The MCU Reveals A Vampire Who Makes Blade Look Weak

Warning: Spoilers for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law episode 7

The MCU's first official vampire makes Blade look weak. Viewers have known vampires would be coming to the MCU since the surprise reveal of Mahershala Ali as Blade at San Diego Comic Con 2019. Even though Ali had a brief voice cameo during the post-credits scene of Eternals, it's taken until She-Hulk: Attorney at Law episode 7, "The Retreat," for a vampire to finally make an appearance in the MCU, and it's one that makes Blade's own power pale into insignificance.

Vampires have had a rich history in Marvel Comics after first appearing in 1942's Marvel Mystery Comics #35. The species was originally created by ancient Atlanteans thanks to a dark resurrection spell found in the pages of the Darkhold, the Book of the Damned that has been featured in various Marvel Studios Phase 4 projects. Marvel's vampires are an incredibly powerful species that retain their abilities, including immortality, super strength and speed, and accelerated healing, by drinking the blood of the living, much like their literary counterparts. With Marvel Studios' Blade adaptation on the horizon, vampires are finally starting to make their presence known in the MCU – a tantalizing prospect given their rich history.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has revealed the MCU's first official vampire in the form of Terrence Clowe's Saracen, appearing as a member of Emil Blonsky's spiritual retreat, "Summer Twilight." In Marvel Comics, Saracen first appears in 1999's Blade #1 as a member of the Ancient sect of vampires, a group of the oldest blood-suckers on Earth including the likes of Nosferatu, Verdalet, Maracen, and Lamia, as well as his servant, Boy. Saracen's appearance in the MCU not only adds to the list of cameos featured in She-Hulk, but also sets the foundations for Blade with the introduction of a vampire who makes the titular antihero's own power look weak. Blade is, after all, only half a vampire, while Saracen and the Ancients are some of the oldest living Purebloods, a race of vampires who haven't been transformed but were born to other Purebloods. This means that their abilities are even more pronounced than the famous sword-wielding daywalker.

How The Ancient Vampires Could Fit Into The MCU

Even though the Ancients share the same powers as traditional vampires in Marvel Comics, their extremely long lives and thousands of years of experience make them a force to be reckoned with. If Marvel Studios' Saracen is the same as his comic counterpart, the introduction of the Ancient sect of vampires into the MCU would provide Eric Brooks, a.k.a. Blade with powerful enemies for his first solo film. There has been some speculation that Saracen could be Blade's son, but it's more likely that his appearance in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is building up to explaining the absence of vampires in the MCU until now.

Saracen has survived with the Ancient sect for so long in Marvel Comics by hiding in sleep underneath the Vatican for millennia, only finding himself in the modern day after being awoken to summon the Reaper demon. If this storyline is to be adapted in the MCU, it could easily explain why vampires have been missing from the action for so long. Blade could see other vampires awakening across the world after sleeping through the previous events of the MCU, avoiding a lackluster explanation such as that used to explain away the Eternals. It's unclear whether Saracen will be seen again after She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, but with the question of his mysterious father still unanswered, Blade could provide some huge, world-changing revelations.

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