Helstrom: How Marvel's Hulu Series Changed The Blood

Published Oct 23, 2020

Shawn S. Lealos is a freelance writer who received his Bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma with a minor in Film Studies. He has worked as a journalist for 25 years, starting in newspapers and magazines before moving to online media as the world changed. Shawn is a former member of the Society of Professional Journalists and a current voting member of the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle. He has work published on websites like The Huffington Post, Yahoo Movies, Chud, Renegade Cinema, and 411mania. Shawn is also a published author, with a non-fiction book about the Stephen King Dollar Baby Filmmakers and has begun work on a new fiction series as well. VisitShawn Lealos' website to learn more about his novel writing and follow him onTwitter @sslealos.

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WARNING: The following contains spoilers forHelstrom, now streaming on Hulu.

When Hulu and Marvel planned out the seriesHelstrom, it was not the only show coming to the streaming service. Along withHelstrom was a new version ofGhost Rider in the same Marvel world, and that might explain theexistence of The Blood inHelstrom.

The Blood was a group from the comic book world ofGhost Rider, and while it didn't have anything to do with the version seen inHelstrom, the two groups did share at least one similarity.

InHelstrom, The Blood is an ancient organization that has been hunting demons for years. While they are a secret group, the Catholic Church knows they exist and turns a blind eye to their doings. Worse than that, the Church actually calls on them to do their dirty work when things get bad. In this case, they were supposed to kill Ana and Daimon Helstrom when they were children to prevent them from becoming too powerful as adults. They were innocent kids who were human, but their father was a powerful demon, and the Church knew these kids would have some of their dad's demonic powers.

However, the kids remained alive thanks to one member of The Blood — a man known as Caretaker, who was also someone from Ghost Rider comics and not that of Helstrom. The entire goal of keeping these kids alive was keeping them separated and not letting them get back together. Daimon remained in Portland, caring for his mother while working for the Church. Ana was kept in San Francisco, going about her business, while Caretaker watched over her from a distance, showing up when she needed help. As long as the kids remained apart, The Blood was content to leave them alive. However, The Blood is not a good group, best described as killers, but in the name of God.

The Blood felt they did things humanely by putting the possessed into medically induced comas to remain there until they died. This kept the demons from going back to Hell, regrouping, and taking on another soul to kill again when they returned. However,Helstrom showed this was not humane, and it lessened what The Blood did. When they showed up to kill Daimon, it was the last straw, and the son of a demon showed them what real power looked like. However, this was not The Blood from the comics.

Caretaker was a member of The Blood from the comics. As he told Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch in the pages of Ghost Rider Vol. 6 #26 by Jason Aaron, Tan Eng Huat, Jose Villarrubia and Joe Caramagna, he was not there to be the Ghost Riders' caretaker. He was there to be a caretaker to the secrets of humanity and the world of demons. The Blood in the comics was not this mercenary organization of the Church. They were an actual race of ancient beings who supposedly supplied the first Earth-born Sorcerer Supreme 20,000 years ago. They also defeated Zarathos many years before, only to have many of them betray their ranks to serve him, renamed the Fallen.

However, there was one bigger connection to The Blood in Marvel Comics and the mercenaries in Hulu'sHelstrom. In Helstrom, their job was to keep Damion and Ana apart to keep them from becoming more powerful. In the comics, they had a very similar job. They had to keepJohnny Blaze and Danny Ketch apart, so the two Ghost Riders would never learn they were brothers and use their powers together. This was due to the Medallion of Power being split up and given to two families, the Badilino family and the family of Johnny Blaze and his sister Barbara Ketch. Much likeHelstrom, The Blood failed to keep the brothers, Johnny and Danny, apart, and, as with the Hulu show, the siblings were much more powerful together.

Marvel's Helstrom stars Tom Austen as Daimon Helstrom, Sydney Lemmon as Ana Helstrom, Elizabeth Marvel as Victoria Helstrom, Ariana Guerra as Gabriella Rossetti, Robert Wisdom as Caretaker, June Carryl as Louise Hastings and Alain Uy as Chris Yen. The series is now available in its entirety on Hulu.

KEEP READING: How Helstrom Ties Into the Marvel Cinematic Universe

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