesitation as the first sign of a being beginning to learn from its failures, after early choices, like chasing Cyclops and leaving Doctor Strange alive, let the defenders regroup. Whether this newfound discernment is genuine growth or a passing reading of one issue remains open, and the reader is left to wonder whether a
King in Black Finally Corrects His Costliest Mistake: Ruthless Culling Over Reckless Recruitment
Knull has stopped recruiting everyone and started choosing.
Mark
Why does a single scene on Krakoa get so much weight here?
Mimi
Because it contrasts with everything before it. Knull used to recruit and kill almost at random. Here he says he's sorting the mutants at his leisure, deciding what to keep and what not to.
Mark
And the first kill is Sunfire.
Mimi
Yes, a mutant with heat and light powers, which the column says made him especially effective against symbiotes. Removing him first is a deliberate choice.
Luke
Worth saying that this is Screen Rant's interpretation. The issue shows Knull killing Sunfire. That he has learned from his mistakes is the columnist's inference.
Mark
Is there anything in the story that supports it from the other side?
Mimi
The X-Men moved Sunfire to the top of their resurrection queue, calling him their best weapon against Knull. That suggests the kill hit something that mattered.
Luke
It does, though it also shows Sunfire can be brought back. How lasting the gain is for Knull is not established.
Mark
What was the biggest earlier mistake?
Mimi
Imprisoning Doctor Strange instead of killing him. Strange escaped and now has the powers of a god.
Luke
And the column still calls that a blunder in hindsight. Whether the new approach holds up we'll only know when King in Black #5 arrives.
Le Pouls
- Knull pauses mid-invasion on Krakoa, sorting his mutant servants with deliberate care instead of sweeping them all into his ranks.
- His early campaign's mistakes, from chasing Cyclops to imprisoning Doctor Strange, have come back to haunt him as Strange escapes with godlike power.
- Sunfire, whose light and heat tore through the symbiote army, is cut down, and the X-Men rush him to the top of the resurrection queue.
- The Avengers and their allies are rallying, and King in Black #5 looms as a clash that will test whether Knull's new selectivity can survive.
- Every choice is a gamble, and the critic's hope that the dark god is learning hangs on whether his cold calculation can outlast the cracks in his plan.
Within the sprawling story of a comic-book cosmos, the alien god Knull has long been a force that washed over worlds without judgment, and in S.W.O.R.D. #4 he pauses on Krakoa to weigh which mutants are worth keeping and which are worth ending. A Screen Rant critic reads this hesitation as the first sign of a being beginning to learn from its failures, after early choices, like chasing Cyclops and leaving Doctor Strange alive, let the defenders regroup. Whether this newfound discernment is genuine growth or a passing reading of one issue remains open, and the reader is left to wonder whether a conqueror who learns can still be stopped.
In S.W.O.R.D. #4, Knull stands on Krakoa with a mutant army at his command, and for once he does not rush. Using Cable to invade the island, he says he is sorting the mutants at his leisure, keeping some and discarding the rest. Shaun Corley, writing for Screen Rant, sees this pause as a sign the dark god is finally learning.
Corley's column begins with the mistakes. When Knull first attacked, his symbiote army swept across Earth's defenses and destroyed its most powerful hero. But he had made no effort to understand his enemies, and his targets showed it. He wasted effort on Cyclops, a hero of little use beside the threat of blotting out the sun, while overlooking capable soldiers and greater dangers such as Black Panther and Jean Grey. He fixated on Daredevil, a poor servant who nonetheless held Knull's attention by fighting back.
The costliest error was Doctor Strange. Knull had him at his mercy and imprisoned him instead of killing him. Strange escaped and has now rejoined the fight with the powers of a god, helping the alliance push Knull back in King in Black #4.
Krakoa is different. Knull starts with Sunfire, whose heat and light made him unusually dangerous to the symbiote army. The X-Men later moved him to the top of the resurrection queue, recognizing him as their best weapon against the King in Black. Corley argues that even in retreat, Knull gained ground: by removing threats rather than recruiting every mutant, he spread his influence without a major danger at his back.
This is one critic's reading of a single issue, not a confirmed change in the character's strategy. King in Black #5 will bring the Avengers into the fight, and the question is whether Knull's selectivity survives once the cracks in his plan are exposed.
In S.W.O.R.D. #4, Knull stands on Krakoa with a mutant army at his disposal, and he does something he has not done before in his assault on Earth: he slows down. Having used Cable to invade the island, the King in Black says he is sorting through the mutants at his leisure, deciding which to keep and which to discard. A Screen Rant column by Shaun Corley reads that moment as a sign the dark god is finally learning.
The column starts from a record of early mistakes. When Knull first attacked, his symbiote army quickly overran Earth's first line of defense, and he destroyed the planet's most powerful hero outright. But Corley argues he had made no effort to learn about his enemies, and it showed in who he chose to target.
He spent time and effort taking over Cyclops, a hero who was of little use next to Knull's decision to blot out the sun. Meanwhile he overlooked more capable soldiers and bigger eventual threats, among them Black Panther and Jean Grey. He also fixated on Daredevil, who would have made a poor slave but who tied up Knull's attention by fighting him off.
The costliest error, in Corley's telling, involved Doctor Strange. Knull had Strange at his mercy and imprisoned him rather than killing him. Strange escaped and has now rejoined the fight with the powers of a god. Corley attributes the pattern to a being accustomed to washing over planets like a plague, who applied little judgement about whom to turn and whom to kill. That, he argues, produced the alliance now beating Knull back in King in Black #4.
Krakoa is different. Faced with servants who offer more threat than benefit, Knull starts with Sunfire, a mutant whose heat and light-based powers made him unusually effective against the symbiote army. The choice paid off in a way the story makes explicit. After S.W.O.R.D. member Manifold drove Knull out, the X-Men moved Sunfire to the top of their resurrection queue, acknowledging that he is their best weapon against the King in Black.
Corley's point is that even in retreat, Knull gained something. By snuffing out potential threats instead of recruiting every mutant in sight, he bought time to spread his influence without worrying about a major danger. The column also notes that selectivity is a sound call on an island containing mutants who can alter reality itself.
The issue is written by Al Ewing, with art by Valerio Schiti and colors by Marte Gracia. Corley treats it as evidence that Knull is learning from past defeats: choosing the servants who benefit him most and quickly removing major threats who might otherwise rejoin the fight. The Strange episode is the counterexample he finds most telling, and he says it is exciting that Knull will not allow it to happen again.
This is one critic's reading of a single issue, not a confirmed change in the character's strategy. What comes next is King in Black #5, which Corley expects to be a battle for the history books as the Avengers and their allies rally. The question is whether Knull's new selectivity holds once the cracks in his plan are put in front of him.
Citations marquantes
Knull says he is sorting through the mutants at his leisure, deciding what to keep and what not to.— Knull, in S.W.O.R.D. #4, as quoted by Screen Rant
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