WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Avengers #48, on sale now from Marvel.
Ever since the latest iteration of the Avengers formed, they have contended with rival teams that have surfaced to challenge them and their status as Earth's Mightiest Heroes. One of this Avengers lineup's most horrific conflicts wasn't against a team but an entire warring nation-state of the undead as the heroes traveled to Eastern Europe to quell a vampire civil war. And while this undead uprising was put to rest, Dracula and his newly founded vampire nation-state have since quietly been positioning themselves as the Marvel Universe's next big threat, with Earth's Mightiest Heroes dead in their sights.
In exchange for the vampires assisting the heroes with repelling the symbiote invasion during the crossover event King in Black, the United Nations granted the undead community its own recognized sovereign state in Chernobyl, with Dracula as its head of state. And while this political development has led to the vampire nation receiving its own diplomatic concessions, Dracula and his minions remain in a tense situation with the wider superhero community. This tension is not unfounded on the heroes' part either, with Dracula actively targeting heroes to further his undead agenda and extend his reach. And in Avengers #48 -- by Jason Aaron, Javier Garron, David Curiel and VC's Cory Petit -- Dracula reveals which of Earth's Mightiest Heroes he has his sights on next to upgrade his vampire army.
The Russian superhero team the Winter Guard recently kidnapped She-Hulk and subjected her to torture and experimentation in the top-secret Red Room. One of the methodologies the Russian government employed to break Jennifer Walters physically and mentally was allowing vampires to feed on her. In exchange for this strategy, Dracula was permitted to keep the radioactive blood running through She-Hulk's veins, bringing it back to Chernobyl for further study. This development comes after Dracula attempted to kidnap Wolverine, plotting to use the mutant's healing factor to transform his vampires into monsters that could withstand direct sunlight.
Of course, the vampires are not without any oversight, even with the protections offered to them by the U.N. As part of the diplomatic agreement to create a vampire nation-state, Blade was appointed by the U.N. as an official inspector that constantly monitored the new nation's activities and ensured no vampires ran against the protocols in the agreement. This has led Blade to travel the world to track down any vampires outside of Chernobyl's borders, dispatching them without mercy as he remains the Marvel Universe's preeminent vampire hunter. However, even the Daywalker may not be enough as Dracula's plans for complete global domination come dangerously closer to fruition.
With She-Hulk's radioactive blood and Dracula's experiments on Wolverine and his accelerated healing factor, it's clear that Dracula and his nation of vampires are up to something sinister. Having been given their own country, the vampires now have an apparent safe haven to do business as they investigate new waves to develop stronger vampires behind closed borders. And with She-Hulk emerging from the Red Room transformed into the fearsome Winter Hulk and far more violent than ever, Dracula's influence on the Avenger may extend beyond breaking her gamma-radiated will to corrupt her into something far more bloodthirsty. And even if the Avengers are able to restore She-Hulk to normal, Dracula and his vampire horde quietly continue to grow stronger from their experiments on the heroes, building to become a force to be truly feared.