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The first season of Loki contained several clues to the future of the MCU, and notably set up the prospect of the Multiverse for the franchise going forward. One key source of Easter Eggs was the “lost and found” drawer at the TVA, which contains various Infinity Stones, as well as some eclectic trinkets and weapons. However, Screen Rant have noticed an object that might tell us more about how long vampires have been around for in the MCU, foreshadowing the new Blade movie.
More specifically, we see a Byzantine cross from approximately 800 AD, raising the possibilities of vampires having existed in the Marvel universe for hundreds of years. Screen Rant’s interpretation of the crucifix is that it represents a weapon against the undead, and possibly ties into the history of the secret cabal shown to be behind the scenes of the world of the previous Blade films. Furthermore, this theory can be linked to Korg making a throwaway reference to bloodsuckers in Thor: Ragnarok, albeit in what was probably just a nod to Taika Waititi’s What We Do in the Shadows.
Of course, Loki also saw Mobius group vampires with the Kree and Titans, implying that they might be a major threat in later productions. How exactly they’re introduced, though, will depend if Marvel follows the Earth-616 route of them being created by the Elder God Chthon via scrolls that transform a member of the Darkholders cult into a vampire. Chthon’s Scrolls later became the Darkhold, which featured heavily in WandaVision, and could provide the origins for vampirism. What the appearance of the cross may indicate, though, is that vampires have already been around in at least one dimension for centuries.
There are also many different types of vampiric characters within the MCU, as well as those like Morbius who are technically vampire-like products of scientific experimentation, and apparently now getting closer to directly joining Phase 4 canon. Given that we’ll have a long wait for Mahershala Ali’s Blade, despite recent updates, it’s likely that there’ll be further glimpses of its backdrop, and maybe cameos from the character, before then. In addition, we may even be getting a tribute to the Wesley Snipes-starring Blade trilogy, with reports that the actor’s version of the Daywalker could fight Ali’s incarnation.