When the Exiles face a vampiric Avengers variant with global domination plans, their saving grace isn’t Blade, but the X-Men’s Magik!
While Blade is considered Marvel’s best vampire hunter, X-Men‘s Magik may give him some competition. While Magik is typically seen working alongside the X-Men or as a recent teacher at the Strange Academy, one version of her was a member of the multiverse-traveling Exiles. It was during one of multiversal trips where she proved she could be an even greater vampire hunter than Blade himself.
The Exiles are a group of mutant characters from parallel dimensions whose purpose is to travel to alternate universes where they are given missions to help prevent great calamities or allow specific events to occur in an effort to preserve that universe from destruction. In Exiles #31, the team ends up in a world where a classic battle between Captain America and Baron Blood, an ancient vampire supervillain who tangled with Rogers during his time with the Invaders, went a different route. Baron bit Steve Rogers and thus turned him into a vampire. The now-evil Rogers not only killed Baron but then proceeded to transform his fellow Avengers into vampires as well. The Exiles needed to stop the evil Avengers from using a powerful totem they stole from SHIELD with the power to enslave an entire city. With the help of that universes’ Union Jack, the Exiles manage to surprise the Vampire King and his team but learn that this Cap can’t be killed by conventional methods and witness their teammate Sunfire begin to transform after being bitten.
In Exiles #32 by writer Judd Winnick and Jim Calafiore, the Exiles teleport back to Union Jack’s in England courtesy of Magik’s powers in hopes to cure Sunfire. Magik is widely considered one of Marvel’s strongest mutants, and she proves why here. Although their attempts nearly destroy Lord Crichton’s estate, the only way to cure Sunfire is to sever the bloodline of her maker. But considering how this world’s Vampire King is a super-soldier as well, this nigh impossible task gets worse since the activation of the totem and its spells would make this evil Steve Rogers nearly invincible. Their only hope is “the Soul Sword of Bata’s Circle“, a rare weapon that can only be found in the deepest parts of the underworld which Magik saves them the trip by confirming her Soulsword qualifies.
Ilyana Rasputin forged Marvel’s most powerful weapon, the Soulsword, from her own life force when she was originally trapped in the Limbo dimension. It functions both as a physical and mystical weapon, capable of disarming magical spells and inflicting damage on all sorts of powerful supernatural or superhero foes. Erick Brooks aka Blade’s sword isn’t mystical but its accomplished its own mythological status as his signature weapon as a vampire hunter. While the Marvel world’s vampires fear and despise Blade, this version of Magik’s Soulsword is powerful enough to kill someone who’s become his world’s equivalent of Dracula.
When the Exiles along with Union Jack interrupt the evil Avengers’ ritual, Cap and Crichton tussle, their history as rivals revealed as the best distraction for Illyana to impale Rogers and end his threat permanently. While the Exiles put an end to the survivors and deal with an unexpected twist from Union Jack, this mission would have been a complete failure without Magik. If her Soulsword’s powers remain the same in all dimensions, the famous X-Man may have an unexplored career as a vampire hunter whose power and potential could remove Blade‘s place as the vampires’ bogeyman.
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