Cavan Scott Unleashes Union Jack on the Vampire Horde in Blood Hunt (Exclusive)

Marvel’s Blood Hunt event series will see Union Jack step up to protect his homeland from blood-sucking vampires. The ripple effects of Blood Hunt will be felt throughout the Marvel Universe, through different tie-in series, spinoffs, and one-shots. One of those new miniseries popping up is Union Jack The Ripper: Blood Hunt, from writer Cavan Scott (Star Wars: The High Republic) and artist Kev Walker (Guardians of the Galaxy). Union Jack will take it upon himself to rid London of its vampire infestation, and the series promises plenty of blood and gore to fit its supernatural setting. What can readers expect out of Union Jack The Ripper? We talked to the comic’s writer to find out.

ComicBook.com spoke to Cavan Scott about Union Jack The Ripper: Blood Hunt, where we asked about Joey Chapman’s status quo heading into the event, the return of Hunger and the special brood of vampires he’s leading, working with Kev Walker, and the type of emotional and physical scars Blood Hunt will leave Union Jack with. We can also exclusively reveal the cover of July’s Union Jack The Ripper: Blood Hunt #3 by Ryan Brown, as well as first-look pages from Union Jack The Ripper: Blood Hunt #1 by Kev Walker.

• UNION JACK THE RIPPER: BLOOD HUNT #3 (OF 3)
• CAVAN SCOTT (W) • KEV WALKER (A) Cover by RYAN BROWN
• BLOOD BEGETS BLOOD!
• UNION JACK’s one-man war on vampires comes to a head!
• But what will he sacrifice to save his country?

Union Jack’s status quo leading into Blood Hunt

ComicBook.com: Union Jack is a character that doesn’t always get the spotlight, but the description of the Blood Hunt tie-in series sounds compelling. What is Union Jack’s status quo as Blood Hunt begins?

Cavan Scott: He’s not in a good way, that’s for certain. Night has fallen hard on his home of Manchester and the victory of the vampires has taken a massive toll. It’s fair to say he has lost hope to a large degree. After years of fighting the vamps, they just keep on coming back, stronger all the time. And this particular brood of bloodsuckers seem to represent everything he has come to hate in his country. The arrogance. The hate. These are troubling thoughts for a hero who wears his nation’s flag. 

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Hunger and his army of vampires

The description of Union Jack The Ripper mentions a specific brood of vampires targeting the U.K., and a new villain named the Hunger. What can you tell us about these vampires, and why have they set their fangs on the U.K.?

Hunger has actually been around since 1997 where he first appeared in Spider-Man. He’s an interest vampire in that he gets stronger the more vampires he sires and thanks to the disappearance of the sun he’s sired a lot! Hunger remains in the shadows for much of the mini-series, but his presence is felt through his children of the night, who feed on his intolerance and hatred even as they bolster his power. In many ways he’s almost a messiah figure for them, but in effect he’s bleeding them. They just don’t realise it. 

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Collaborating with Kev Walker

You and Kev Walker have spoken about how dark Union Jack The Ripper is. What have you found as the most surprising element when working on the series? And how has the collaboration with Walker gone?

Our wonderful editor Danny Khazem has given us a lot of freedom when it comes to the horror and gore. He has shown incredible trust in the team, asking the right questions when necessary and cheerleading throughout. The perfect editor for a book that leans heavily into the kind of imagery that made me the Fangoria-reading, splatter-punk fan I am today.

As for Kev, it’s been such a pleasure. I’ve loved his work for a long, long time and so was very excited when I heard he was going to be my partner. And that’s what it’s been, a partnership. Throughout Kev has been making killer suggestions and poking at the story to make sure that it’s as strong as it can be. There’s one character was very different before Kev and I started batting things around, the result more extreme than I originally thought we’d get away with. That was all Kev. He saw where I was coming from and ran with it, making my horror-loving heart glad. 

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Blood Hunt impact on Union Jack

Assuming Union Jack makes it out of Blood Hunt alive, what type of impact will the event series have on our hero?

Well, that’s the thing. We have leaned heavily into the blood and gore, but I hope this is horror with real emotional weight. Union Jack is struggling in this story and, boy, does he take a beating, both physically and emotionally. Then there’s the book’s title – Union Jack the Ripper. That’s not a title he has taken himself, but something the monsters have started calling him, which shows where he is after the sun goes down. But there’s a real blitz spirit to UJ. When the chips are down – and man alive, are they down here – Union Jack comes out fighting. Just make sure you’re not in his way…

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