Warning: contains spoilers for Doctor Strange #15Family drama is always more complicated than it looks… and none more than the relationship between Doctor Strange and his long-dead brother Victor. Brought back to life as a vampire by Stephen years ago, Victor eventually took his own life, before being trapped in the Crypt of Shadows. Now, in Doctor Strange #15, the ghost-vampire Victor is finally beginning his revenge plan, starting with the possession of his dear old brother.

The terrifying Blood Hunt #1 saw the vampiric organization known as the Structure use Darkforce wielders to block the sun, launching a bloodthirsty war against humanity, before the vampire hunter Blade revealed himself as the mastermind and stabbed Doctor Strange.

Doctor Strange #15, from writer Jed MacKay and artist Pasqual Ferry, is a tie-in to the Blood Hunt event and follows Clea as she battles Blade, witnesses Doctor Strange turned into a vampire, and eventually saves her husband’s soul by forcing him to astral project.

Victor Strange Is Back With A Terrible Vengeance

Victor Strange’s life has been long and tragic, starting with the deaths of his mother, father, and sister. Stephen, unable to handle all the grief, avoided his family’s funerals, and when Victor angrily confronted his brother, he was struck and killed by a car. Stephen used his medical connections to freeze Victor cryogenically, and then once he became Doctor Strange he tried every spell he could to revive him. Eventually Doctor Strange brought Victor back to life – accidentally – as a vampire, cursing his brother to an undead life and undoing the powerful Montesi Formula that has destroyed all vampires.

Doctor Strange Destroyed All Vampires (But Accidentally Brought Them Back)

After some time, Victor stabbed his own heart with a stake to avoid the bloodthirst, not wanting to kill innocents. Yet his brother’s many spells meant Victor could not die instead forced to exist as a ghost-vampire in the Crypt. Doctor Strange #12 saw Victor tricking the ghost dog Bats into switching places with him in the Crypt, freeing him into the Sanctum Santorum. While Victor sacrificed his life many years ago to avoid murdering an innocent, he still harbors great hatred for his brother Stephen and is willing to do almost anything to get revenge on the good Doctor for his many sins.

Doctor Strange’s Brother Is Used To Living In A Vampiric Body

After Blade stabs Doctor Strange, he bites his neck, turning the Sorcerer Supreme into a vampire. Clea, who could not rescue Stephen’s physical body, managed to extract his astral form, saving his soul and allowing him to fight another day. Victor could not manifest in the real world as a ghost fully, but now he has access to a “body without a mind,” his brother’s vacated vampiric form. To enact his revenge, Victor will possess the body of the vampire Doctor, giving him immense power and strength, a terrifying prospect for Stephen and any of his allies.

Stephen Strange’s heroic life has always had deep connections to the world of vampires, and his brother Victor is at the center of this blood-soaked thread. Victor Strange is back, inhabiting the empty body of his brother Doctor Strange, ready to unleash his anger on an

Doctor Strange #15 from Marvel Comics is available now in stores.