MCU Might've Introduced Its First Vampire, So Where The Hell Is Blade?

Warning: This post contains SPOILERS for She-Hulk episode 7!

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is finally introducing vampires before Blade thanks to She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, but it is creating even bigger questions about why Mahershala Ali's Blade is missing. Over three years after being announced as the vampire hunter at San Diego Comic-Con, Mahershala Ali has yet to make his proper MCU debut. Audiences were surprised to hear Blade's voice in Eternals' post-credits scene and connecting Black Knight's future to the vampire franchise. The voice cameo raised a massive question about where Blade has been in the MCU during Phase 4, which only becomes more complicated as the shared universe's vampire teases grow.

It has been quite a surprise to see She-Hulk of all Phase 4 projects be one that is so important to set up the presence of vampires in the MCU. The show used the mention of Mr. Immortal's wife to subtly introduce one vampire to the canon and the growing list of random vampire mentions. However, She-Hulk episode 7 actually featured a vampire character for the first time. Emil Blosnky's retreat featured several obscure Marvel characters, and one of them was a vampire named Saracen. Since audiences have only ever heard Blade speak in the MCU, She-Hulk's Saracen becomes the first vampire physically featured in the franchise.

Saracen is sure to be the first of many vampires that audiences are introduced to in the MCU, but She-Hulk's fun role for him only reinforces the confusion around Blade's whereabouts. Eternals' post-credits indicates that Blade is an active part of the supernatural Marvel world in some fashion, so why has he not found an open vampire like Saracen? It could be a matter of Blade being based in the UK and Saracen residing in America. There is also an argument to be made that while Saracen does not hide his vampirism, he is not well-known enough to come onto Eric Brooks' radar. He is at the same retreat with Man-Bull, Porcupine, and El Eguila after all, so the idea that Blade does not even know Saracen exists makes sense. However, it still is a bit frustrating that he becomes the MCU's first vampire on screen while development on Blade slowly moves forward and faces difficulties.

Blade's MCU Timeline Already Raises Big Questions

The fact of the matter is that Blade's introduction to the MCU is going to create a lot of big timeline questions. Mahershala Ali's Eternals cameo confirms that he is around in the present day of the MCU. However, there are details to suggest that Blade takes place in the past and will explore the long life Eric Brooks has lived as a vampire hunter. This could be a good approach to free Blade from more complicated points in the timeline, but it also means that Marvel retroactively creates questions about why he has not been featured before.

It has been teased in the MCU that supernatural creatures could be invisible to the naked human eye, as demonstrated by Doctor Strange's various mystical threats and Moon Knight fighting the jackal. Blade could similarly operate in an Earth-based realm that is hidden from the view of normal humans. Then again, the vampire hunter's missions likely have not had any crossover with the rest of the MCU's stories. That is starting to change with She-Hulk: Attorney At Law and other projects introducing more supernatural elements, but it will likely be up to Blade to answer the biggest timeline questions.

New episodes of She-Hulk: Attorney At Law release on Thursdays on Disney+.