Mephisto Hits a New Low as the Marvel Villain Unveils One of His Gnarliest Curses Yet

Warning: contains spoilers for Avengers Academy: Marvel's Voices Infinity Comic #26The demonic lord Mephisto has been behind some of the most heartbreaking and vile tragedies in Marvel Comics history, and his latest curse is no different and this time... he's keeping it in the family. Avengers Academy: Marvel's Voices Infinity Comic #26 sees Mephisto's son Blackheart punished by his father, stripped of his demonic powers and immortality, and forced to live as a mortal among humanity.

Blackheart has been a consistent villain since his debut in 1989's Daredevil #270, known for his many attempts to either take over the world with demonic armies or strip his father Mephisto of his power and sit on the throne of Hell himself.

Avengers Academy: Marvel's Voices Infinity Comic #26, from writer Anthony Oliviera and artist Bailie Rosenlund, follows Blackheart as he deals with the fallout from allowing the young Speed and Wiccan to live in the issue prior, angering his father Mephisto and damning himself to mortality.

Mephisto's Son Blackheart Has Been Transformed Into A Mortal

He failed his father for the last time...

Mephisto created the demon Blackheart from the accumulated dark energy gathered in the town of Christ's Crown, meaning that Blackheart was born from human darkness. The primordial evil entity called Mephisto has long ruled an extradimensional realm he calls "Hell" - although it is canonically not the Christian Hell - by tricking mortals into submitting their will to him, and while he enjoys ruling his realm, his true desire is to rule all of Earth. Blackheart was created to be an agent and assassin for Mephisto but has failed multiple times in the past, leading to Mephisto draining his powers and banishing him to Earth on at least two separate occasions.

While Mephisto has exiled Blackheart to Earth multiple times, he has never taken away his immortality, forcing the demon to live - and perhaps die - as a true mortal. Blackheart is typically shown to be evil, wicked, and conniving, making his good deeds in Avengers Academy all the stranger. The demon spares Billy and Tommy from Mephisto's wrath, keeping two pieces of his father's soul from him, which causes Mephisto great frustration. As punishment, Mephisto transforms Blackheart into a human, stripping away his demon form and revealing a human underneath, telling his son that he is to live among humanity until he comes crawling back to his father and Hell.

The Avengers Academy Students Are All About Forgiving Past Sins

Blackheart is now experiencing human feelings for the first time in his long life, and he has come to the gates of Avengers Academy to seek help... but what is he really after? Does Blackheart want to stay human and atone for his past, or does he simply want to manipulate the Academy heroes into restoring him back to power? The students of Avengers Academy are Marvel heroes, so they almost always want to believe in someone's inherent goodness, but working with Blackheart may reveal to them that everyone also lives with an inherent darkness.

Blackheart, while enjoying power and immortality, has always been jealous of the epic highs and lows humanity experiences. His father Mephisto is attempting to punish his son for failure, but at the end of the day, the demon lord of Hell may have actually given Blackheart his freedom.

Avengers Academy: Marvel's Voices Infinity Comic #26 from Marvel Comics is available now on the Marvel Unlimited app.