Warning: Spoilers for Blade #4!Because of one big mistake, Blade may have just lost his biggest supernatural asset in the fight against evil. The asset in question is Doctor Strange, someone with whom Blade has a long and storied history. The two are close enough to warrant Strange to go out of his way to protect Blade’s family with a spell he wouldn’t lend to just anyone. The two are that close.
Or, rather, they were that close, until Blade #4 by Bryan Hill, Valentina Pinti, Elena Casagrande, KJ Diaz, and VC’s Cory Petit. The issue marks another team-up between the title character and the Sorcerer Supreme, but compared to past on-panel collaborations, the latter is much colder and meaner to the latter.
It doesn’t read as much as outright dislike as much as Strange’s loss of respect for Blade.
Strange No Longer Respects Blade
At the start of the series, Blade unintentionally brings a new threat known as the Adana upon all reality. Letting the centuries-old creature loose on the world allows her the opportunity to kill Doctor Strange’s team of magicians using a dark alternative to Ghost Rider’s Penance Stare. This is how Strange gets involved at the end of Blade #3, where he admits to the Daywalker that he’s “not angry,” but “disappointed” in him. That disappointment bleeds into Blade #4, where Strange won’t stop making passive-aggressive comments, once suggesting that his killing of vampires is just “acting out childhood trauma.” He even says he liked Blade better when he was the sheriff of Vampire Town.
Blade and Strange’s Partnership May Be Over
At the issue’s end, Doctor Strange tells Blade that he cannot accompany Blade to the final battle between himself and Adana. Strange’s excuse is that he has seen the future and cannot interfere, but it would not be hard to imagine that in addition to that, Strange just can’t stand to be around Blade right now. He has made it painfully clear just how much he thinks Blade made a costly mistake. He may not hate the Daywalker for his actions, but he most certainly is disappointed and reminds Blade of that disappointment every chance he gets in this issue.
Blade and Doctor Strange’s relationship marks one of Marvel’s more underrated friendships, but Strange’s demeanor suggests that the friendship may be fractured moving forward. Given how useful Strange has proven to be in Blade’s life over the years, this is the last ally he could ever afford to use. Strange is a useful asset on any team, but especially within the world of the supernatural that Blade takes permanent residence in. He certainly proves useful during this train heist in the issue. Losing Doctor Strange as a crime-fighting partner neutralizes Blade’s arsenal against the supernatural for the worst.
Blade #4 is available now from Marvel Comics.
