Blood Hunt’s Gory Secrets: Uncovering the ‘Red Band’ Edition’s Extra Pages and Major Changes

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I like to occasionally share interesting facts about comic book history, and today I’m going to explain the difference between the standard version of the Blood Hunt crossover event and the “Red Band” edition.

Okay, so last year Marvel did this huge crossover event that I was totally hooked on! It was written by Jed MacKay, and the art by Pepe Larraz and Marte Gracia was amazing – Cory Petit did the lettering. Basically, it was a vampire invasion of Earth, but it wasn’t your typical vampire story. They had Varnae, the first vampire, take over Blade using this Darkforce energy, and he basically conquered the planet! It was pretty intense – a lot of people died, and they turned a bunch of heroes and villains into vampires. It was a wild ride!

Thanks to the combined efforts of Earth’s heroes—including a revived Moon Knight, Blade’s daughter Bloodline, and the unexpected new Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Doom (who stepped in after Doctor Strange was incapacitated)—they managed to repel the invasion and restore the sun. While most of those who had been transformed returned to normal, Miles Morales remained a vampire for a period of time. However, a significant development was that vampires are now immune to sunlight.

Marvel released special, more graphic versions of this comic series called “Red Band” editions. These weren’t available digitally or in collected print, and each issue was sealed in a plastic bag because of the added gore. Now that the series is over, I wanted to share what changed between the standard issues and the “Red Band” versions – sometimes the “Red Band” editions even included extra pages of story!

What were the changes in the first issue of Blood Hunt??

Okay, so I’m diving into these “Red Band” releases, and you’ll notice the logos are different each time, but I’m not going to keep pointing that out. Also, a lot of them have extra little bits of gore added into the background of the panels that weren’t in the regular versions – I’m skipping those details too. I’m only going to focus on the completely new pages in the Red Band issues and the big changes they made, that’s what I’m highlighting.

The extra page depicts Black Panther’s sacrifice, allowing the Avengers to escape an ambush by Varnaae’s vampire team. Unlike the original comic, where the attack on Black Panther happened without being shown, this version visually portrays a brutal and bloody assault.

The new page came before this one…

The film includes a graphic scene of intense violence in New York City, showing disturbing imagery like impaled bodies.

The first issue concludes with Blade – who is secretly controlled by Varnae, though readers don’t know this yet – apparently killing Doctor Strange.

In the “Red Band” edition, Strange is cut in half, and we see his intestines come flying out.

What were the changes in the second issue of Blood Hunt?

A strange difference appears early in the second issue. In the standard version, a mother uses a taser to defend her two children from vampires until Bloodline arrives to help. However, in the “Red Band” edition, the vampires are actually shown eating the mother while the children are terrified, and then Bloodline saves them. It’s a significant change! Even the dialogue differs: in the regular edition, the mother says, “I don’t think I have to ask you guys what it’s going to be, so: the hard way it is,” but in the “Red Band” version, she says, “You pieces of trash. You killed their mom…so the hard way it is.”

Weird.

Tigra, Hunter’s Moon, and Spider-Man (Miles Morales) paid Doctor Strange a visit, only to discover he’d been turned into a vampire and was bleeding.

While in the “Red Band” edition, his intestines are hanging out.

The Avengers battle the Bloodcoven once more. A scene shows Captain Marvel punching a vampire through the Darkforce barrier, exposing it to sunlight. The standard version shows this happening from afar, but the extended “Red Band” cut offers a more graphic depiction of the vampire being destroyed by the sun.

Okay, so I just found this extra scene – it’s pretty wild. One of the Bloodcoven guys actually pulls off his helmet, and underneath? Seriously creepy vampire face. It’s a bit much, honestly!

What were the changes in the midway point of Blood Hunt?

In the standard version of the story, learning about the destruction caused by Blade (which was actually Varnae controlling her father) takes up one page. However, the “Red Band” edition expands this to a full two-page spread, showing many more bodies and emphasizing the devastation.

This version seemed to have the smallest amount of changes compared to the standard release. I’m guessing they were starting to feel the pressure of the deadline at this stage. Creating an entire crossover is already incredibly challenging, and then adding extra gore on top of that must be really tough.

What were the changes in the penultimate issue of Blood Hunt?

Issue four gives some background on Varnae’s history, but a special edition called “Red Band” expands on that with a detailed two-page spread that reveals even more about his violent past.

In the regular comic, shows up with other “Dead Fists,” servants of Khonshu…

Later in the story, a two-page illustration shows the “Dead Fists” violently defeating vampires.

After #3 had the fewest amount of changes, #4 had the MOST changes since #1.

What were the changes in the final issue of Blood Hunt?

Okay, so the heroes are really going after the villains, and right before this awesome panel, there’s this huge, two-page spread of all these ‘Dead Knights’ just getting completely wrecked. It’s a really dramatic moment!

In the ‘Red Band’ version of Bloodline, after Miles Morales (as a vampire) and Bloodline stab Blade to free Varnae, there’s an additional page that’s surprisingly not much more violent. It mostly shows them holding Blade up with the sword – it’s a visually striking image, though.

Did you notice how Miles points out he can do this because he’s also descended from Blade? That line – “I’m your bloodline” – was actually moved and now appears on one of the bonus splash pages.

If you know of a cool or unusual comic book story you think I should cover, please email me at brianc@cbr.com!

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2025-10-21 19:43