Wolverine & Blade Were the Secret Heroes of Civil War

Although he didn’t come willingly, Marvel’s famous vampire hunter Blade played an important role in Civil War, specifically keeping Wolverine alive. Although Blade was forced to choose sides in this iconic 2006 event, the newly deputized Eric Brooks’ first mission was to bring in Wolverine, dead or alive. When Blade and the famous X-Man found each other, their battle ended in an unexpected way that allowed Wolverine to complete his mission of tracking down the real villain behind Civil War.

In Blade #5, the famous vampire hunter is continuing vampire-slaying business as usual despite being on the run. Unfortunately when Morbius appears to be stirring up trouble in Long Beach, Blade can’t resist the opportunity to put an end to the professional pseudo-vampire. Unfortunately, the entire scenario is a trap as Michael Morbius has registered with the United States government who, following the deaths of over 600 civilians during a superhero battle gone wrong in Stamford, have passed legislation that calls for all masked superhumans to officially register or become fugitives from the law. The matter has created a schism within the superhero community, and Blade finds himself surrounded by heavily armored SHIELD agents who, despite his desire to not become involved, tranquilize and capture him anyway.

In the story by Marc Guggenheim, Howard Chaykin, Edgar Delgado and VC’s Rus Wooton, Blade is brought before SHIELD Director Maria Hill, who discusses his recent activities and how SHIELD can help him. Despite him recently destroying a multi-billion-dollar Helicarrier full of vampire SHIELD agents, Maria offers Blade full immunity for his crimes and access to SHIELD’s resources if he registers. When Blade accepts, his first assignment is to bring in the infamous Wolverine, who escaped SHIELD custody over in his own series. When Blade confronts the exhausted and annoyed Wolverine in New York, the two relentless hunters appear evenly matched despite being on opposite sides. But when Blade realizes Wolverine is the same man who saved his life years ago from a disastrous vampire hunt, he tells him their fight is over and that he’ll keep SHIELD off his back for as long as he can.

Although Blade’s agreement was more about repaying a personal debt, the protection he granted Wolverine allowed him to complete a personal mission he had undertaken. When he learned of the Stamford Incident and saw the effect it was having on Marvel’s superhuman community, Logan rejected the neutral position of the other X-Men and sought to avenge the innocent lives lost. While pursuing the supervillain Nitro (which took him to the depths of Atlantis), he learned the superpowered villain had been provided drugs to boost his power, his supplier being the CEO of Damage Control Walter Declun, who sought to increase his company’s profits by inciting more superhuman battles. It was Logan’s first attempt on Walter that ended up with Wolverine in SHIELD captivity due to Declun’s influential connections, and thanks to Blade calling off SHIELD, he was able to complete his mission and take out the villain.

The story served to give the two heroes far deeper links while showing how far Maria Hill was willing to go in the name of the Registration Act, hiring the very best to bring Wolverine in dead or alive (and with new tech that deactivated his healing to make a kill shot far easier.) With Marc Guggenheim as the writer for both storylines, the characters were able to crossover and leave a significant impact in the aftermath. Blade now had government protection and access to new resources that’d assist him in his vampire hunting, and he was able to settle an old debt. Wolverine was able to complete his mission that saw the true villain of Civil War face the only kind of brutal justice equal to his heartless crimes, something that would’ve been nearly impossible without Blade fulfilling his end of the bargain.

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