Who Is Shriek In The Marvel Universe?

With "Venom: Let There Be Carnage," much of the gang is back — both those born on Earth, and otherwise. Tom Hardy is back as Eddie Brock, alongside his titular symbiote companion, who is once again eating people and calling Eddie a loser and just being generally delightful. Michelle Williams and Reid Scott reprise their roles as Eddie's ex-girlfriend, Anne Weying, and her fiancé, Dan Lewis, continuing the love triangle from the first film. Of course, Woody Harrelson, teased as serial killer Cletus Kasady in the post-credits scene of 2018's off-the-wall and out-of-left-field hit "Venom," finally takes center stage, transforming into the mass-murdering supervillain known as Carnage.

The trailers for the film, however, unveiled a character viewers of the original film have not seen before. Her name is Frances Barriston (and she's played by Naomie Harris from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies), but she's better known to Marvel Comics fans as Shriek, Carnage's lover and longtime partner-in-crime. 

Since the trailers don't show her interacting with any of the other main characters, the exact nature of her involvement is unclear; taking a look at her comic book history, however, could provide valuable insight. Particularly because she's a pretty obscure character even for comic readers, many of whom have likely never heard of her. 

With this in mind, here's the low-down on the latest character to join the Marvel universe, via her Marvel Comics past. But first, a word of warning: Talking about Shriek is inextricably linked to discussions of abusive relationships, mental illness, trauma, and child abuse.

The movie version of Shriek will likely be somewhat different from the comic book version for a number of reasons, but the biggest one involves how she got her superpowers. Shriek is supposedly a mutant, similar to the X-Men, or at least that's what her rendition of an origin story would seem to indicate (we never actually get to see it on the page, Shriek merely tells other characters about it). According to her, she was a drug dealer whose powers were awakened by the hero known as Cloak, whose body is a portal to an alternate plane of existence called the Darkforce Dimension. Being enveloped in Cloak's cloak often results in criminals experiencing terrifying visions of their greatest fears, and can result in them going insane. That's exactly what happened to Shriek — only in her case, the loss of her sanity coincided with her newfound abilities.

None of this is likely to be translated to the movie, of course. For one thing, Cloak and his crimefighting partner, Dagger, are currently the property of Marvel Studios, and were recently the stars of their own short-lived TV series on Freeform. For another, mutants as a concept are now once again in the hands of Marvel following their re-acquisition of the X-Men from 20^th Century Fox, so Shriek will probably need another backstory entirely — although honestly, most people assume she's a mutant in the absence of any other explanation. The film could go in virtually any direction.

At first glance, Shriek may seem like your run-of-the-mill psychopath, but there's actually a lot more to her than that. While she didn't do a whole lot in the wake of "Maximum Carnage," the character was fleshed out by writer J.M. DeMatteis in a four-issue Spider-Man story called "Shrieking," which played out over the course of "Amazing Spider-Man" #390-393. 

DeMatteis' tale digs deeper into Shriek's most interesting character trait: her desire for a family. "Maximum Carnage" had already introduced this idea, with Shriek and Carnage serving as twisted parental figures for fellow villains Doppelganger, Demogoblin, and Carrion, but "Shrieking" takes it much further, as Shriek essentially kidnaps Malcolm McBride (whose "Carrion virus" has been successfully suppressed) from Ravencroft. Shriek still considers Carrion her son, and moreover, she's convinced McBride's actual mother doesn't really love him.

This, as it turns out, is because Frances Barriston did not have loving parents. Her childhood was filled with a wide variety of abuse, and the trauma she endured at her family's hands left deep scars on her psyche. Her need to be a mother to Carrion is rooted in her desire to embody the kind of mother she never had — which is why, when she finally realizes that McBride's mother does actually love him, she lets him go, taking the Carrion virus into herself. It's a surprisingly moving, compelling story — especially considering that Shriek would essentially be absent from comics for the ensuing 15 years.

Of course, no one is dead forever in comic books, and despite the traumatic end to her story, there's actually a very clear path for Shriek's eventual return. In fact, you could argue that she's returned already. 

Considering the themes that surround her character, the entire point of her sacrifice in "Absolute Carnage" felt fitting, as she yearned for the resurrection of one of her "children" from "Maximum Carnage" — Demogoblin, a literal demon from the infernal realm of limbo with a religious obsession over punishing sinners. Having possessed Shriek's body, the demon began presenting as female, calling itself Demagoblin (note the slight change in spelling). Between Carnage referring to Demagoblin as being "merged with Shriek" and the two immediately engaging in a romantic relationship, it seems logical that Shriek is still in there somewhere. And Demo/Demagoblin has a history of ripping free of its host body, restoring the host's original form.

Whether or not we'll ever find out for sure if Shriek is still in there depends on what happens with Demagoblin. After "Absolute Carnage," she appeared as a last-page reveal in "Scream: Curse of Carnage" #6 (another series about a symbiote), but that turned out to be the last issue, as the book was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently canceled. None of the demon stuff is likely to make it into the film, but it's possible that "Let There Be Carnage" will get enough people interested in Shriek that somebody will remember she's still out there, possibly possessed by an uncharacteristically pious demon.

One reason to be hopeful about a potential surge of Shriek interest generated from "Let There Be Carnage" is related to another, far more popular comic book character: DC Comics' Harley Quinn. 

The comparisons between the two are unmistakable. Just like Shriek, Dr. Harleen Quinzel had a longstanding romantic relationship with a psychotic murderer she met in an insane asylum — albeit, while Harley was a doctor rather than an inmate, causing her to lose her sanity. Harley's relationship with the Joker is famously abusive — so much so that it became the central premise of both the "Harley Quinn" animated series and the "Birds of Prey" film — and calls to mind Shriek's relationship with Carnage. The difference, of course, is that Harley is a fan favorite who eventually got to break free from the Joker and have adventures on her own, while Shriek has languished in obscurity.

While she was already well-regarded, there has been a very good reason for Harley Quinn's spike in popularity in recent years. She has been played on screen by Margot Robbie, a twice-Oscar-nominated actress who seems to have thrown herself into the role with joyful abandon, frequently stealing scenes. This would seemingly make it very easy to greenlight new Harley Quinn movies, as long as Robbie continues portraying the character. For her part, Shriek also has landed a solid, Oscar-nominated — if less recognizable to your average moviegoer — actor to bring her to life.