X-Men Just Welcomed a Real-Life Vampire to Marvel’s Canon All Thanks to One Hero’s Dark History

Warning: Contains spoilers for Ultimate Universe: One Year In #1!An iconic hero of the X-Men has officially joined Marvel’s new Ultimate Universeas one of the victims of a sinister villain that has a truly creepy and vampiric way of acquiring power. It seems that Earth-6160’s mutants can be drained of their power via blood transfusions, and a member of evil Reed Richards’ assembly of world leaders has revealed their true power, which gives Sunspot a disturbing new history.

Ultimate Universe: One Year In #1 – written by Deniz Camp, with art by Jonas Scharf – Ultimate Emmanuel Da Costa is introduced as a South American leader, and a member of both the Hellfire Club and the collective of world-dominating villains, the Maker’s Council. When Emmanuel appears harnessing fiery abilities, it is revealed he actually uses his mutant son’s blood to give himself temporary superpowers.

Nick Fury even notes that his solar-powered son is just one of many Emmanuel drains blood from. This malevolent, vampiric twist makes Emmanuel a major Marvel villain, and gives the New Mutant a harrowing origin.

Earth-6160’s Sunspot Is Revealed As A ‘Blood Boy’, Creepily Used To Make His Evil Father More Powerful

Ultimate Universe: One Year In #1 – Written By Deniz Camp; Art By Jonas Scharf; Color By Mattia Iacono; Lettering By VC’s Travis Lanham

First debuting as part of Chris Claremont and Bob McLeod’s The New Mutants, and most recently getting adapted in projects like the X-Men ‘97 animated series, Sunspot has become a fan-favorite superhero, which makes his current status in the Ultimate Universe even more devastating. Though he isn’t explicitly namechecked as Roberto Da Costa in the Ultimate Universe: One Year In one-shot, the powers that Emmanuel has from his blood transfusions are clearly Sunspot’s mutant abilities. Attached to his villainous father via IV, Roberto is gaunt and sickly, clearly being drained of his power and life by his father’s vampire-like ways.

Emmanuel Da Costa, who debuted alongside his son in Marvel Graphic Novel #4, by Claremont and McLeod, has previously had some villainous tendencies. However, the character’s depiction in the current Ultimate Universe is his most evil yet. Earth-6160’s villains truly dominate the Universe, and Emmanuel’s display of power in Ultimate Universe: One Year In #1 officially makes him one of the world’s most terrifying antagonists. While actively harming his son to gain temporary access to his mutant abilities, Emmanuel even flexes this stolen power by using them to shockingly burn Nick Fury alive at the end of the one-shot.

Continuing an Ultimate Universe Trend Highlighting Real World Issues

Sunspot being a “blood boy” is a shocking development for the character, but it also strangely has some basis in a bizarre true story. Resembling Emmanuel’s new plot, a real-life tech mogul has recently gone viral for his familial blood plasma transfusions, spending millions on using his teen son’s transfusions as an anti-aging technique and also getting hit with creepy vampire comparisons. The Ultimate Universe has frequently been using its characters to make real world commentary, from the new take on the Helicarrier representing state-sanctioned violence and the bold new version of Hawkeye getting reimagined as an environmental activist.

The Da Costa family’s Earth-6160 update not only makes Emmanuel one of their most sinister villains, but could give Roberto a real hero’s journey if he can escape the clutches of his family and take his power into his own hands. Though the main continuity’s Sunspot has been somewhat short-changed by Marvel, his Ultimate counterpart has the potential to become a major player in the world moving forward. With this X-Men hero perhaps slated to join the Ultimates, this tragic version of Sunspot could expand his role in the Ultimate Universe by finally taking on his blood-draining father.

Ultimate Universe: One Year In #1is available now from Marvel Comics.