An MCU Hero Just Killed Two Marvel Villains With a Single Blow
WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Dark Ages #6. Blade may not have physically appeared in a Marvel Studios project yet, but that hasn't stopped the Daywalker from leaving a major impact on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Mahershala Ali's voice can be heard speaking to Kit Harington's Dane Whitman in the post-credits scene of 2021's Eternals, and now the hero is helping to save the Earth in Marvel's Dark Ages event series. The X-Men villain Apocalypse has an evil plan that will result in the destruction of the planet, but Bladeand a band of heroes are joining forces to stop him. During the battle, Blade not only slays Apocalypse, but also his long-time nemesis Dracula — and he does it all with one swing of his sword.
Dark Ages #6 by Tom Taylor, Iban Coello, Brian Reber, and VC's Joe Sabino is the final issue of the miniseries. The heroes are successful in thwarting Apocalypse and rescuing their mind-controlled friends. Apocalypse's plan involves turning off the E.M.P. at the center of the Earth that is keeping the Unmaker at bay. Of course, once that E.M.P. was originally turned on, all electricity on the planet was wiped out. Thanks to the powers of the Purple Man, Apocalypse has forced some of the Marvel Universe's greatest minds to work on a solution that would allow him to take over the Unmaker's body, while also destroying Earth.
When it comes down to the final battle, Apocalypse sends in a team of heroes under the control of the Purple Man to fight their friends: Captain America, Beast, She-Hulk, Captain Marvel, Dracula, Cyclops, Psylocke, and Shuri. The battle doesn't last long, however, as Deadpool kills Purple Man with a gunshot to the head. With the mind control broken, Doctor Doom tells Dracula his plan to defeat Apocalypse. Part of that plan features Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman, using her powers to create a small force-field around Apocalypse's frontal lobe so he can't use his powers. All that's left is for Dracula to take a bite out of Apocalypse's neck to turn him into a vampire. And since Blade is a vampire hunter, he kills two birds with one mighty blade.
With their heads no longer connected to their bodies, Apocalypse and Dracula begin to turn to dust. Our heroes are reunited with their loved ones, and this post-apocalyptic world can finally start the process of rebuilding. Dark Ages has some heavy-hitters like Captain Marvel, Storm, She-Hulk, and Invisible Woman, but it was the street-level hero Blade who delivers the final blow to bring Apocalypse's reign of terror to an end.
MCU fans are wondering when they will finally get to see Mahershala Ali as Blade. Marvel Studios is already teasing a team-up between Blade and the Black Knight. Last year, Ali told Empire that it was kind of intimidating to have his MCU debut as Blade rest on nothing but the sound of his voice:
"It was really cool, getting to do that," Ali said. "It was scary. Because, you know, you're talking before you're filming it. I'm pretty particular about my choices, like most actors, and so having to make some choices – even with a line, vocally – this early on, it brought up some very real anxieties. And it made the job real. It's like, 'Okay, this is happening now,' you know, and that's exciting."
How impressive was Blade's two-for-one kill stroke? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!