- Is Marvel getting ready to add Blade
to the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
In case you missed it, last week was the 20th anniversary
of Blade, the vampire movie that sliced its way
from comic book pages to the big screen,
kicking off the modern-day cinematic superhero craze.
While the film didn't get the greatest reviews from critics
when it first came out, it was enough of a box office hit
plus the support from fans showed Marvel
and other superhero movie-makers
that comic book characters were primed and ready
to grace our screens,
and now it looks like Marvel is considering officially
bringing the vampire hunter into the MCU.
Now, to celebrate the anniversary
of the vampire-slaying good guy,
Blade actor Wesley Snipes gave an interview to VICE
to talk all things Blade, the character's history,
the future of the role, as well as responding
to some of those stories we've heard from Patton Oswalt
about the drama that happened
on the set of the third film, Blade: Trinity.
Snipes, unsurprisingly, dismissed many of those rumors.
Now, Snipes also gave an update
to the future of the character,
saying that his team sat down with Marvel recently
to discuss whether there's a place for Blade
in the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe,
and apparently, there are plans coming
from the House of Ideas
on how to reintroduce the daywalker
to the modern MCU audience.
"All the main execs at Marvel and my team,
"we've been discussing for the past two years.
"We've created two projects
"that fit perfectly into this world, and,
"when people see them, I think they're only going
"to have a problem deciding which one they love the most."
Wow, so not one
but two possible plans to bring Blade into the MCU.
This actually sounds pretty legit and awesome.
Of course, with Marvel's busy slate of films coming up,
Snipes also commented that if and when this happens,
it will depend on if both Snipes'
and Marvel's schedules work out.
When asked about whether Blade could be rebooted
with another actor taking over the katanas,
Snipes seemed pretty intent
on staying in the black leather jacket himself,
saying that they'd have to find someone
with martial arts skills who can dance
and who can overcome everybody's preconceived idea
of who Blade is supposed to be.
Though not impossible, we do have to agree
that finding a new Blade who could check all of those boxes
plus reboot the franchise would be no easy task.
So, what does this all mean
for the future of Blade in the MCU?
Well, we could see Blade's MCU entry
happening one of two possible ways.
Option A would be to keep the original Blade films
as canon for the continuity of the character,
essentially retconning the existing Blade
cinematic stories into the MCU,
then bring back a current-day Blade,
either with a fourth Blade movie or via a supporting role
in another existing MCU franchise.
That is my personal favorite choice.
That option would mean that there have been
secret vampire wars happening
throughout the street-level MCU this entire time,
and the MCU regulars just haven't been aware of them,
which honestly is super awesome,
and vampires wouldn't be too far
from the increasingly mystical direction
that the MCU has been heading through
in the likes of Doctor Strange and the Sanctum Sanctorum.
Opening the supernatural doors of the MCU even wider
could also bring on characters
like Moon Knight, Mephisto, and Ghost Rider.
Sorry, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fans.
We wanna see Ghost Rider on the big screen.
(groaning)
(roaring)
Now, option B is a straight reboot
with or without Wesley Snipes back in the role.
If a reboot happens with Snipes as Blade,
then we could see him as a mentor
to a younger vampire hunter
who's taking over the vamp-slaying business,
maybe a son or a daughter,
which lends itself pretty nicely
to a Buffy the Vampire Slayer-type setup
where Blade is the watcher for a budding new slayer,
and really, Blade as a mentor character could work
for either version of a Blade MCU movie.
It might also be an easy way
to PG-ify the R-rated blood-soaked Blade franchise
for Disney's more family-friendly MCU.
But what do you folks think?
Should Blade be introed into the MCU as a PG film,
or would it work better
with the street-level Marvel heroes of Netflix?
And since Disney now owns Fox,
how likely is it that Disney will just go ahead
and make the new Buffy reboot part of the MCU too?
Let's discuss.
I hope to God they don't do that.
(upbeat electronic music)