Marvel Introduces The Last Avengers | Screen Rant
Warning! Spoilers for Darkhold: Blade #1 by Marvel Comics
In a world where vampires have killed almost every hero in the Marvel Universe, and the world is a shell of its former self, the Last Avengers formed to fight back for a cure. In Darkhold: Blade #1, readers see a different life for Blade after he read the Darkhold showing him his greatest fear and what could have happened if he chose a much more twisted path as a vampire hunter.
In current Marvel Comics stories, Blade was one of five heroes called by the Scarlet Witch to fight against a serious magical threat to the entire universe. After Doctor Doom found the Darkhold, a book containing dark magic written by Chthon, he reawakened the elder god, leading Scarlet Witch to assemble the Darkhold Defenders to fight back. However, after the heroes (including Blade) read the Darkhold to temper the potential madness, the book transformed them into the Darkhold Defiled - monstrous versions of their usual forms. In one-shots for each hero, Marvel Comics will showcase each dark reality they saw when reading the Darkhold. For Blade, he saw a world where "billions" of people were turned into vampires.
In Darkhold: Blade #1 by Daniel Kibblesmith, Federico Sabbatini, Rico Renzi, and VC's Clayton Cowles, Blade becomes Marvel's ultimate vampire hunter in a world overtaken by the supernatural beings. The Kingpin has become the King of Vampires, as he lets Blade hunt as he pleases. The former hero takes a serum that keeps him from losing complete control. However, Blade has gotten deadlier, leading the Last Avengers to take on the fight and try to find the cure (revealed to them by Amadeus Cho) to reset the world to what it once was.
The Last Avengers are a small team of the last remaining heroes: Citizen V. (Nightcrawler), Silver Sable, and Prowler. They represent humanity's last hope in a world without heroes. The group storms Fisk Tower in the story, but Kingpin is prepared for them, killing Silver Sable in an elevator shaft as she goes down guns blazing against vampires below. Meanwhile, Prowler is overcome by a dangerous gas attack as he gets closer to Fisk. Finally, Citizen V. makes it the furthest but is interrupted by Blade, who impales him with a sword. The comic ends with Blade realizing the world doesn't need protecting but needs a King. His closing monologue reveals "every last drop of blood in this city -in the world - belongs to Blade."
The Darkhold showed Blade a corrupted reality where he ended up trying to rule all vampires - a stark contrast to where the vampire-hunting hero is in current Marvel Comics continuity. The Last Avengers tried to stop him, but in the end, they were too underpowered and too late. Blade's greatest fear has taken over. Darkhold: Blade #1 is in comic book stores now.