During Dark Reign, Norman Osborn puts together a new group of Avengers, recruiting Daken as his own Wolverine, letting him wear a version of his father's brown and tan costume. Cyclops sees him as a liability and plans to kill him with the Muramasa Blade to protect the image of the X-Men. It is revealed, however, that he agreed to join the Dark Avengers as a way to draw out Cyclops to take the Muramasa Blade from his possession. When the X-Men attack him, he takes a piece of the blade and brings it to the Tinkerer, who then bonds the metal to the claws on his wrists. After that, he is seen alongside the other Dark Avengers fighting Morganna le Fay's demons.
When Spider-Man enters Avengers Tower, pretending to be Mac Gargan, he is first ambushed by Daken who knew he was not Mac via scent. However, he is eventually incapacitated by Spider-Man after he pummeled Daken and threw him into an electric generator.
In Dark Reign: Sinister Spider-Man, Daken and Bullseye are sent by Norman Osborn to kill Mac Gargan. However, he is beaten badly by Gargan, when Mac threw him through a building.
In Dark Reign: The List – Punisher, after repeated failed attempts to kill Frank Castle, Norman Osborn sends Daken and a platoon of H.A.M.M.E.R. troops to complete this mission. After a bloody round of hand-to-hand combat, Daken dismembers and decapitates Castle, before kicking his remains from a rooftop. Castle's body parts are collected and spirited away by Moloids, seemingly operating under the protection of Man-Thing.
In Incredible Hulk #603, Bruce Banner lures his son Skaar into a fight between him and Daken. Daken uses his pheromones to calm Skaar down, reducing him to his human form. Skaar then asks Daken to kill him as he was guilty of the destruction he has caused back home, but Wolverine and Banner intervene. The two father-son teams battle, but the fight is stopped when Banner says that Skaar has learned his lesson and Daken abruptly leaves Wolverine behind.
Daken also becomes a member of Osborn's Dark X-Men. He also remains on the Dark Avengers team, though he takes the Dark X-Men's side in their quarrel with the Dark Avengers. When Bullseye asks him which side he was on, he replies that he "always did like playing for both teams."
However, Daken's loyalty to Osborn and true motives remain questionable, as Daken constantly mentions that "Osborn thinks I'm working for him". This puts him at odds with Bullseye and Ares. He secretly assists the Fantastic Four in helping them break into Avengers Tower to steal incriminating evidence against Osborn while trying to clear their name against Osborn, but was foiled by Bullseye. Ms. Marvel tried to psychoanalyze him and assuage her feelings for him, but Daken rebuked her and Osborn.
Read more about this topic: Daken, Fictional Character Biography
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