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The Midnight Sons were a team comprised of Marvel’s occult heroes in the 90s, and proved to be arguably better than DC’s Justice League Dark.
The Midnight Sons are a supernatural team of occult heroes who deal with the darkest corners of the Marvel Universe. In one way or another, each of the members have had “a taste of damnation” and are constantly drawn to fight it lest anybody else suffer the same fate. This gives the team, which is set to star in the upcoming video game Midnight Suns, a unifying grit that makes them more than Justice League Dark.
The Midnight Sons first came together during the ’90s event “Rise of the Midnight Sons.” Lilith, the Mother of Demons, intended to flood the Earth with an army of her children, the Lilin, by opening a portal to Hell. Danny Ketch started having nightmares about their invasion and went to Johnny Blaze for help. Together, they became the Spirits of Vengeance but were no match for Lilith and her brood. Luckily, Doctor Strange called together nine beings with connections to the supernatural. These nine heroes were the Nightstalkers (Blade, Hannibal King, and Frank Drake), the Darkhold Redeemers (Victoria Montesi, Louise Hastings, and Sam Buchanan), and Morbius the Living Vampire. With their powers combined, the Midnight Sons were able to drive Lilith and the Lilin back to Hell.
The final meeting of the original team occurred during “Siege of Darkness,” when the group again battled Lilith and Zarathos. The Spirits of Vengeance had mistakenly opened a portal to the Shadowside, where Lilith had been exiled. Lilith and the Lilin were slowly invading Earth through Cyprus Hill Cemetery. Doctor Strange, Vengeance and Caretaker joined the Midnight Sons to fight the demonic forces. Morbius became infected with Lilin blood and betrayed the Midnight Sons, forcing Strange to destroy the Sanctom Santorum to defeat him. Eventually, the team defeated Lilith but her role was taken up by Zarathos and his villainous Fallen. As they journey to defeat Zarathos, Blade obtained a magical sword called Justiciar. Blade used the sword to kill the leaders of the Fallen and turn Zarathos to stone.
The second iteration of the team was brought together in Marvel Zombies 4. A.R.M.O.R., the government agency in charge of policing alternate realities, tasked Morbius with recruiting a new team to stop the Hunger Virus from infecting the citizens of Earth-616. He brought together Werewolf by Night, Daimon Hellstrom, Jennifer Kale, and Man-Thing, who tracked down Simon Garth and Zombie Deadpool to Black Talon’s island. On the island, they managed to defeat a Dormammu-possessed Hood and contain the Hunger Virus in Simon Garth.
The third generation of the team got together in “Damnation.” After Doctor Strange revived Las Vegas, Mephisto’s Hotel Inferno made the people in the city revert to their primal instincts. He also turned Falcon, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel into Ghost Rider-like beings. Wong and Bats brought Moon Knight, Johnny Blaze, Blade, Man-Thing, Doctor Voodoo, Elsa Bloodstone, and Iron Fist together to become the new Midnight Sons, who were later joined by Scarlet Spider. This new team managed to defeat Mephisto and make Johnny Blaze the new King of Hell.
Because they’re a team of occult-based heroes, the Midnight Sons are easy to compare with the Justice League Dark. Not only do they both have swamp-based beings as core members, but Doctor Strange and John Constantine both serve as grizzled sorcerers with a penchant for getting in way in over their heads. But there are a few key differences as well.
The Justice League Dark are an official branch of the Justice League, while the Midnight Sons are a loose collection of “damned” heroes who stumbled into their positions. Another key difference is that the JLD always has backup in the form of the Justice League, while the Midnight Sons are Earth’s last line of defense against the supernatural. Finally, the JLD have never had their own video game. The newest iteration of the team has come together in Marvel’s Midnight Suns to once again defend the world from Lilith. Even though they have only appeared sparingly since they first came together, the Midnight Sons are ready at a moment’s notice to save the world from the darkest corners of the universe.
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