Seriously, it’s been nearly six years since the MCU’s Mahershala Ali-led Blade project was announced at 2019’s San Diego Comic-Con, and it seems like a lost cause to many fans, unless there were one simple but effective concept that could pull it out of limbo. Back when Marvel first announced Blade, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was on top of the world, a franchise that could casually print $1 billion hits like the world’s winningest slot machine, and which had just scored the then-biggest box office hit of all time in Avengers: Endgame. While many fans are eager to point out that, Spider-Man: No Way Home’s Earth-shattering success aside, things haven’t been nearly as rosy for the MCU post-Endgame, but whether the MCU has hit its peak or not, it simply shouldn’t be this hard to get an action movie about a dude with sunglasses and a sword who hunts vampires off the ground.
Marvel has thrown everything and the kitchen sink into getting Blade rolling with a revolving door of directors and writers coming and going, with the project eventually being pulled from Marvel’s release slate altogether, with the OG Blade Wesley Snipes making a surprise comeback in Deadpool & Wolverine, even poking fun at Marvel Studios’ troubles with his one-liner “There’s only been Blade, there’s only ever gonna be one Blade”. But today, dear readers, I am here to report that I’ve cracked the code on how to bring the Daywalker back into the light again in a way guaranteed to make even the most jaded of Blade and Marvel fans happy. Marvel Studios, take note of the following template.
Blade Finds A Vampire Hideout & Goes To Work
Remember the opening of the original Blade, with Wesley Snipes’ vampire-slayer entering a vampire rave and taking down dozens of vampires in glorious, Hong Kong-style fight choreography. All the MCU Blade movie needs to do is extrapolate that one action sequence to two hours. It doesn’t even need to bother with an origin story beyond a simple narration of Blade being a human-vampire hybrid with all of their strengths and none of their weaknesses. By getting that out of the way upfront, Blade can get to the meat and potatoes of his latest vampire hunting mission, and it doesn’t have to be one of Earth-saving stakes, but just a single-location action movie.
In a nutshell, the Blade reboot should focus upon Mahershala Ali’s Blade locating a stronghold of vampires clustering in a hidden vampire safehouse, with the vampire population large enough to attract Blade’s attention and to pose a serious threat to him. With a handful of allies on his side, including his trusted partner Abraham Whistler, the Blade movie need focus on one thing and one thing only – Blade and his allies enter the vampire hideout, start slaying vampires, and all hell breaks loose in vampire war in the confines of the vampire-populated premises. With two hours of Blade-style Hong Kong-influence martial arts action culminating in an epic Blade vs. final boss showdown, Marvel Studios’ Blade movie has delivered everything audiences are eager to see from the Daywalker’s return.
If that sounds a lot like The Raid, that should be music to every Blade fan’s ears. Really, The Raid’s premise is perfect for a new Blade movie, dropping him into an apartment complex full of vampires and letting him slice and dice Nosferatu in a non-stop action movie. In point of fact, X-Men 97’s Beau DeMayo, one of many writers previously attached to Blade, has described one of his own pitches as bearing influences of The Raid, and it’s positively mind-boggling that Marvel turned it down. “The Raid with Blade” just sells itself, and as long as the right stunt team is on-board, such as some of the John Wick or general 87Eleven crew, Marvel’s Blade is sure to be an action-packed blast. “But how does this fit Blade himself into the larger MCU story?” you may ask. That’s where a good old-fashion end-credits scene comes in.
Blade Gets Recruited By Nick Fury To Help In Secret Wars
After two glorious hours of hack-and-slash, spin-kicking action with The Raid as its template, a weary Blade walks out of the vampire safehouse with Whistler and the surviving members of his team by his side as the sun rises on the blood-stained warriors. But they aren’t alone – awaiting them after the battle is none other than the Avengers liaison and superhero recruiter, Nick Fury.
Having already been tracking the vampire hunting activities of Blade for some time (and no doubt concerned by the new discovery of vampires existing in the MCU), Nick Fury grins to the poker-faced Blade, who demands to know what this mysterious super-spy wants. Fury then proceeds to say something along the lines of “There’s a storm coming from the furthest corners of the multiverse, Blade. We could really use a man with your talents on our side.”
And with that, Marvel Studios has done it – delivered the most kick-ass, action-packed Blade movie sans Wesley Snipes imaginable with the template of The Raid and a wholly standalone narrative, AND brought Blade into the fold as an MCU team player on the roster for Avengers: Secret Wars. Problem solved Marvel Studios – “The Raid with Blade”, get on it and watch that $100 million opening weekend drop right into your laps!
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