As one of the oldest heroes in the Marvel Universe, Wolverine has an impressively long list of enemies. Now he can add another major Marvel villain to that list, as his newest ongoing series pits him against none other than Dracula, lord of vampires.
Read on to learn why Wolverine and Dracula have sparked a new rivalry, and why this iconic hero more closely connected to vampires than we ever realized. Beware of spoilers for Wolverine #1!
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Marvel’s newest Wolverine series picks up during the new Dawn of X status quo, as the vast majority of the world’s mutants now dwell on the island nation of Krakoa. But while Logan is content to share a home with major villains like Apocalypse, Mister Sinister and even Mystique, there’s one enemy he refuses to accept as a brother and neighbor – Omega Red.
Not that he’s given much choice in the matter. A badly wounded Omega Red appears seeking sanctuary on Krakoa. Despite Wolverine’s protestations, Magneto obliges and orders Logan to seek out the mysterious enemy capable of cutting right through Omega Red’s carbonadium armor. Wolverine’s mission takes him to a bar in Paris, one he discovers too late is full of vampires. Fortunately, his Canadian bacon is saved by a mysterious vampire hunter named Louise.
Wolverine and Louise team up and follow the vampires’ trail into the Parisian catacombs. Wolverine is bitten repeatedly but manages to behead the group’s leader. Fortunately, his healing factor renders him largely immune to vampire bites. He assumes his mission is a success, but Louise knows the true enemy is still out there.
As it turns out, Wolverine was the real target all along. Dracula ordered his minions to acquire samples of Logan’s unique blood. Absorbing that blood gives Dracula a major power boost, enough to make him capable of walking in broad daylight. Even Omega Red was part of that plan – willing bait used to lure Wolverine out in the open. This issue ends as Dracula meets with Omega Red and bestows upon him the carbonadium synthesizer, a device needed to stabilize his body’s immune system. In return, Omega Red is now Dracula’s spy on Krakoa, promising a much bigger confrontation between mutants and vampires.
As this issue reveals, Wolverine shares a much closer connection to vampires than anyone previously suspected. One of the supplemental pages describes vampires as “his closest cousin,” pointing out that Logan’s blood has similar healing properties but isn’t vulnerable to ultraviolet radiation in the way vampire blood is. If Dracula’s power boost is any indication, Wolverine may be the key to creating a new breed of mutant/vampire hybrid with none of the weaknesses of the latter.
This isn’t the first time the X-Men have crossed paths with Dracula. Dracula once tried to claim Storm as his bride way back in 1982’s Uncanny X-Men #159, while the miniseries X-Men: Apocalypse vs. Dracula showed how these two villains have a rivalry dating back to Victorian times. Dracula even briefly fought alongside the X-Men in the 2010 crossover Curse of the Mutants, after his throne was usurped by his son Xarus. That story established Wolverine’s immunity to vampire bites, though it also seems to have put his mutant healing factor on Dracula’s radar.
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Let us know what you think of Wolverine’s new role as a vampire hunter in the comments below. And for more on the current state of the X-Men franchise, find out how Marvel is using Free Comic Book Day to launch a major new X-Men story and see all of IGN’s most anticipated comics for 2020.
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Source: IGN.com Why Is Wolverine Hunting Vampires?