One of the most eagerly anticipated films on Marvel Studios' announced slate of upcoming projects is Blade, with Mahershala Ali bringing his portrayal as the iconic vampire hunter to the Marvel Cinematic Universe after an off-screen cameo in Eternals' post-credits scene. As the Daywalker is poised to take on the MCU's undead, the conspicuous lack of vampires in the shared cinematic universe so far may be reversed with a move that may be inspired by Blade's worst mistake in the comic books: Accidentally resurrecting every single vampire on Earth after he and Doctor Strange previously eradicated them all.

After Doctor Strange and Wong were menaced by the Lord of the Vampires in 1976's Tomb of Dracula #44 (by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan) and Doctor Strange #14 (by Colan and Steve Englehart), the Sorcerer Supreme became determined to eliminate Dracula and his undead army. Teaming up with Blade and Hannibal King, Strange used the Montesi Formula in 1983's Doctor Strange #59-62 (by Roger Stern, Dan Green and Steve Leialoha) to permanently destroy all vampires on Earth, including Dracula. However, while this appeared to be the definitive end of vampires in the Marvel Universe, it was Blade who undid Strange's spell and effectively became his own worst enemy.

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In Marc Guggenheim and Howard Chaykin's twelve-issue Blade comic book series, the Daywalker learned he was part of an ancient prophecy and destined to give all vampires back their souls, with Dracula himself resurfacing after his body was cloned by Hydra. Reunited with his long-lost father Lucas Cross, Blade intended to bring a piece of the wooden stake used to destroy Dracula back to his castle to complete the prophecy and free Cross from Dracula's service. In an ensuing struggle, the spell was completed but instead of freeing the souls of the vampires as Blade believed would occur, the resulting enchantment instead caused all vampires who had previously been destroyed to rise from their graves once again, as bloodthirsty as ever.

With Blade presumably being the same in the MCU as he is in the comics, his origin as an infant born after his mother was attacked by a vampire will remain intact. This means that vampires have technically existed in the MCU for some time but have effectively kept to the shadows to avoid attention. However, with Doctor Strange having an active presence in the MCU, the vampires could mobilize to prevent the Master of the Mystic Arts from using the Montesi Formula or trigger the comic book prophecy that restored their numbers, with only Blade able to effectively stand in their way.

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The introduction of Blade ushers in a darker, scarier side to the MCU that delves more fully into supernatural horror than audiences may be accustomed to so far. With the comic book iteration of Blade both wiping out all vampires on Earth and accidentally causing them all to return, there are plenty of interesting ways to position the Daywalker and the undead armies that he is best known for battling.

No matter how Blade makes his full MCU debut, one thing is definitely certain about its future: Vampires are coming to the MCU...and they're going to be hungry.

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