Summary

• Vampires invade the New York City during a terrifying event in The Amazing Spider-Man #49!
• Spider-Man battles blood-suckers in NYC streets as a villain turns into a vampire, posing a new threat.
• White Rabbit, a Z-list villain, becomes a vampire, making her a nightmarish and worthy adversary for Spider-Man.

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for The Amazing Spider-Man #49! The Marvel Universe is going through one of its most terrifying eras of all time during the ongoing Blood Hunt event, which has ushered in the age of vampires - and Spider-Man is on the front lines trying to take them down. While hordes of blood-suckers ravage the streets of New York City, one of Spidey’s lesser-known villains finds herself infected, joining the legions of the undead, and achieving a terrifying new form.

In a preview for The Amazing Spider-Man #49 by Zeb Wells and John Romita Jr., Spider-Man is swinging through the streets of New York, fighting vampires and saving humans wherever he can. The web-head comments on how, during a normal vampire-led assault on civilians, the best course of action would be to wait for the sun to rise. However, after it was revealed in Blood Hunt #1 that the sun was blocked out across the globe by darkforce energy, that method of defeating the vampires is off the table - which is lucky for one villain in particular: White Rabbit.

Before readers see Spider-Man bashing vampire heads, they are first taken to an anonymous bodega where a criminal named Kareem is checking on his partner, White Rabbit, as she was sent there to collect money from the owner. Readers follow Kareem through the eerie hallways of this New York building, as he ventures ever closer to the horrific supernatural threat that awaits him. When he finally finds White Rabbit, Kareem and readers alike discover that she has been turned into a vampire, making her far more threatening than she ever was before.

The Vampiric White Rabbit Might Actually Be a Threat to Spider-Man

Lorina Dodson aka White Rabbit was born into a wealthy family, married a wealthy old man (whom she murdered), and became even more wealthy as a result. However, money wasn’t the answer to her happiness, as Dodson decided she needed the excitement of a life of crime. So, with nearly unlimited funds to back her, Lorina Dodson became the eccentric NYC-based super-villain, White Rabbit.

White Rabbit has encountered Spider-Man a number of times throughout her history, most recently in Marvel Comics' Gang War event, but Spidey easily takes her down and barely pays her any mind, even during their conflicts. While White Rabbit has aligned herself with more powerful villains that Spider-Man has had some level of difficulty defeating, Lorina herself has never posed a significant threat. At least, until now, as becoming a vampire makes her legitimately dangerous, and may have been the perfect move for her character arc.

Spider-Man’s Z-List Villain, White Rabbit, Should Stay a Vampire After Blood Hunt

White Rabbit has always craved the life of a super-villain, and has even always felt uncomfortable in her own skin as a human, as she almost exclusively wears her White Rabbit costume at all times. Lorina wants more than what she was born with, and she has an inherent affinity for violence and villainy. In other words, she’s the perfect vampire recruit. Not only that, but mixing her ‘rabbit’ aesthetic with her desire to drink human blood turns this laughable Z-list Spider-Man villain into absolute nightmare fuel.

No matter how Blood Hunt ends, it’s clear that White Rabbit should remain a vampire, as she’s finally become a threat to Spider-Man while also fulfilling her own twisted desire to be a serious super-villain. But, even if her transformation comes undone by the end of this event, at least White Rabbit had the chance to experience it at all, becoming - if not but for a short time - more than just a Z-list Spider-Man villain.

The Amazing Spider-Man #49 by Marvel Comics is available May 8, 2024.