Blade (franchise)

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Lua error in Module:Infobox at line 235: malformed pattern (missing ']'). Blade is a film and television franchise based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, starring Wesley Snipes as Blade in the original trilogy, and Sticky Fingaz in the television series. The original trilogy was directed by Stephen Norrington, Guillermo del Toro and David S. Goyer, the latter of whom also wrote the films and served as a co-writer for the first and last two episodes of the television series. The original films and television series were distributed by New Line Cinema from 1998 to 2006.

The character was created in 1973 for Marvel Comics by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan as a supporting character in the 1970s comic The Tomb of Dracula. In the comic, Blade's mother was bitten by a vampire while she was in labor with Blade, rendering him immune to being turned into a vampire; following the release of Blade; the character was retroactively made into a dhampir and redesigned to match his film counterpart. A reboot within the continuity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is expected to be released on September 6, 2024 as part of Phase Five of the MCU, with Mahershala Ali in the title role.[2]

Films

Film U.S. release date Director(s) Screenwriter(s) Producer(s)
Blade August 21, 1998 Stephen Norrington David S. Goyer Robert Engelma Peter Frankfurt Wesley Snipes
Blade II March 22, 2002 Guillermo del Toro Patrick Palmer
Blade: Trinity December 8, 2004 David S. Goyer

Blade (1998)

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Main article: Blade (1998 film)

Blade grows up to become a vampire hunter, swearing vengeance on the creatures that killed his mother. He teams up with a man called Whistler, a retired vampire hunter and weapons expert.

Meanwhile, in the urban underworld, a feud is started between "pure-blood" vampires and those who had been human, but were "turned". Blade becomes aware of this and investigates further, uncovering a plot to raise the blood god La Magra, something he must stop at all costs.

Blade II (2002)

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Main article: Blade II

A rare mutation has occurred within the vampire community. "Reapers" are vampires so consumed with an insatiable bloodlust that they prey on vampires as well as humans, transforming victims who are unlucky enough to survive into Reapers themselves. Now their quickly expanding population threatens the existence of vampires, and soon there won't be enough humans in the world to satisfy their bloodlust. Blade, Whistler and an armory expert named Scud are curiously summoned by the Shadow Council. The council reluctantly admits that they are in a dire situation and they require Blade's assistance. Blade then tenuously enters into an alliance with The Bloodpack, an elite team of vampires who were trained in all modes of combat to defeat Blade. They'll use their skills instead to help wipe out the Reaper threat. Blade's team and the Bloodpack are the only line of defense which can prevent the Reaper population from wiping out the vampire and human populations.

Blade: Trinity (2004)

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Main article: Blade: Trinity

In the final installment of the series, the vampires succeed in framing Blade for the killing of a human (who was in fact a familiar being used as bait). Blade, now in the public's eye and wanted by the FBI, is forced to join forces with the Nightstalkers, a human clan of vampire hunters. Blade, Hannibal King, and Abigail Whistler go after Danica Talos, who has succeeded in locating and resurrecting Drake, also known as Dracula, the first vampire and by far the most powerful. In order to stop him, Blade has to release a virus that will wipe out all vampires, but being a dhampir, he must face the possibility of also dying as a result.

Cancelled projects

In October 2008, Blade director Stephen Norrington was confirmed to be developing a prequel trilogy to Blade, featuring Stephen Dorff reprising his role as Deacon Frost.[3][4] However, by August 2012, the film rights to Blade had reverted to Marvel Studios.[5]

In October 2016, star of the Underworld film series Kate Beckinsale stated that a crossover film between the franchises had been discussed as a sequel to Blade: Trinity with Snipes returning, but was declined because Marvel Studios had plans to introduce the character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.[6]

Marvel Cinematic Universe

In May 2013, Marvel had a working script for a new Blade film.[7] Snipes said in July 2015 that he hoped to reprise the role in any future film and had discussed this with Marvel.[8][9][10] At the San Diego Comic-Con 2019 held in July, Marvel Studios announced Blade reboot set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), with Mahershala Ali being cast as the title character.[11] At San Diego Comic-Con 2022, held in July, Marvel Studios announced their Blade film's release date as November 3, 2023, but was subsequently delayed to September 6, 2024 due to a change in the film's director, taking over the original release date of Deadpool 3.[12] The film is set to shoot in May 2023[13] at Trilith Studios in Fayetteville, Georgia.[14]

Television

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Blade: The Series (2006)

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Main article: Blade: The Series

In 2006, Spike TV aired a thirteen-episode series set after the events of Blade: Trinity, with Sticky Fingaz portraying Blade, replacing Snipes. Goyer (who wrote the scripts for all three of the films and directed the third film) also created the series.

Cast and crew

Cast

Character Films Television series
Blade Blade II Blade:
Trinity		 Blade:
The Series
1998 2002 2004 2006
Blade
Eric Brooks / The Daywalker		 Wesley Snipes Wesley Snipes
André Hyde-Braithwaite
(young)		 Wesley Snipes Sticky Fingaz
Jon Kent Ethridge
(young)
Abraham Whistler Kris Kristofferson Adrian Glynn McMorran
Deacon Frost
La Magra		 Stephen Dorff Mentioned
Dr. Karen Jenson N'Bushe Wright
Quinn Donal Logue
'Mercury' Arly Jover
Vanessa Brooks Sanaa Lathan
Racquel Traci Lords
Gitano Dragonetti Udo Kier
Eli Damaskinos Thomas Kretschmann
Jared Nomak Luke Goss
'Priest' Tony Curran
Nyssa Damaskinos Leonor Varela
Dieter Reinhardt Ron Perlman
Asad Danny John-Jules
'Snowman' Donnie Yen
'Chupa' Matt Schulze
'Scud' Norman Reedus
Dracula / Drake Mentioned Dominic Purcell
Abigail Whistler Jessica Biel
Hannibal King Ryan Reynolds
Danica Talos Parker Posey
Dr. Edgar Vance John Michael Higgins
Jarko Grimwood Triple H
Asher Talos Callum Keith Rennie
Krista Starr Jill Wagner
Shen Nelson Lee
Marcus Van Sciver Neil Jackson
'Chase' Jessica Gower
FBI Agent Ray Collins Larry Poindexter

Crew

Film Director Producer Writer Composer Cinematographer Editor
Blade Stephen Norrington Peter Frankfurt
Wesley Snipes
Robert Engelman
Andrew J. Horne		 David S. Goyer Mark Isham Theo van de Sande Paul Rubell
Blade II Guillermo del Toro Peter Frankfurt
Wesley Snipes
Patrick Palmer		 Marco Beltrami Gabriel Beristain Peter Amundson
Blade:
Trinity		 David S. Goyer Peter Frankfurt
Wesley Snipes
David S. Goyer
Lynn Harris		 Ramin Djawadi
The RZA		 Conrad Smart
Howard E. Smith

Reception

Box office performance

Film Release date Box office gross All time ranking Budget Reference
North America Other territories Worldwide North America
Blade August 21, 1998 $70,087,718 $61,095,812 $131,183,530 #724 $45 million [15][16]
Blade II March 22, 2002 $82,348,319 $72,661,713 $155,010,032 #558 $54 million [17]
Blade: Trinity December 8, 2004 $52,411,906 $76,493,460 $128,905,366 #1,036 $65 million [18]
Total $204,847,943 $210,250,985 $415,098,928 $164 million

Critical and public response

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Each film is linked to the "Critical response" section of its article.
<templatestyles src="Screen reader-only/styles.css" />Critical and public response of Blade
Film Critical Public
Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic CinemaScore
Blade Lua error in Module:Rotten_Tomatoes_data at line 72: invalid escape sequence near '"^'.[19] 47 (25 reviews)[20] A−[21]
Blade II Lua error in Module:Rotten_Tomatoes_data at line 72: invalid escape sequence near '"^'.[22] 52 (28 reviews)[23] B+[21]
Blade: Trinity Lua error in Module:Rotten_Tomatoes_data at line 72: invalid escape sequence near '"^'.[24] 38 (30 reviews)[25] B+[21]
Blade: The Series 50% (18 reviews)[26] 49 (15 reviews)[27] N/A

Music

Year Title Chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
U.S. U.S. R&B
1998 Blade: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture
  • Released: August 25, 1998
  • Label: TVT
 36 28
  • US: Gold
2002 Blade II: The Soundtrack
  • Released: March 19, 2002
  • Label: Virgin
 26 23
2004 Blade: Trinity (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
  • Released: November 23, 2004
  • Label: New Line
 – 68

Video games

References

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External links

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