Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Blood Hunt #4!Vampires have taken center stage in Marvel Comics with the ongoing Blood Hunt event, and with their newfound prevalence comes a massive in-world lore change. Not much has been known about vampires in Marvel Comics aside from what everyone simply assumed, based on the real world urban legend, as well as the plethora of vampire fiction that’s out there. But now, the true nature of Marvel’s vampires has been put on full display, including their true purpose and final form.

In Blood Hunt #4 by Jed MacKay and Pepe Larraz, Blade and his Bloodcoven (superhuman vampires) are walking into their citadel at the center of New York City: the Temple of the First Blasphemy. They’re followed by Black Panther, who was turned into a vampire a few issues prior. As they walk into the Temple, Black Panther asks Blade who he really is, since it’s become clear that this vampire leader is not the daywalker T’Challa knew - and he was right. Blade formally reintroduces himself as Varnae, the First Vampire.

The spirit of Varnae possessed Blade prior to this storyline, as Blade’s ability to be out in the sunlight while also carrying the vampiric curse made him an ideal host. Once re-introductions were out of the way, Varnae tells Black Panther exactly what his plans are: to become the Unliving Darkforce. As such, Varnae will have ascended into godhood, thereby achieving the vampires’ true destiny. The Unliving Darkforce will be powerful enough to consume planets, stars, and - eventually - the entire universe.

Vampires are Nothing More than the ‘Pupil Form’ of the Unliving Darkforce in Marvel Comics

As revealed in this issue of Blood Hunt, Varnae first became a vampire while scribing the Darkhold within the Temple of the First Blasphemy when it was still located in Atlantis many generations ago. He harnessed the dark, otherworldly power to become something unnatural, a creature of the night that drank human blood - the first vampire. However, becoming a vampire was simply the first step in the larger ritual, one which Varnae is attempting to complete in this issue, and one he very well may see accomplished by the end of the Blood Hunt event.

What this means is that all Varnae’s descendants - ie, every other vampire fans have ever seen in Marvel Comics - are simply byproducts of an incomplete ritual. Vampires are described as the ‘pupil form’ of what the true end goal of this ritual is - which is ascending to godhood as the Unliving Darkforce. In other words, vampires wouldn’t exist in the Marvel Universe if not for the Darkhold and one evil man who was arrogant enough to try to wield its power, Varnae.

Varnae Has Officially Become Marvel Comics’ New ‘King in Black’

The Marvel Universe hasn’t seen a threat like the one in Blood Hunt since Knull wrapped the Earth in symbiote and corrupted most of the world with his Klyntar during the King In Black event. In fact, Varnae is very much like the King in Black, in that he seems to be becoming a ‘god of darkness’ with his end goal being to throw every planet in the universe into a state of eternal night. This is an interesting parallel between vampires and symbiotes, as both serve a god of darkness, and both are simply byproducts of their wicked gods.

While interesting, there’s no real connection between vampires and symbiotes aside from the end goals of their respective ‘gods of darkness’, and the similar circumstances of their existences. However, what’s more interesting is the fact that everything fans thought they knew about vampires in Marvel Comics is a lie, as vampire lore has been changed forever with the revelation of their true purpose and final form.

Blood Hunt #4 by Marvel Comics is available now.