In DC vs. Vampires, the DC Universe has discovered itself more and more corrupted and managed by the hordes that serve on the behest of their new grasp, an evil variant of Nightwing. However that is removed from the primary time a superhero universe has revealed how harmful a vampiric outbreak might actually be.
The world of DC vs. Vampires has some shocking similarities to worlds glimpsed in problems with What If…? that launched a variant of Wolverine who additionally turned Lord of the Vampires.
DC vs. Vampires’ most dramatic plot-twist got here with the revelation that on this world the place the undead had waged warfare in opposition to humanity, it was Nightwing who’d develop into the undisputed ruler of the vampires. Nightwing was in a position to flip many of the Justice League into his servants of the evening and take over the world. Fortunately, there may be nonetheless a heroic resistance, made up of the remaining heroes and villains who’ve thus far prevented being killed or corrupted. However Nightwing is not the primary time a variant of a well-liked hero turned a vampric lord and his Marvel counterpart nearly did a greater job.
What If…? #24 (by Roy Thomas, R.J.M. Lofficier, and Tom Morgan) launched a world the place the X-Males’s battle with Dracula resulted in failure. Defeated by the vampire, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Colossus had been turned and positioned below his thrall. However Wolverine, emboldened by his newfound lack of morality, was in a position to withstand this management. Wolverine succeeded Dracula as Lord of the Vampires after killing him.
Alongside the undead X-Males, Wolverine corrupted the New Mutants, Magneto, the Hellfire Membership, Freedom Power, and the Morlocks — creating a military that rapidly overtook remainder of the superhero group. It was solely Punisher who survived, guided by the spirit of Physician Unusual to try to use the Montesi Formulation to kill the vampires. Though he died within the try, the dying of Shadowcat struck Logan sufficient for him to regain his senses and recite the method himself, wiping out all vampires.
However in one other actuality featured in What If…? #37 (by Thomas, Lofficier, and Mark Pacella) Wolverine killed Fortress, and the X-Vampires proceed to unfold all over the world. He finally fought Mister Sinister and Madelyne Pryor, who set off the occasions of the Inferno. Because the X-Vampires held their very own in opposition to the armies of Limbo, Pryor entered an alliance with Dormammu. This pressured the X-Vampires to make use of the Darkhold to develop into highly effective sufficient to fight the Senseless Ones. However in change for serving to them achieve victory, Mister Sinister organized for the X-Vampires to be banished to a unique actuality (whereas their chief, Wolverine, was spirited away to participate within the “Time-Quake” storyline).
Wolverine and Nightwing’s vampiric identities are surprisingly related, each specializing in the indomitable affect each males have on the remainder of their respective universes. Nightwing would possibly even be heading in direction of the same ending, because it’s clear from his mercy for Alfred Pennyworth and the wounded Damian Wayne that he nonetheless has some semblance of feelings left. This was the identical factor that in the end doomed the primary Vampire Wolverine.
However whereas Nightwing organized his vampiric nation into an orderly and terrifying group that speaks to his time as a protege of Batman and chief of the Teen Titans, Wolverine’s X-Vampires are a much more chaotic and cruel horde of the undead. Greater than something, it speaks to how the characters’ variations might give their respective vampire armies distinctive attributes — however that the world’s destiny below such a state of affairs is at all times dire.