After Blade: Trinity‘s release back in 2004, it felt as if the Blade franchise was over for good. In 2008, franchise star Wesley Snipes went to prison (for three misdemeanor counts of failing to file tax returns) and that would lead most of us to assume that would be the final nail in the coffin. Only, Marvel has since become a force to reckon with and Blade is one of the more popular characters in the massive universe. The idea of Blade returning to the big (or small) screen now feels within the realm of possibility. As for Snipes biting into the role once again, well, the odds are stacked against him. Still, he’s keeping optimistic and allegedly has been working in secret with Marvel for the past few years on something Blade related.
“There are a lot of conversations going around right now and we’re very blessed to have the enthusiasm and interest in something coming from that world again,” Snipes told Vice when asked about another Blade. “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 with deciding which one they love the most.
“All the main execs [at Marvel] and my team, we’ve been discussing for the past two years,” he continues. “Everyone’s enthusiastic about it, everybody gets it. But they got a business to run and they gotta square the things that they gotta figure out before they can get to it, I guess. In the meantime, we got a business to run and our own slate of things to do so…
“But the next time you see something in [the Blade universe], mark my words: what we did before is child’s play compared to what we can do now.”
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Snipes is purposely vague here, but if you want to read into what he’s saying it sounds as if the character of Blade could return in a different project. Without knowing if New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. still own the rights, what if Marvel found a way to work Blade into Sony’s new universe, which begins with Venom and continues with Morbius, starring Jared Leto? Staying within Marvel’s own universe – Blade was often seen next to… Doctor Strange in the “Avengers of the Supernatural”. He’s also been in several crossovers including Civil War, which makes his integration simple. The question is, where do the rights dwell, and can Marvel find a way to work the character into new properties? This is getting interesting and Blade’s return is starting to see the light of day (ha).
