Warning: Spoilers for Blade: Red Band #1If they were to fight, Blade knows the perfect means for defeating Doctor Strange. Blade and Doctor Strange have been best friends for decades, proving to be one of possessed Blade killing Strange potentially being the final nail in the coffin for their friendship.
However, in a worst-case scenario, The Daywalker knows exactly how to beat Doctor Strange, as made evident in Blade: Red Band #1 by Bryan Hill, C.F. Villa, Java Tartaglia, and VC's Clayton Cowles. One would assume that following the Blood Hunt storyline this past summer, Blade vs. Doctor Strange is imminent, but considering the method and the speed at which Blade disposes of a fellow spellcaster, that fight might be a lot shorter than some readers may expect.
Surely, if Blade can defeat a master spellbinder with ease, he can defeat the master spellbinder with ease.
Blade Knows How to End a Spellcaster like Doctor Strange
If The Spells Need Be Spoken, Cut Out The Tongue
Blade: Red Band #1 comes off the heels of the "Blood Hunt" storyline, where the half-man half-vampire seemingly went rogue against the Avengers, starting with killing Doctor Strange. In time, it would be revealed that Blade was actually being possessed by his daughter, Bloodline, kill Varnae, Blade is still wracked with guilt over the damage done by his hand.
Marvel's Blood Hunt Just Turned Blade's Latest Series Into Essential Reading
Blood Hunt primes Blade as Marvel's new top villain, but his journey toward evil began with writer Bryan Hill's latest miniseries on the Daywalker.
As a result of his guilt, Blade places himself under a self-imposed exile, certain he deserves to be alone and punished for the crimes that Varnae did in his name. This brings readers straight into the opening of Blade: Red Band #1. As Blade exiles himself following his possession, he is sent for by The Spellguard to kill a mysterious man named Pontious Van Helsing. Damien, the Hand of the Spellguard, brings Blade to the Spellguard's cultist coven to explain who Pontious is, what he's been up to, and why he needs to be stopped.
Blade has no interest in these matters, and thus, the coven is ready to attack him for his disobedience. The Daywalker hacks and slashes through his foes with ease, leading himself back to Damien, or more specifically, his sword at Damien's neck. Blade asks the spellcaster one question, knowing the answer, "Your magic. You're a talker, right? Your power is in your voice?" One moment later, he slices Damien's throat. Not only does he kill Damien, but on the off-chance that Damien survives, he disables the source of his - and every magic 's - power.
Marvel Has Officially Made Blade & Doctor Strange Rivals
The Feud Between Vampire & Sorcerer Supreme, Explained
Blade and Doctor Strange's friendship has been well-documented, but in more recent times, they've been at odds with each other. It all started in Bryan Hill's 2023 Blade series, where the title character inadvertently unleashed quest for Lucifer's Lightbringer.
Strange was not amused by Blade's negligence in freeing Adana, nor like his wife Clea), but that doesn't change the fact they're not currently speaking.
A Blade vs. Doctor Strange Fight is Imminent
Who wins?
The fact that Blade finds himself at the center of Doctor Strange's conversation in the Avengers series seems to at least hint that a confrontation is inevitable between these two later down the line. There's a lot of unfinished business and words left unsaid between them, not only about the fallout of Blood Hunt, but the fallout of their encounter with The Adana. It may not necessarily be a physical confrontation, but it very well could be, and if it is, Blade: Red Band #1 shows that Blade is prepared.
As a magic specialist himself, Blade is well aware of how to combat a fellow sorcerer like Doctor Strange, but he wouldn't need to recite a spell of his own. He knows that a way to defeat a magician's magic is through his mouth. Strange often needs to recite his spells to unleash them, so it'll just take Blade's sword mastery skills to dispose of the former Sorceror Supreme. Blade may not be as quick to kill a friend as he was under Varnae's influence, but if push truly comes to shove between he and Doctor Strange, then he knows the easiest way to beat him.
Blade: Red Band #1 is on sale now from Marvel
