Not only was Blade a surprise hit for Marvel, its influence can still be found in some unexpected
places.
To honor that legacy, we're looking at how Blade changed superhero movies, even if you
didn't always notice.
Marvel characters have been hits on television since The Marvel Super Heroes cartoon debuted
in 1966.
But film success came much harder.
The first feature based on a Marvel comic was the infamous 1986 flop Howard the Duck,
and things somehow went downhill from there, with The Punisher and Captain America both
turned into low budget disasters.
It's enough to make any comic book fan sick.
“Would you please pull over the car, I am going to get sick."
"Uh, okay, alright."
That changed in the 90's, though, thanks to Blade, which became a certified hit, earning
over $70 million at the domestic box office.
Marvel itself, however, saw very little benefit from this financial boom.
Struggling to emerge from bankruptcy in the late 90's, Marvel only pocketed a measly $25,000
from Blade's success.
But even that had a silver lining.
After earning so little from Blade and other films like X-Men and Spider-Man, Marvel decided
to make their own film production company in order to retain all the profits from their
characters.
The result was the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which may never have existed without Blade.
Writer David S. Goyer has been behind some of the biggest superhero films ever, with
writing credits on the entire Dark Knight Trilogy, Man of Steel, and Batman v. Superman:
Dawn of Justice.
But he may never have had the chance to do those films if not for Blade.
"I wrote a script called Blade, and that script changed my career completely.
For the first time, I wrote a script without any editorial interference.”
It worked, and Goyer went on two write all three films in the Blade Trilogy, even directing
the final installment, Blade: Trinity.
"Take a look at this."
"You gotta be kidding me."
Gloomy vibes.
Night creatures.
Black leather.
Goth was big in the 1980's, but by the 90's, casual grunge styles, hip-hop culture, and
bright pop colors ruled the day.
Until Blade, that is!
Blade helped usher in a new wave of darker fare, with a sleek cinematic style that informed
both superhero films and Hollywood in general.
One doesn't need heightened senses to notice the direct line from Blade to the zombie action
of Resident Evil or the vampire vs. werewolf battles of the Underworld franchise.
Even The Matrix follows in Snipes' leather-clad footsteps, both in its shiny black aesthetic
and in its ideas of an underworld waging a war that humans can't see.
The tagline for the 1978 Superman movie starring Christopher Reeve boldly declared, "You'll
believe a man can fly."
We did.
But it also helped that everybody in the entire world already knew who Superman was.
And the same was true of the 1989 mega-hit Batman.
“I want you to tell all your friends about me."
"What are you?"
"I'm Batman!"
With other comic book films floundering, conventional wisdom in Hollywood was that only the biggest
and most famous superheroes could be successful at the box office.
Blade changed all that.
An obscure cult character even among comic book fans, the success of the film proved
that even c-list superheroes could be box office gold if the films were done right.
So if you liked Guardians of the Galaxy or Doctor Strange, you can thank Blade for blazing
the trail.
Hollywood also had another bit of conventional wisdom that proved to be a bunch of crap:
the idea that comic book movies were for kids.
Sure, Tim Burton's Batman had a darker aesthetic, but even that quickly made way for nipple
suits and bad puns.
“What killed the dinosaurs?
The ice age!"
Comic book fans, though, knew that there was a lot more depth in the source material.
There's a reason DC had to start putting a "mature readers" label on some of their comics
in the late 80's.
But until Blade, the film world felt that comic book movies were just silly stuff for
kids.
“Freeze!”
“Motherf----r, are you out of your damn mind?!"
Blade brought a darker, more grounded sense of realism and violence to comic book films.
It was the first character from the "Big Two" publishers, Marvel and DC, to arrive in American
theaters with an R rating.
And its success paved the way not only for more serious superhero treatments in mainstream
film, but also for a wave of R-rated comic book films, from Sin City to Deadpool to Logan.
Even Marvel's Netflix shows owe Blade a debt: look again at Daredevil's hard-hitting punches,
and you might spot a resemblance to Blade's bloodsucking melees.
Thank you, Blade!
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