Blood Hunt (Marvel Comics)

Blood Hunt
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Format	Limited series
Publication date	May 2024
No. of issues	5
Main character(s)	Avengers Blade Bloodline Spider-Man Hunter’s Moon Morbius, the Living Vampire Tigra Doctor Strange Clea Vampires
Creative team
Written by	Jed MacKay
Penciller(s)	Pepe Larraz
Colorist(s)	Marte Gracia

"Blood Hunt" is an American comic book crossover event written by Jed MacKay with art by Pepe Larraz and Marte Gracia, published in 2024 by Marvel Comics. The event involves the rise of the Vampire Nation united by a single vision for the first time in millennia.

Blood Hunt #1 was dedicated in memory of Paul Neary.

Publication history

At the New York Comic Convention in October 2023, Marvel Comics teased "Blood Hunt" as the next major crossover event that will command its own main limited series, as well as spilling out into tie-in issues and spinoff limited series.

Blood Hunt is announced as a five-issue limited series written by the current Avengers scribe Jed MacKay debuting in May 2024. The series is a culmination of a naturally building story about the vampire apocalypse involving the Avengers, Blade, Bloodline, Spider-Man, Morbius, Hunter's Moon, Tigra, Doctor Strange, and Clea.

Main characters

The characters who were credited as main character in atleast one issue from Blood Hunt #1 to #5.
Black Panther Blade Captain America Captain Marvel Clea Doctor Strange Hunter's Moon Iron Man Scarlet Witch Spider-Man Thor Tigra Vision

Plot

Lead-Up

As Spider-Man fights a villain named Doctor Dark who has Darkforce abilities, he witnesses Doctor Dark suddenly vomit out some Darkforce as it rises to the sky. Meanwhile, Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman notice numerous dimensional breach. As Mister Fantastic suspects the Negative Zone is one of them, Invisible Woman points out one from the Darkforce Dimension. In Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, Daredevil senses the change caused by the Darkforce Dimension and springs into action against the attacking vampires by saving as many civilians as he can. In an alley, Blade's daughter Bloodline fights some vampires. She slays some of them until Dracula shows up. He states that the world is ending and advises her to come with him to save it.

Main plot

A countdown to Sundeath occurs as the Darkforce Dimension empties onto Earth enough to block out the Sun as a voice states that he is responsible. Scarlet Witch informs Iron Man about the darkness and sees that it was caused by Blackout or at least "he was". She mentions that he was robbing a bank when he exploded. Iron Man states that similar things have happened to Cloak, Darkstar, Dusk, and Silhouette. Because of their connection with the Darkforce Dimension, Scarlet Witch claims that they have become portals. When asked by Iron Man if she can close the portals, Scarlet Witch claims that it would be difficult to close them and that Iron Man's science won't be able to help. In another location, Tigra and Hunter's Moon see Shroud in a similar condition due to his connection with the Darkforce. Tigra notes that this incident is happening all across the city and now expanding across the world. Noting that both the Sun and the Moon are blocked, Hunter's Moon states that this is an attack as they see a bunch of vampires descending towards them. The attacks occur in Milan, Lagos, Calgary, Tianjin, Cartagena, and Daegu. In Latveria, Doctor Doom has some refugees fleeing into Latveria saved from the vampires. Pleased that the borders have been secured, Doctor Doom states that his new subjects have been attended to. In Brooklyn, Miles Morales uses his sword to slay a vampire as he is confronted by Blade who states that he has a plan. Thor, Captain Marvel, and Black Panther are fighting the vampires as they ask who is responsible for this attack. Vision states that Dracula is unaccounted for, Falcon's Captain America form states that this is out of Dracula's trajectory, and Scarlet Witch states that there are too many as she asks who else would've wanted a vampire invasion on this day. Blade contacts everyone stating that he has the information they need and to meet up at the coordinates that he is sending them. Impossible City has the vehicle ready as Iron Man recalls the Avengers to it. The Avengers return through the portal as Blade's truck drives through it as well. Unfortunately, the Avengers are then attacked by Bloodstorm One (a Hydra clone of Dracula in a new body), Megrim, Cruel, Unusual, Damascene, and Smoke Eater who emerge from the truck and claim that Blade couldn't make it. Bloodstorm One orders Megrim to "maintain the psychic static", orders Cruel and Unusual to "take the witch", orders Damascene to deal with Thor, and quotes "Smoke Eater, on me". Smoke Eater then quotes "Watch your tone, Bloodstorm One. I take orders from the master, not you". Smoke Eater then sprouts extra eyes, arms, and legs as she is told by Bloodstorm Run that he runs the Bloodcoven and states to Smoke Eater that she will fall in line no matter how much Crematoria Smoke she huffs. The Avengers are overwhelmed by the Bloodcoven as Impossible City ends up compromised. On Bleeker Street, Doctor Strange and Clea are putting the Montesi Formula that can end these attacks. Blade enters as he identifies it as a spell that ends all vampires as it also requires the Darkhold that Scarlet Witch has "eaten". Blade states that all the vampires have become organized. He calls this organization the Structure who had a leader named Tutor before he was killed by Moon Knight. They used Atlantean rituals to detonate the Darkforce users enough to turn them into Darkforce portals enough to block out the Sun, caused a global uprising, and took out the Avengers which surprises Doctor Strange and Clea. Blade then states that the Bloodcoven is a kill squad of ultra-vampires that fed on superhuman blood and that the Avengers have been defeated. When Doctor Strange asks if Dracula is the leader of the Structure when trying to find a way to undo the vampire invasion, Blade states that he is leading the Structure as he moves in to bite Doctor Strange.

Tie-ins

Vengeance of the Moon Knight

At the Midnight Mission, Dr. Andrea Sterman talks to 8-Ball about how Shroud was a Moon Knight imposter. Sometime earlier at the Mount, Tigra and Hunter's Moon are fighting Shroud who was displeased that he wasn't left alone. When Tigra mentions how Shroud and Moon Knight go way back to their West Coast Avengers days, Shroud states that it was a long time ago. Back in the present, 8-Ball asks Dr. Sterman if Shroud is supposed to be a good guy or a bad guy. She states that he goes back and forth and assumes that 8-Ball is trying to do the same thing. 8-Ball states that he is turning his life around and mentioned how he once saved Moon Knight on Hart Island. Back in the past, Shroud states that his name stands only for failure. Back in the present, 8-Ball stated that the villains who weren't crazy were spit-scared of Moon Knight and mentions what he did to Raul Bushman. In addition, 8-Ball claimed that Moon Knight was more scarier than Punisher. Back when he was locked up in the Myrmidon with Moon Knight, he knows how much Moon Knight has lost. Back in the past, Tigra and Hunter's Moon land safely on the streets. Back in the present, 8-Ball comments that "8-Ball: Superhero" would sound cool and will get there someday if he doesn't die first. Back in the past, Shroud mentioned how the people liked Moon Knight as Tigra is displeased that Shroud tried to steal his name which Moon Knight died for. Restraining them with his Darkforce abilities, Shroud then rants how he is honoring him, how they fought Lore, Master Pandemonium, and Tartarus together, and once invited him to join Night Shift. With Moon Knight gone, Shroud is just honoring his memory. After Shroud mentioned how the woman he used to love hates him, Tigra mentioned that Moon Knight loved Marlene Alraune where they had a kid. This causes Shroud to stop his attack as Tigra vows to help him. Just then, Shroud unleashes a large amount of Darkforce energy which he can't control. Back in the present, 8-Ball mentioned to Dr. Stenberg that the Midnight Mission was built by Moon Knight to protect people. As Reese and Soldier show up upon finding the swords, 8-Ball joins them in fighting the vampires.

Amazing Spider-Man

As Kareem goes to check up on White Rabbit, he finds that she has been turned into a vampire. New York City soon comes under attack by vampires as Spider-Man fights them. Spider-Man is called to a location twelve blocks away by someone who is in need of his help. Upon arrival, he meets with Kareem who had Peter's number in case Tombstone wanted to get a hold of him when he wants to kill him. Spider-Man is told about what happened to White Rabbit. Kareem would normally contact Tombstone about it, but Kareem can't get through to him. Taking along some wooden stakes, Kareem informs Spider-Man that White Rabbit was dispatched to collect protection money from this bodega. Spider-Man goes in with a bunch of wooden stakes and is attacked by White Rabbit. Kareem uses a wheelchair to shove White Rabbit into a storage room and locks it as he directs Spider-Man to Apartment 3B. Entering Apartment 3B, Spider-Man is attacked by a vampire who is chained to a radiator heater. The man explains that he worked in the bodega when he was attacked by a vampire and chained himself to the radiator heater to keep from harming anyone as he asks Spider-Man to put him out of his misery. As Spider-Man takes pity on the vampire, he is staked by Kareem who got tired of waiting much to the dismay of Spider-Man. White Rabbit enters where she is back to normal. Spider-Man then leaves them and continues his fight with the vampires until he is confronted by Lizard.

Avengers

Captain America puts out an Avengers Priority Alert calling for more Avengers. Whoever receives this message is required to step up. Their Identicard will direct them to Captain America's location and to be prepared to fight Avengers. Moments later, Captain America fights through the various vampires as he is joined by Hercules, Kate Bishop, Quicksilver, and Hazmat. Afterwards, Captain America tells Hercules, Kate Bishop, Quicksilver, and Hazmat that the Avengers have been hit hard. While traveling around, Captain America's Avengers find some humans being menaced by Nazi vampires as Captain America mentions the time when he was turned into a werewolf and Hercules mentions how he was turned into a Spider-Man once. As the Avengers slay more Nazi vampires, Hercules suspects that the vampires used a spell from the Darkhold to help them out. After the Nazi vampires are slain, a Helicarrier shows up and uses a Vortex Beam on everyone. Captain America then identified the person operating the Helicarrier to be Baron Blood who plans to have noble fascism be birthed in America and welcomed into the world.

Blood Hunters

At the restaurant Burgers at Calais, Clint Barton has having a hamburger when some police officers appear to identify him despite using the alias of Brent Mustache as his narration states that some people claimed that he killed a United Nations ambassador. The two police officers fail to get backup. As they try to arrest Clint amidst the sky going dark, a vampire attacks the restaurant. Clint takes out his bow and attacks some of the attacking vampires. Becoming Hawkeye, he gathers the survivors on top of the Rialto. He leads some of the people on the streets in fighting back against the vampires with a puppet therapist named Charlie using his puppet as an improvised wooden stake, a burly union worker named Harvey, and a priest who managed to convert a water tower into holy water. Then he runs into the same police officer from earlier who is not going to run Hawkeye in as she is busy working to bring in a man who was selling rotten gyros. A news report talks about the vampire attacks and advises anyone heading out to carry wooden stakes with them. In Manhattan, J. Jonah Jameson and John Jameson head out to a restaurant for lunch as John tells his dad that he is doing good at his job at Ravencroft. While on the streets, a guy runs by them advising them to run as it's the "vampire apocalypse". When a vampire attacks, John becomes Man-Wolf against Jameson's advice to let him call Spider-Man as Man-Wolf states that Spider-Man won't get here on time. Man-Wolf fights the vampires while seeing Captain Marvel and Thor fight the ones in the sky where Man-Wolf gets bitten. After beheading the vampire on a fence, Man-Wolf is nearly staked by J. Jonah Jameson who thought he got infected and was blaming Spider-Man in his call to him. Man-Wolf states that he can't get infected by vampire bites. When two people meet J. Jonah Jameson, Man-Wolf advises them to take shelter in the church. Man-Wolf then proceeds to take his father to the studio so that he can advise people what to do during the vampire attacks. As Man-Wolf puts his dad on a bench to wait for Spider-Man, three vampires attack. Man-Wolf manages to slay them. J. Jonah Jameson gets a call from Spider-Man as he tells Spider-Man that Man-Wolf kept him safe. In the Theater District, Dagger fights the vampire dealers that she and Cloak previously kicked out of their neighborhood. With Cloak being among the Darkforce users that became a portal for the Darkforce, Dagger is on her own in this fight and even recapped to when their powers were briefly swapped. After slaying the vampires, Dagger is confronted by a barista named Veren who has been converted into a vampire. Dagger tries to reason with him to no avail. When Dagger uses her light daggers to pin Veren to the car, a stake comes out of nowhere to destroy the car enough to free him. Dagger is then saved by Elsa Bloodstone.

Doctor Strange

Continuing from Blood Hunt #1, Blade had admitted that he is the leader of the Structure as he stabs Doctor Strange. As Clea starts to go on the offensive, Blade states that he has no intention of letting Doctor Strange die as he bites him in the neck. As Clea casts a spell, Blade counters it as Clea states that Blade is not a mage. Blade states that a Sorcerer Supreme's blood has a taste. As Clea and Blade fight, Blade states that his new swords came from Ancient Atlantis and not the current version that Namor rules over. He states that this order of magician hunters have forged blades that can slay a sorcerer, cut through enchantments, and protect them from dark spells and hexes. When Clea commented that Doctor Strange was his friend and why he would do something like this, Blade claims that this was a plan that has spanned an epoch. Soon, Doctor Strange starts to become a vampire and unleashes him on Clea. She casts the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak to restrain him. Blade states that he still won and that even if Clea has cast the Montesi Formula, it would kill Doctor Strange. Blade then contacts the Bloodcoven to bring him home as he disappears. To save Doctor Strange, Clea removes his Astral form from his body. Despite Clea's objections, Doctor Strange's astral form advises her to assemble the Montesi Formula. As Clea states that he still must be saved, Doctor Strange states that they must join forces with the other superheroes. The Sanctum Sanctorum is then visited by Tigra, Hunter's Moon, and Miles Morales. At the same time, the Ghost of Victor Strange plans to make his entrance as he sees Doctor Strange's vampire-converted body.

Dracula: Blood Hunt

As he dons his strongest armor and grabs his strongest sword in the Vampire Nation, Dracula narrates that he has yet to claim the strongest piece of his arsenal. Xarus informs Dracula that their spy has returned. She tells Dracula about what is happening as he plans to deal with the traitors to the Vampire Nation. She also tells him that Brielle Brooks is alive. Xarus then kills the spy once she has served her purpose and Dracula gives orders to have the blood mages make the final preparations. In Atlanta, Georgia, Brielle meets up with Rebecca and Jayden where they are planning a study date. Just then, the sky is covered in darkness as Brielle senses it. Upon arrival, Dracula finds three vampires and asks them if they have seen a girl that he's looking for. One of the vampires offends Dracula and is killed by him. Dracula then makes use of the other vampires. As Bloodline, Brielle fights the invading vampires while recapping about the time when she fought feral vampires that Whitney Nieves set up to attack her.. She goes on the offensive until Dracula appears and slays them. After trying to attack Dracula, Bloodline is told by Dracula that the world is ending and that he needs her help saving it. The blood mages then show up to teleport to their next location as Bloodline leaves a message for her mother. They arrive in New York as Daredevil sees them.

Strange Academy: Blood Hunt

Strange Academy students Doyle Dormammu, Shaylee Moonpeddle, Toth, Guslaug, Germán Aguilar, Zoe Laveau, and their new classmate Pia are taking a vampire tour in New Orleans. Just then, the skies get dark as the tour guide is bitten by a vampire. After the students take down the vampires, more of them arrive. Minutes later, Doctor Voodoo evacuates the students back to Strange Academy and casts a spell to keep the vampires from entering. He orders them to head to their chambers and get cleaned up while asking Pia to come to his office. Doctor Voodoo tries to get some answers from Pia about the vampire attacks and how some of the superheroes have been defeated. Pia has no knowledge of the vampire attack. Just then, the astral form of Doctor Strange arrives and asks Pia to take her leave. Some of the students were revealed to have overheard the discussion. Doctor Strange's astral form speaks to Doctor Voodoo where he states that Blade is responsible and that the Montesi Formula is the only chance at stopping the vampire invasion. As Doctor Voodoo objects to this, Doctor Strange's astral form states that they don't have a choice and that they will need the Darkhold as well. Doctor Voodoo still objects to the suggestion as the students plan to visit a forest in Madripoor where it was last seen. Upon arrival in Madripoor's only forest, Doyle, Shaylee, Germán, Zoe, and Pia start to look for the Darkhold as they ask a person where they can find the Darkhold. They find that the person is the Darkhold as he goes on the attack. After taking down most of them, Pia's astral pet Tito Pepe tries to attack only to be knocked down. Infuriated with the attack on Tito, Pia shows off her vampire side and attacks the Darkhold. Sometime earlier, the Darkhold's human form is with Agatha Harkness who is posing as it's mother when around people. During a train ride, Agatha cautions the Darkhold to keep his cover up as they are currently being pursued by Scarlet Witch. The Darkhold then flees from Agatha and manages to escape into the river where he is picked up by a man in a boat. He then arrives in Madripoor. Sometime ago, Pia saves Tito Peping from a vampire as another vampire shows up. Doctor Voodoo later finds Pia in a dark room and finds that Pia has been converted into a vampire. Tito Peping goes into Pia's body to shield her from the Sun as he takes her home while mentioning about some other remarkable people he knows.

Venom

In New York City, two vampires pilot an airplane as they are transporting a casket that Dracula once found in a Russian gulag. The casket is dumped onto a building as it's occupant known as the Captive emerges smelling a Symbiote. Not long after, the Venom symbiote senses Eddie Brock's returns and laments letting Dylan Brock die while also noting how it had once been corrupted by Lee Price. Under the city, Dylan Brock is walking with Toxin as he mentions how he can't have Normie Osborn secure him a shelter at Alchemax. He also mentions to Toxin that the Venom symbiote didn't tell him much. Dylan tells Toxin that he compares their plight to when Knull blanketed the Earth in darkness. As Toxin goes to check up on his dad, he unknowingly leaves Dylan alone as a vampire is lurking in the shadows. Meanwhile, the Venom symbiote arrives in a graveyard. It's senses go off as it is confronted by a zombified version of Lee Price and the Mania symbiote. The Venom symbiote goes on the defense. It soon learns that Captive brought Lee and the Mania symbiote back to life as zombies. Back underground, Dylan is confronted by a vampiric version of the priest that once took Venom's confession.

Issues involved

Prelude issues

Title	Issues	Writer	Artist	Colorist	Release date
Free Comic Book Day 2024: Blood Hunt/X-Men	1	Jed MacKay	Sara Pichelli	TBA	May 4, 2024

Main series

Title	Issues	Writer	Artist	Colorist	Debut date	Conclusion date
Blood Hunt	1–5	Jed MacKay	Pepe Larraz	Marte Gracia	May 1, 2024	July 24, 2024

Tie-in issues

Limited series

Title	Issues	Writer(s)	Artist(s)	Colorist	Debut date	Conclusion date
Blood Hunters	1–4	Mark Russell Christos Gage Erica Schultz	Bob Quinn Javier Garrón Bernard Chang	TBA	May 8, 2024	July 17, 2024
Dracula: Blood Hunt	1–3	Danny Lore	Vincenzo Carratù			July 3, 2024
Strange Academy: Blood Hunt		Daniel José Older	Luigi Zagaria			July 24, 2024
The Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt		Justina Ireland	Marcelo Ferreira		May 15, 2024	July 17, 2024
Union Jack the Ripper: Blood Hunt		Cheryl Lynn Eaton	Farid Karami			July 10, 2024
Black Panther: Blood Hunt		Cavan Scott	Kev Walker		May 29, 2024	July 3, 2024
Midnight Sons: Blood Hunt		Bryan Hill	Germán Peralta			July 24, 2024
Wolverine: Blood Hunt	1–4	Tom Waltz	Juan José Ryp		June 5, 2024	July 24, 2024

One-shots

Title	Writer	Artist	Colorist	Release date
Hulk: Blood Hunt	Phillip Kennedy Johnson	Danny Earls	TBA	July 10, 2024
Werewolf by Night: Blood Hunt	Jason Loo	Adam Gorham		July 3, 2024
X-Men: Blood Hunt – Jubilee	Preeti Chhibber	Enid Balám		June 12, 2024
X-Men: Blood Hunt – Magik	Ashley Allen	Jesús Hervás		June 26, 2024
X-Men: Blood Hunt – Psylocke	Steve Foxe	Lynne Yoshii		July 3, 2024
X-Men: Blood Hunt – Laura Kinney The Wolverine	Stephanie Phillips	Robert Gill		July 17, 2024

Series tie-ins

Title	Issues	Writer(s)	Artist(s)	Colorist	Debut date	Conclusion date
Vengeance of the Moon Knight (vol. 2)	5–7	Jed MacKay	Alessandro Cappuccio	TBA	May 1, 2024	July 24, 2024
The Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 6)	49	Zeb Wells	John Romita Jr.		May 8, 2024
The Avengers (vol. 9)	14–16	Jed MacKay	C.F. Villa		May 8, 2024	July 10, 2024
Doctor Strange (vol. 6)	15–17		Pasqual Ferry			July 3, 2024
Venom (vol. 5)	33–34	Al Ewing	Juan Ferreyra			June 5th, 2024
Fantastic Four (vol. 7)	21–22	Ryan North	Ivan Fiorelli		June 12, 2024	July 24, 2024
Miles Morales: Spider-Man (vol. 2)		Cody Ziglar	Travel Foreman			July 3, 2024