WandaVision co-executive producer Mary Livanos pitched the idea to use the Darkhold in the series as it would increase the level of danger that Agatha Harkness posed to Scarlet Witch. [7] Tome of Eldritch Lore: The titular book is the typical example for the Marvel Universe but it's ramped up because it's the original copy. Reading it is likely to melt someone's face or possess them with eldritch power and make them thralls of Chthon. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions: Mysterio | Kraven the Hunter | Hammerhead | Hobgoblin | Electro | Sandman | Vulture | Scorpion | Deadpool | Juggernaut | Silver Sable | Goblin | Serena Patel | Carnage

It was a mistake. We never should have taken it. We should've left it buried!" ― Joseph Bauer [src] The book had a third ability. It amplified the user's magic, as shown with Harkness. The Salem witch used the book as an amplification totem. It enhanced her magic, which allowed her to break into the reality known as the Hex. Therefore, she was the only person unable to be controlled by Maximoff and was able to manipulate the course of events of the reality without being noticed. Harkness was able to hold her own against Maximoff due to her Darkhold-increased powers. However, this was not enough to overpower Scarlet Witch. [7] The book also amplified Scarlet Witch's magic to such a high-extent that she was able to easily destroy Kamar-Taj and defeat all of the sorcerers present there during the Siege of Kamar-Taj, besting the likes of the Sorcerer Supreme Wong and Doctor Strange. The book not only amplified someone's magic, but could also alter it, as seen with Sinister Strange's magic, giving it a purple color, which tended to be related to dark magic users such as Harkness. [26] [2] While not common, the Darkhold could also be used as a weapon, as Sinister Strange used it to deflect Doctor Strange's spells. [3] Spider-Man and Venom: Separation Anxiety: The Jury | Sentry | Ramshot | Screech | Bomblast | Firearm | Wysper | Life Foundation | Symbiotes ( Carnage | Riot | Phage | Lasher | Agony | Scream) The Darkholders took interest in Carnage, based on the prophecy in the Darkhold that says "When the Red Slayer spills blood on sacred stone, He Who Sleeps shall wake and what walked will walk once again." [13] Cult member Barry Gleason orchestrated Cletus Kasady's meeting with them, and the Darkholders attempted to sacrifice Carnage to awaken Chthon. This resulted in Carnage instead being empowered by Chthon, [13] stealing the cult's copy of the Darkhold, and attempting to use it to summon the Elder God. Carnage and Chthon were stopped by Victoria Montesi, Toxin, Man-Wolf, and Jubulile van Scotter; with Victoria taking the copy of the Darkhold to the Children of Midnight. [37]While there are copies of the Darkhold in existence, there is only one "true" Darkhold: the original Darkhold, made from the flesh of an Elder God. For eons, the true Darkhold was hidden until it was uncovered in Abysmia by Doctor Doom and Victorious. The reading of the true Darkhold woke Chthon and opened a pathway between the Other-Realm and Earth. [1] While not a conventional zombie apocalypse, Spider-Man's tie-in is about how a mysterious illness rendered everyone in New York City except Peter and Reed undead shells of their former selves.

Humans first found the Darkhold during the Pre-Cataclysmic Era, when the lands of Atlantis and Lemuria were still above the waves. When the warrior Kull slew the dark sorcerer Thulsa Doom, Doom's followers, the Darkholders, utilized a spell contained in the Darkhold to create the first vampire, Varnae. Varnae had been mortally wounded in battle with Kull. Varnae consumed one of the Darkholders who attempted to command him, and began creating other vampires. Some surviving Darkholders managed to make off with the Darkhold before Atlantis sank. Sources place the rise of Kull and the fall of Thulsa Doom circa 18,500 BC. [21] Depopulation Bomb: In Darkhold!Blade's world, reality was hit with the "V-Wave," a force that destroyed every race other than Humans and Vampires. Spider-Man: Far From Home: Mysterio's Crew ( Mysterio, William Ginter Riva, Victoria Snow, Gutes Guterman, Janice Lincoln, & Doug, Shanice) | Elementals ( Molten Man, Hydro-Man, Sandman, Cyclone& Elemental Fusion) | Skrulls ( Talos) | Obadiah Stane | J. Jonah Jameson WandaVision head writer Jac Schaeffer revealed that they did not take into consideration the previous appearance of the Darkhold in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. when they decided to include it in WandaVision, [31] and that they used the Darkhold only considering the story they wrote for the Disney+ series. [32] She later added that other projects "would tell more" about the Darkhold outside of what was seen in WandaVision. [28]

In a very disturbing one-shot issue from Marvel Comics, Darkhold: Spider-Man #1 reveals the horrifying truth behind the body of Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four. After reading from the Darkhold, Peter Parker's Spider-Man is shown a dark alternate reality where the entire world has begun to unravel. In an effort to hold his city and its people together, this reality's Spider-Man spends every day webbing up as many as he can to keep them from dying and falling to pieces. However, Peter himself is fine thanks to his accelerated healing along with Reed Richards whose powers of elasticity have kept him together as well. However, the absence of actual human life beyond Spider-Man has revealed Reed's true natural state (which is truly quite horrifying). The Corruption: The Darkhold twists everyone who reads it, and it's especially potent here because it's the original copy created directly from Chthon's own flesh. All the heroes who read it are corrupted into the absolute worse version of themselves.