Contains Spoilers for Avengers (2023) #15!As vampires swarm the Marvel Universe in the publisher’s Blood Hunt event, Captain America has made some upgrades, turning his shield into the ultimate weapon against a villain he’s been fighting since the 1940s. There are few things more satisfying than witnessing a Nazi get their comeuppance, but seeing a Nazi vampire burn might just take the cake.

In a preview shared by AIPT for the upcoming Avengers #15, Captain America’s new silver-lined shield proves to be an effective deterrent against Baron Blood, his vampiric nemesis, who burns at its touch.

As seen in Avengers #14, Cap has upgraded his shield to combat the vampires swarming the world in the event Blood Hunt. With the main Avengers roster partially incapacitated and multiple heroes turned into vampires themselves, Cap has taken the lead of a new rag-tag Avengers team, sporting upgraded anti-vampire weaponry. Now, Baron Blood can’t even hold Cap’s shield without burning.

Captain America’s Upgraded Shield Helps Him Take Down Baron Blood

Blood Hunt #1– Written By Jed Mackay; Art By Pepe Larraz; Color by Marte Gracia; Lettering by Cory Petit

Interestingly, Blood Hunt is only the latest in Cap’s long history of fighting the supernatural, a surprising trend throughout the character’s nearly century-long history. The original Baron Blood, John Falsworth, was introduced in 1976’s Invaders (Vol. 1) #7 in a flashback story establishing him as a British aristocrat who turned himself into a vampire before joining the German military and eventually becoming a Nazi supersoldier. Like so many vampires, Falsworth has died and been resurrected multiple times, and he’s also had multiple successors. That said, his dialogue in Avengers #15 proves that this is the original.

Now he has joined the worldwide vampire takeover that’s ostensibly under the control of Blade, who appears to have turned evil. What will be fun about Captain America’s role in Blood Hunt will be finding out how Cap helps rally the Marvel Universe’s resistance against the vampires. Jed Mackay, writer of both Avengers and the main Blood Hunt title, has emphasized Cap as a symbol of hope, with Black Panther specifically sacrificing himself to save Sam Wilson’s Cap in Blood Hunt #1 because of the symbolic importance of him being the one to resist tyranny.

Captain America Is No Stronger To The Horror Side Of The Marvel Universe

Invaders (Vol. 1) #7 – Written By Roy Thomas; Art By Frank Robbins; Ink By Vince Colletta; Color By Phil Rachelson; Lettering By John Costanza.

For a character with a very sci-fi and military origin, Captain America has had a surprisingly long history with the supernatural. Even besides Baron Blood, Hydra itself has sometimes leaned into the occult, with a strain of Lovecraftian horror inherent in their organization. Then there was ‘Capwolf,’ from “Man and Wolf,” the famous story where Captain America was turned into a werewolf and teamed up with other Lupine-themed heroes. Even Cap’s current series, J Michael Straczynski’s Captain America, has featured Cap dealing with literal, metaphysical demons.

A large part of Captain America’s familiarity with the supernatural stems from his 1940s origin; it makes sense that during his early years, he would have been associated with other pulpy traditions of the time, including classic horror villains like vampires. It is actually surprising that “Captain America vs Nazi vampire” wasn’t an invention of the 1940s, or even the ‘70s, which witnessed a vampire renaissance, with Tomb of Dracula introducing characters like Blade and Marvel’s Dracula. As this upcoming boat against Baron Blood proves, Captain America is more than comfortable against horror monsters, especially with his new shield equipped.

Sources: Marvel Comics, AIPT