Over the last two decades, I’m not sure any film studio has seen as much success as Marvel. Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War and Spider-Man: No Way Home all rank in the top ten of lifetime gross according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. Movies set within the Marvel cinematic universe are almost guaranteed to rake in the dough. Perhaps that’s what makes the studio’s troubles in getting a Blade reboot off the ground so frustrating. A return of the vampire-hunting Daywalker seems like a no brainer. After all, the film set the standard for what a Marvel film could be.
See, the comic publisher first tried film adaptations of their properties all the way back in the 80s. The spectacular failure of Howard the Duck remains legendary. It wasn’t until Blade released in 1998 that the studio saw their first big theatrical success with one of their titles. And it continues to sink its fangs into viewers. Currently, Blade sits atop Paramount+’s chart of most-streamed films this week.
What’s Blade About?
First appearing back in 1973 in comic The Tomb of Dracula #10, this film adaptation introduces us to Blade (Wesley Snipes). His mother bitten just before giving birth, he’s a rare half-vampire, half-human mortal. Born with a bloodsucker’s strength and the human ability to move in the daylight, he has made it his mission to hunt down every last vampire with the assistance of his mentor, Whistler (Kris Kristofferson). Meanwhile, creature of the night, Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff), plans on resurrecting a vampire god and obtaining ultimate power. If Blade can’t stop him, it’ll mean the bloodshed of every mortal on the planet.
A Bloody Banger of a Bloodsucker Film
Directed by Stephen Norrington (Death Machine) and adapted for the screen by David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight), Blade made it rain (blood) at the box office. Action-packed. Soaked in gore. And cloaked in a stylish package of slick camerawork and 90s goth aesthetic, this film rules. Never mind the icon status of featuring one of if not the earliest examples of a Black superhero on film, played with pitch-perfect charisma by Snipes. I’d even go as far as to say that to this day, Blade still has the sharpest opening of any Marvel property. The Daywalker crashing a vampire nightclub while sprinklers shower everyone in blood, set to a techno banger? Modern Marvel films wish they had even half that energy.
At Dread, DeVaughn Taylor described Blade as, “the godfather of the modern superhero genre”.
So, you wouldn’t think getting a reboot of Blade off the ground would be difficult, but you’d be dead wrong. Marvel announced they’d be raising the Daywalker from his coffin back in 2019. Multiple attempts later, and the film still doesn’t have a confirmed writer or director. Mahershala Ali remains the only constant, attached to play the titular character. Most fans might say, come on, it’s Blade, just have him fight vampires and we’re good. Easy. But producer Kevin Feige feels differently. He recently told Variety, “We didn’t want to simply just put a leather outfit on him and have him start killing vampires. It had to be unique”.
Whatever that unique take turns out to be, we’ll have to wait and see. For now, the 1998 Blade continues to demonstrate that the fanbase is thirsty for more with the film topping the charts on Paramount+.
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