The penultimate issue of Blood Hunt went on sale today and it delivered more huge surprises as Marvel Comics' latest event nears its end.
Led by Blade, a group of vampires used the Darkforce to blot out the sun, creating an eternal night and unleashing violence upon the world. The Daywalker and the Bloodcoven, a group of super-powered vampires, also launched an attack on the Avengers, capturing several members of the team, transforming the Black Panther into a vampire and seizing control of the Impossible City, the Avengers' orbital headquarters.
With his physical self struck down by Blade and infected with vampirism, Doctor Strange's astral form and Clea departed for Latveria, seeking help, while Hunter's Moon and Tigra left for Asgard to execute their plan to defeat Blade.
However, in response, Blade then translocated the ancient Atlantean Temple of the First Blasphemy from its undersea resting place in Wakanda to the middle of Central Park.
That's where the third issue left us and today's instalment wastes no time in confirming that Blade has been possessed by the first vampire, Varnae, a character who first tried to take control of the hero in 1994's Blade The Vampire Hunter #5.
So, no, Blade hasn't broken bad and is instead under the control of an ancient force who now wishes to become the Darkforce and create an entire dimension of darkness.
"I am become one with the darkness, an entire dimension of darkness," the possessed vampire hunter declares. "I am become the dark that consumes light! The cold that consumes warmed! I am become a vampire that consumes entire planets. Entire stars! I am become the unliving Darkforce!"
Elsewhere in the issue, Doctor Doom makes it clear he'll only help Doctor Strange if he makes him Sorcerer Supreme. As for Hunter's Moon and Tigra, they're joined by Wrecker and free Khonshu's fallen warriors from Asgard, meaning Marc Spector/Moon Knight has already returned from the dead after dying last December.
As the issue ends, Black Panther - restored to his human self by the Heart-Shaped Herb - frees Thor and assembles alongside The Avengers to take the fight to Blade/Varnae in what looks to be a final stand with the fate of the universe on the line.
Doctor Strange and Clea court a dread ally - but at what cost comes this aid? Hunter's Moon and Tigra do the same- but can this shadowy figure be trusted? And meanwhile, the Avengers are given the battle they so sorely crave in order to avenge their fallen friends. But in the darkness...a light?
BLOOD HUNT #4
Written by JED MACKAY
Art & Cover by PEPE LARRAZ