Marvel is Slowly Changing 1 Monster Hunting Hero, and Not for the Better

Elsa Bloodstone is known in the Marvel Universe as the “World’s Greatest Monster Hunter,” however, despite her profession and renowned skills, she has never been as hateful towards Marvel’s monsters as one may think – at least, until now. Lately, the famed monster hunter has suddenly begun to change her tune, going against a key character trait, and leaving fans to figure out why.

Blood Hunters #2 contains the story “Once More Into the Darkness, Part 2” – written by Erica Schultz, with art by Bernard Chang – which follows the all-woman vampire-hunting team known as the Blood Hunters. While the team’s main goal is to continue cleaning out the forces of Varnae’s vampire uprising, the majority of the super-heroic group are determined to save each willing vampire, not destroy them.

Elsa, however, in a complete turn against her character, is hellbent on killing every last vampire, regardless of if they’re friend or foe, including the obviously heroic Miles Morales.

Else Bloodstone’s Newfound Hatred Of Marvel’s Monsters Has Taken Her To A Dark Place

“Once More Into the Darkness, Part 2” From Blood Hunters #2–Written by Erica Schultz; Art By Bernard Chang; Marcel Maiolo; Lettering By Joe Caramagna

Elsa Bloodstone began her career after discovering her estranged father, Ulysses Bloodstone, was a monster hunter. While she initially followed in her father’s footsteps, indiscriminately killing every monster she came across, she eventually underwent a change of heart – which she’s seemingly regressed from – after reluctantly teaming up with Morbius, Manphibian, the Living Mummy, and the Werewolf by Night in the Legion of Monsters. By the miniseries’ end, Elsa had learned that most monsters wished to live alone in a society where they could be free to exist, a fact that became the cornerstone to her hunting philosophy.

Since then, Elsa has gone on to befriend a number of monsters, including Frankenstein’s Monster, and has even established an on-again, off-again romantic relationship with the Werewolf by Night, Jack Russell, which she is exploring in his ongoing series, Werewolf by Night (2024). Even closer to home, monstrosity runs in the monster hunter’s blood. For a significant time in the comics, Elsa’s brother, Cullen, was possessed by an interdimensional parasite that burst from Cullen’s body against the teenager’s will. Certainly, Elsa did not choose to kill her brother either.

Marvel Is Treading Into Dangerous Territory By Undoing A Core Trait Of Elsa Bloodstone’s Character

Her Blood Hunters Characterization Surprised Fans

As of the Blood Hunters series, it seems that Elsa has completely abandoned her sympathy towards monsterkind, even going as far as attempting to kill heroes inflicted by the vampiric curse. Meanwhile, her team, which consists of Dagger, the White Widow, and the villainous Hallows’ Eve, consistently tries to hold Elsa back. Dagger, on multiple occasions, has proven that she has the ability to purge the vampiric curse, saving the victims’ humanity, yet Elsa still commits to slaying them. For this character, who has spent a decade living with, loving, and training monsters, this new characterization is a complete betrayal.

Elsa Bloodstone is an aggressive, snarky, highly-trained monster hunter, but she’s not a cold-blooded killer. The entire point of the character is that she is able to see past anyone’s monstrous form to perceive the person inside. Yes, she still hunts Marvel’s monster population, and is proud to do it, but not in a way that clearly throws out her modern sense of morality, especially considering her current romantic relationship with Jack Russell. Elsa Bloodstone has over a decade of comics proving her to be a better person than what Blood Hunters is insistently attempting to portray her to be.

Blood Hunters #2 is available now from Marvel Comics.