Today's Fact
For eight issues the Mighty Avengers' mystery man hid behind two borrowed costumes — and the vampire hunter underneath was the last name anyone guessed.
When Thanos invaded during Infinity, Blade came out of hiding to ask his old friend Monica Rambeau for help against a cult called the Deathwalkers — but he could not be seen, because the Deathwalkers were hunting him. Rambeau's price for helping was that he join the fight for New York, so the two cobbled together a disguise from a costume shop: a garish pink-and-green knock-off suit with SPIDER HERO written across the chest.
Luke Cage's newly formed Mighty Avengers then upgraded the disguise, handing him the Ronin armour from what the team called a big box of Clint Barton's old stuff in Mighty Avengers Vol. 2 #4 (2013). Blade fought beside the Avengers for months as Ronin while only Rambeau and Cage knew who was under the mask — Marvel even hid the secret from readers, until a leaked script spoiled it in the press.
The Deathwalkers saw through the costume anyway. Their animal ninjas tracked Ronin to a safehouse, captured him for a sacrificial ritual, and in Mighty Avengers Vol. 2 #9 (2014) the mask finally came off in print: the masterless swordsman the Avengers had been fighting beside was Eric Brooks, the Daywalker, who had needed an Avenger's anonymity to survive his own war.
Why It's Obscure
A vampire hunter survived an Avengers run by borrowing Hawkeye's old identity and a joke shop's worst Spider-Man suit.
Gallery
The Avengers years — Blade on a Mighty Avengers cover, sword drawn against the Deathwalkers he was hiding from.
Sources
Every fact on this page was checked against at least two independent sources before publication.
Bullpen Bulletins
- Ewing Unmasks Mighty Avengers' Ronin — CBR Writer Al Ewing confirms the Ronin of Mighty Avengers #9 was Blade, hidden because the Deathwalkers were hunting him.
- Mighty Avengers Vol. 2 #4.INH — Marvel Database Records Spider-Hero's first appearance as Ronin, supplied by Luke Cage's team during Inhumanity.
- Blade (character) — Wikipedia Corroborates the Spider-Hero alias during Infinity and the Ronin identity that followed, with the reveal in Mighty Avengers.