Blade (comics)

Publication history

Blade was introduced as a supporting character in Marvel Comics’ The Tomb of Dracula # 10 (July 1973), written by Marv Wolfman and penciled by Gene Colan . The artist recalled in 2003, “Marv told me how to be a black man, and we are talking about how he should dress, and how he should look – very heroic looking.” That was my input. […] The bandolier of blades – that was Marv’s idea.But, I dressed him up.I put the leather jacket on it and so on. ^[2] Colan based the character’s features on “a composite of black actors” including NFL football star-turned-actor Jim Brown . ^[2] He initially sported 1970s afro stylehair and wielded teak bladed knives. Blade appeared in most issues # 10-21, with additional appearances in # 24 and 28 (altogether ranging from July 1973 – Sept. 1974).

Wolfman recalled in 2009,

I knew him, Rachel and Frank and Quincy shine. I was also happy with my Blade dialogue, so I pulled him out of the book for awhile – I think almost a year – and when I got him back I played him a bit straighter. The early Blade dialogue was cliche ‘Marvel Black’ dialogue. Later on, I tried to make him more real. But it was growing up as a writer. ^[3]

Outside Tomb of Dracula , he fought the scientifically created vampire Morbius in the latter series in Adventure into Fear # 24 (Oct. 1974), in a story written by Steve Gerber and penciled by P. Craig Russell .

Blade’s first solo story came in Marvel’s black-and-white horror- comics magazine Vampire Tales # 8 (Dec. 1974), in an 11-page story by Wolfman and penciller-inker Tony DeZuniga . This feature continued in the following issue (Feb. 1975), with Wolfman and Chris Claremont co-scripting. Blade then appeared in a 56-page solo story in the black-and-white Marvel Preview magazine show # 3 (Sept. 1975), written by Claremont, with two chapters each drawn by DeZuniga and by Rico Rival. A six-page backup story by Wolfman and Colan followed in Marvel Preview # 8 (Fall 1976).

Blade next cam into prominence in the 1990s, Beginning with Ghost Rider # 28 (Aug. 1992), in the Midnight Sons imprint That included issues of Darkhold: Pages from the Book of Sins , Ghost Rider , Ghost Rider / Blaze : Spirits of Vengeance , Midnight Sons Unlimited , Morbius , and Nightstalkers . Blade co-starred in the 18-issue Nightstalkers , and Appeared With That team in a story in the anthology Midnight Sons Unlimited # 1 (April 1993). He appeared in two solo stories, in Midnight Sons Unlimited # 2 and 7 (July 1993 and Oct. 1994).

Following the cancellation of Nightstalkers , Blade : The Vampire Hunter # 1-10 (July 1994 – April 1995), written by Ian Edginton (with the last two issues by Terry Kavanagh ) and penciled by Doug Wheatley . Blade next appeared in a 12-page inventory story in issue # 1 (Feb. 1997) of the short-lived black and white anthology series Marvel: Shadows and Light . He then starred again in two solo one-shots: Blade: Crescent City Blues (March 1998), by writer Christopher Golden and penciller and co-creator Colan; and Blade: Sins of the Father (Oct. 1998), by writerMarc Andreyko and bartender Bart Sears.

Marvel next announced a six-issue miniseries , Blade (storyline: “Blade: Blood Allies”) by writer Don McGregor and Brian Hagen, but only # 1-3 (Nov. 1998 – Jan. 1999) were published. Marvel published a different six-issue miniseries later that year, Blade: Vampire Hunter (storyline: “Chaos (A)”; Dec. 1999 – May 2000), written and, except the last two issues, penciled by Bart Sears.

The next ongoing series, Blade vol. 2, by writer Christopher Hinz and artist Steve Pugh , ran six issues, published by Marvel MAX in 2002. Blade vol. 3, by writer Marc Guggenheim and penciller-inker Howard Chaykin , ran 12 issues (Sept. 2006 – Aug. 2007). The final two pages of the last issue were drawn by co-creator Colan.

Blade ½ (1999) by writer-artist Sears and inker Bill Sienkiewicz , bundled with issues of Wizard: The Comic Magazine # 2000; and Blade: Nightstalking (2005), a 22-page story by writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray and penciller Amanda Conner , is based New Line Cinema ‘s Blade films, and bundled with the Blade Trinity Deluxe Edition DVD . In addition, the second Blade movie was adapted to the Marvel comic Blade 2: Bloodhunt – The Official Comic Adaptation (April 2002) by writersSteve Gerber and David S. Goyer and penciller-inker Alberto Ponticelli.

Blade joined the cast of Captain Britain and MI: 13 beginning with issue # 5 (Nov. 2008).

In 2015, it was announced that Tim Seeley and Logan Faerber would be launching a new Blade series, starting in October 2015, as part of Marvel’s post- Secret Wars relaunch. However, this book has been delayed for an unspecified time. ^[4]

Fictional character biography

Early life and career

Blade (born Eric Brooks ) was born in a whorehouse in the Soho neighborhood of London , England in 1929. ^[5] Eric’s mother, Tara Brooks , was a prostitute at Madame Vanity’s Brothel. When Tara experienced severe labor complications, a doctor was summoned who was in actuality Deacon Frost , a vampireEric’s birth and killed her. However, this has inadvertently passed along certain enzymes in its own blood to the infant. This resulted in Eric’s quasi-vampiric abilities, including a greatly extended lifespan and the ability to sense supernatural creatures, as well as an immunity to complete vampirism. Brooks’ fellow prostitutes drove off Frost before he could kill the infant as well.

Eric grew up living at Vanity’s, and at age nine, returning home from school on December, he saw an old man being attacked by three vampires. Eric helped the old man, who used to kill the vampires and fight off the attackers. The man was Jamal Afari , a jazz trumpeter and vampire hunter who then moved into Vanity’s and trained the young Eric in both music and combat. Blade was soon able to defeat many of the weaker, younger vampires than he and Afari found in abundance. ^[5] Eric became an Olympic-level athlete and a formidable hand-to-hand fighter, with an expertise in edged weapons and such knives and daggers so much so that it earned him the nickname “Blade” among both his fellow hunters and the vampires they opposed, who began to fear the young hunter.

Blade’s victories made him cocky. He joined a street gang, the Bloodshadows, ^[6] headed by a much older and more powerful vampire than any Blade had met before, named Lamia. Blade barely defeated Lamia, and, doing her, lost her girlfriend Glory. The tragedy of the experience left Blade more determined than ever to dedicate his life to the complete extermination of vampires.

Afari himself later fell prey to Dracula , the first occurrence in an ongoing battle between Dracula and Blade. ^[7] Blade mercy-killed his mentor after Afari rose as a vampire, and tracked Dracula back to Europe , Asia Minor , and Asia , staking him many times, but never completely destroying him. ^[8] In China , Blade joined Ogun Strong’s vampire hunters, ^[7]which included Azu, Orji, and Musenda. Together, they staked Dracula again. Dracula survived, and killed all the hunters except Blade and Musenda, who eventually retired from vampire hunting. Orji had created a lasting impression on his vampires, leading to Blade adopting that weapon as his preferred arms. Consumed by grief for his fallen comrades, Blade resumed his quest alone.

Quincy Harker’s vampire-hunters

Blade finally located Dracula in Paris, where he first encountered the vampire hunter Quincy Harker , son of Jonathan Harker , whom he knew by reputation, and Harker’s vampire hunters: Rachel van Helsing , grand-granddaughter of Abraham Van Helsing , Taj Nital, and Frank Drake . ^[9] Because of his mercurial temperament, Blade had a strained but steady relationship with the group, allying himself with them on several occasions.

Later, after an unsuccessful battle with Dracula, ^[10] Blade realized he was immune to turning a vampire’s dick. ^[11] Armed with this knowledge, he left with Harker ^[12] and went after Deacon Frost alone. Blade later battled Dracula in London, ^[13] as well as Morbius, the Living Vampire , ^[14] and the Legion of the Dead, ^[15] Who _him_ framed for murder. ^[5] Blade also destroyed a band of vampire children. ^[16]

Blade’s hunt for His Mother’s killer led _him_ to Boston , Massachusetts , Where he allied with Dracula contre Doctor Sun . ^[17] Following this battle, Dracula withdrew, and Blade again set out on his own. ^[18]

He Eventually Encountered Hannibal King , a private detective Whom Deacon Frost HAD turned into a vampire. ^[19] While initially distrusting King, Blade teamed up with him to hunt Frost. Blade and King fought together against Blade’s evil doppelganger , who absorbed the real Blade. King enlisted the help of Daimon Hellstrom, the so-called Son of Satan , who exorcised Blade from the doppelganger and killed with King’s help. Blade and King eventually caught up with Frost, who had created an army of vampiric doppelgangers, one for each of his victims. Together, they shut down Frost for good, destroying Frost, and forging a lasting friendship. ^[20]

Blade, Rachel van Helsing, and Harold H. Harold later confronted Dracula. ^[21] Blade also saved Musela’s wife from becoming a vampire. ^[22]

The Nightstalkers

In later years, Blade, along with King and Drake, became a frequent ally of the sorcerer Doctor Strange , and the three assisted Strange in Battles with Dracula and the Darkholders and Assisted in the Casting of the Montesi Formula, which for a time destroyed all vampires on Earth. ^[23] Blade, King, and Drake then formed the private detective agency, Borderline Investigations, Inc., to fight supernatural threats. Alongside Doctor Strange, the three detectives battled the Darkholders again. ^[24] Blade also rescued his close friend Safron Caulder from the Darkholders. ^[25]

The agency discontinued after Drake left and was committed to a psychiatric hospital following a resurrected dracula . Doctor Strange later on the release of Blade so he could join Drake and King in reforming Borderline, Inc. as the Nightstalkers . Blade, King, and Drake were hired by the demonic Lilith to kill the second Ghost Rider and the non-powered John Blaze . The three Nightstalkers battled Meatmarket. ^[26] The Nightstalkers then teamed with Ghost Rider, Blaze, Morbius, Doctor Strange, and the Darkhold Redeemers to battle Lilith and her Lilin. ^[27]The Nightstalkers also battled other threats, such as HYDRA ‘s DOA. ^[28]

On the eventual weakening of the Montesi Formula, and the return of vampires, Blade encountered and staked to form ally, a now-vampiric Taj Nital, and survived a battle with the vampire Lord Varnae in which Drake and King appeared to have been killed. ^[29]

Daywalker

A solo vampire-hunter once again, Blade just joined forces with the mystic Bible John Carik , and encountered a vampire impersonating Deacon Frost and a once-again resurrected Dracula. Later, in New Orleans , Louisiana , Blade discovered that Hannibal King had survived, and the two joined forces to defeat a genuinely resurrected Frost. Blade remained active in New Orleans, defeating the vampire Ulysses Sojourner and his own trainer ally, Morbius, the Living Vampire , who was under Sojourner’s mental thrall. Blade followed Morbius to New York, where, while teamed with Spider-Man , Blade was bitten by Morbius. ^[30]Blade’s blood enzymes reacts unexpectedly with Morbius’s unique form of vampirism to grant Blade many vampire strengths while eliminating weaknesses inherent to a vampire, most notably the weakness to sunlight. It was at this time that Blade assumed the title of “Daywalker” among his prey.

The United Nations -sanctioned espionage agency SHIELD Sought to use Blade’s blood for Project: Silvereye, an attempt at cloning vampire operatives. Blade and the vampire-hunting twins Mosha and Mikado shut down the project. Blade later joined Noah Van Helsing, actually Noah Tremayne, Rachel Van Helsing’s adopted cousin, and several vampire hunters worldwide Dracula from becoming a god-like vampire lord. Blade then returned to New Orleans.

Blade re-Encountered Dracula, and Appeared to fully destroy the vampire once again, aboard the SHIELD Helicarrier Pericles V . Unbeknownst to Blade, his wealthy father, Lucas Cross, had been responsible for Dracula’s most recent resurrection. Cross later kidnapped Blade and attempted to force Blade to feed on a virgin girl in an attempt to fulfill a prophecy. Blade escaped after biting through his own hand. Later, Blade would feed a virgin after biting an evil vampire priest , Draconis. ^[31]

In exchange for undertaking a time travel adventure for the supervillain Doctor Doom , Doom Blade received from an elixir That Would purportedly cure a vampire of thirst for human blood goal aussi Would remove the bloodlust vampire hunters get for killing the undead. At the end of the series, Blade gave Hannibal King the elixir. During this time travel mission, Blade fulfilled another part of the prophecy by freeing his imprisoned father.

“Civil War” and beyond

During the Civil War storyline, in which the superheroes of the Marvel Universe were split over the Superhuman Registration Act , Blade registers and begins cooperating with SHIELD ^[32] This alliance allowed Blade access to SHIELD tech, gaining himself a “gun hand” to replace his missing one. Blade completes a prophecy he believes would give away all the vampires back their souls. ^[33]

Blade next leads a group of superhuman black-ops agents funded secretly by the US government, called the Vanguard , ^[34] of which the president is unaware. Blade receives a cybernetic replacement hand. The squad disbands after their cover is compromised, and Blade returns to the United Kingdom to join MI-13 in its fight against supernatural evil. ^[35] He soon afterwards stakes his new teammate, the vampire hero Spitfire . ^[35]Blade and Spitfire is a fierce battle, but the two have been forced to work together and seem to have formed an unlikely friendship. Blacy attempts to apologize to Spitfire for trying to kill her, but before it could finish she kisses him. ^[36]

During the Curse of the Mutants storyline, Blade appears in San Francisco to assist the X-Men in capturing a vampire specimen for the X-Club. He confirms Dracula’s death and reveals that his Xarus is the new Lord of Vampires, having united all of the vampire sects under a single flag. He immediately objects to Cyclops’s plan to resurrect Dracula stating “You do not dig up Hitler to get rid of Saddam Hussein “. ^[37] The conflict concluded with Dracula being resurrected despite Blade’s objections. Blade to kill the now-vampire Jubilee, but is forced to withdraw after a stand-off with Wolverine, who refuses to allow her to be staked, even as Blade warns the X-Men that they will eventually have to kill her. ^[38]

Blade was revealed to the Ronin identity as part of the Mighty Avengers team. ^[39]

Blade later appears in a small town hunting down a necromancer and ends up Confronting Gwenpool , Who Was hired to kill _him_. After Gwenpool explains that the dead residents are living peacefully, Blade leaves after he is not so much alive. ^[40]

During the Secret Empire storyline, Blade was shown to be trapped in Manhattan when it was isolated by a darkforce dome. Due to the vampire attacks at the time, Blade takes advantage of this vampire to protect the humans. ^[41]

Powers and abilities

Comics

Due to an enzyme in his blood stream resulting from his vampire while giving birth to him, Blade is immune to the bites of typical, supernatural vampires. At certain instances he also appeared immune to vampire hypnosis as well. He lacked superhuman physical attributes, however, and relied on his considerable skill and determination. Morbius , an atypical, scientifically created vampire, bit him and Blade was turned into something resembling a dhampir. Blade possesses superhuman strength, stamina, speed, agility, heightened senses, and a rapid healing factor that is alien substances (chemicals / viruses) in his body and eliminates any chance of being rendered helpless or unaffected by daylight and most other traditional vampire weaknesses. He is still very slowly and can preternaturally sense supernatural activity.

Blade is a master martial artist mastering styles like Boxing , Capoeira , Escrima , Jeet Kune Do , Hapkido , Jujutsu , Shotokan Karate , Kung Fu , and Ninjutsu . ^{[ volume & issue needed ]} He is also a skilled swordsman, marksman and street-fighter. He is adept in the use of throwing knives. He is highly knowledgeable about vampire lore and supernatural.

In “Dracula’s Gauntlet” Blade and Deadpool are surrounded by monsters and Blade threatens to turn into a deadpool Deadpool there to die. ^{[ volume & issue needed ]} He may have all vampire powers, but feel conflicted about the ones that make him seem less human. ^{[ volume & issue needed ]}

Film and television

In the movies and television series, Blade originated from Detroit, Michigan. Blade is depicted as having all of a vampire’s strengths and none of the weaknesses except for bloodthirst. Blade attempts to suppress the thirst with a serum, but during the first film his body develops a resistance to it. At the beginning of the second film, it is stated that Dr. Karen Jenson, from the first film, improved the serum, presumably in the time between the two films. Although he does not want to drink blood, he has been shown to be capable of it; The Whistler is a Blade, a Blade, a Blade, a Blade, a Blade, and a Blade. full strength as soon as possible.

Blade’s half-vampire Physiology results in being completely immune to silver, garlic, and sunlight. Blade has superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility, reflexes, and senses. He also has a healing factor that allows him to be healed to a greater extent than he does in the first days of his life. own. It is also mentioned in the first film that he ages like a human, while vampires age much slower. He is a master of martial arts , practices meditation , and can speak Czech , Russian, and to a degree the vampire language, and he has a great deal of knowledge about hunting vampires. It is seen in the television series that, while he is only half-vampire, Blade’s saliva still produces the enzyme that turns humans into vampires.

Equipment

Comics

According to his earliest appearances in the original The Tomb of Dracula comics, Blade relied on teakwood daggers which he used to impale opponents, and a variety of mahogany stakes. He was an excellent hand-to-hand fighter and knife-fighter. Later comics upgraded his arsenal significantly over the years, including a variety of different bladed weapons ranging from long swords to katanas, flamethrowers, and UV and silver-based weapons. He relates mainly to a double edged sword he carries on his back. He has had some success with these instruments, and has made some of the following steps. He would replace this with a new machine gun-sque firearm used in the field of his missing hand, which responds to different muscle twitches as an indication of reloading and firing, among other functions (including a grappling hook, which Blade describes his favorite feature). It also uses three different kinds of ammo. This weapon was created by SHIELD Blade also had an arsenal of EMP grenades.

Film and television

Much in the same way as in the comics, ^[42] in the movie series, Blade employs a stylized double edge sword as one of his main offense and defense tools. Although not much of a detail in the comics about the composition of the film, it is equipped with an acid-etched titanium blade, which has a security feature that will be released in the future. This is aborted by Blade, or others, who knew of the system by pushing a hidden switch in the sword’s hilt. The films also depict him wielding varieties of throwable “glaives” (boomerang-gold chakram-like weapons which return when thrown), different knives, silver stakes and firearms. He also uses specialized weapons, such as injectable injected canisters with anticoagulants which are explosively lethal to vampires and extendable injector spikes worn on the back of the hand.

Anime

Blade’s swordsmanship in particular is shown in Marvel Anime to be especially advanced. ^[43]Blade’s sword-style revolves mainly around his mastery of Yagu Shinkage-ryu, a kenjutsu art that can unleash powerful shockwaves or transparent wind blows from his sword swings, allowing him to blast or slice his opponents from a distance. The Yagu Shinkage-ryu also has three principle Yagyu techniques. The first technique “The First Blade: Residual Moon”, draws a small circle with the tip of his sword, producing a perfectly tangible after-image of himself for diversions. The second technique “The Second Blade: Phantom Moon”, involves a high-speed spin, allowing Blade to launch an omni-directional slash in rapid succession with such intensity, it sets his strike ablaze. The final technique, “The Third Blade: Chaotic Moon,” launches several shadow blades around the opponent, hiding the user

Other versions

Marvel Zombies

Nick Fury Explained to Blade and Those Who Joined the Resistance to the SHIELD Helicarrier how serious he believed the situation to be; that it was the end of the world. He also explained that whatever the stories of those assembled, they were all on the same side. However, Blade was later seen as one of the infected heroes. ^[44]

Ultimate Marvel

An alternate universe Blade of the Ultimate Marvel imprint appeared in Ultimate Spider-Man # 95, and had a cameo in Ultimate Spider-Man Special . This version, called “The Daywalker ” by the Bugle , has many small scars across his eyes and cheeks.

Spider-Man puts Blade when he was hunting a vampire in an alley. Believing Blade to be a gunman, Spider-Man webbed him to a person who thought it was an ordinary civilian, until the vampire attacked him. Blade freed himself and staked the creature, saving Spider-Man from being bitten. Blade then menaced Spider-Man with his superior strength and menacing vampiric appearance, which he would have attacked him again, he would “eat [his] heart for breakfast!” Shaken by this encounter, Spider-Man later took his discarded wooden stake as a memento of his discovery of the existence of vampires. ^[45]

Blade is one of the many heroes recruited by Nick Fury in Ultimate Comics: Avengers . When vampires started infecting superheroes, going from street-heroes such as the new Daredevil , to major heroes such as Nerd Hulk, and even Captain America , Blade became the center of attention as he infiltrated the Triskelion , where he fought the vampire Captain America. After repelling Captain America, Blade was taken into custody by SHIELDand questioned on the nature of the vampires and who was behind this. He explained how this was orchestrated by Anthony, another vampire hunter like Blade, who was turned into a vampire and put his mind into the world. As SHIELD and the Avengers were prepared to fight against the vampires, Blade was incarcerated below the Triskelion as he could not be trusted until the situation is over. When the vampires assaulted the Triskelion, Blade was let out by his handlers in confronting the Daredevil vampires and his master training stick . He was forced to retreat from the vampires as he was armed with Iron Man’s armor before being subdued and prepared to be beheaded by Daredevil. Fortunately, Captain America teleported the Triskelion to a daylight Iran where the vampires were incinerated, saving Blade in the process. ^[46]

Nick Fury managed to Convince Blade to join His Avengers by promising to deliver the recently captured Deacon Frost , the vampire who killed His mother and is Responsible For His condition to _him_. While attempting to intervene on an illegal sale of SHIELD Super-Soldiers, the Avengers were attacked by Tyrone Cash , but it was possible to hypnotize him before he could cause any real threat. Cash revealed that he was working for Carol Danvers . During the battle between the Avengers and the New Ultimates, Blade managed to capture Danvers briefly before being intercepted by the Black Widow. Iron Man intervenes to help Monica, but he crushes Blade not realizing he does not, in fact, have super-human invulnerability.^[47]

After being arrested by the New Ultimates, Blade and the rest of the Tyrone Cash’s avengers take over Serum and they gain massive strength and bulk bodies. When they confront Gregory Stark he easily overpowers them with his Nanite-based powers and sends them over the edge of USS Jimmy Carter . They later join the New Ultimates on their mission to South Korea to settle the civil unrest which Gregory engineered. ^[48]

Marv Wolfman lawsuit

In 1997 on the eve of the impending release of the Blade motion picture , Marv Wolfman sued Marvel Characters Inc. over ownership of all characters He Had created for Marvel Comics, Including Blade and Nova . ^[49] A ruling in Marvel’s favor was handed down on November 6, 2000. ^[49] Wolfman’s stance was that he had not signed work-for-hire contracts when he created characters including Blade and Nova. In a nonjury trial, the judge ruled that Marvel is more likely to be a victim of copyright. ^[50]

Reception

IGN ranked Blade as the most iconic hero to spring from the period of monster-themed stories. ^[51] UGO Networks placed Blade as one of the top heroes of entertainment “Blade has gotten to be props for being the most obscure Marvel character to get a movie deal … and television deal, too!” ^[52]

In other media

Television

• Blade appeared in the Spider-Man animated series episode “Neogenic Nightmare: Chapter 9: Blade the Vampire Hunter”, voiced by JD Hall . In this version of his origin, he was the son of a vampire man who had fallen in love with a human woman, who left Blade in foster care before she became a vampire herself. Blade also appears in the episodes: “The Immortal Vampire”; “Partners in Danger, Chapter 7: The Vampire Queen”; and the season-five episode “Secret Wars, Chapter 2: Gauntlet of the Red Skull”.
• Blade: The Series , a 2006 live-action series that aired on Spike TV and starred rapper / actor Kirk “Sticky Fingaz” Jones as Blade. The series dealt with Blade fighting an evil vampire named Marcus Van Sciver in Detroit , which is also Blade’s birthplace in this series. As in the movies, Blade’s birth name is Eric Brooks and his mother is named Vanessa. Here Blade’s father is Robert Brooks, who was raised to 12 years of age and became more apparent.

• Anime Marvel: Blade , voiced by Akio Ohtsuka in the Japanese version and by Harold Perrineau in the English dub while his younger self was by Junko Minagawa in the Japanese version by Noah Bentley in the English dub. ^[53] He spends the anime pursuing Deacon Frost (who was responsible for biting his mother) where he uncovers his secret organization called “The Existence.” In the past, Eric had to kill his vampire-converted mother in self-defense and was trained in vampire-hunting by Noah van Helsing and Tanba Yagyo. During his training with Tanba Yagyo, Eric puts Kikyo Mikage (who was already seen in Marvel Anime: Wolverine) who was also Tanba’s student and defeated him when Eric left Tanba’s residence.
• Blade appeared in the two-part Halloween special Ultimate Spider-Man episode “Blade and the Howling Commandos”, voiced by Terry Crews . ^[54] He is a muscular African-American man with tattoos of ancient runes on his scalp. Blade along with Spider-Man’s team battles an army of shadow vampires working for Dracula himself. He is a magical relic called Tekamentep’s Ankh at the hands of Director Nick Fury at any cost. It is a new member of Nick Fury’s Howling Commandos , but left the group.
• Blade appears in the Hulk and the Agents of SMASH episode “Hulking Commandos”, with Terry Crews reprising the role. ^[55] He appears as a member of the Howling Commandos. On Halloween, Blade is with the Howling Commandos where they are tasked by Nick Fury to apprehend the Agents of SMASH until a threat by Dormammu comes into a view.
• Blade appears in episodes 42, 43 and 51 of Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers , voiced by Hiroki Yasumoto .

Movies

• In 1998 , the New Line Movie Blade movie starred Wesley Snipes in the title role; Kris Kristofferson as Blade’s mentor Abraham Whistler ; and Stephen Dorff as Deacon Frost . The film was written by David S. Goyer and directed by Stephen Norrington. Blade, completely revamping the character’s demeanor, powers, and weaknesses. Traditionally, Blade was often presented as loquacious and boastful, yet in the film he is stoic and nearly silent. Rather than a normal human with immunity to vampire and vampire hypnosis, which is related to skill and ruthlessness, he is a superhuman with vampiric powers but none of the inherent weaknesses, with the exception of their thirst. To suppress his thirst, Whistler developed a serum, the original version being based on garlic and silver. The movie version of Blade is portrayed as an African American born in Detroit , Michigan , while the comic-books placed in England. In theBlade TV series, his activities take place in Detroit.
• Written by Goyer and directed by Guillermo del Toro , sequel followed in 2002 : Blade II . Blade joins forces with vampire overlord Eli Damaskinos to defeat a powerful new breed of vampire called Reapers led by Jared Nomak, revealed over the course of the film to be the result of Damaskinos attempting to create his own “Daywalkers”.
• The 2004 movie Blade: Trinity , written and directed by Goyer, published by Hann Reynolds and the Nightstalkers. Blade reluctantly joins forces with the group of vampire hunters led by Abigail Whistler ( Jessica Biel ), the estranged daughter of his old mentor, to destroy the first vampire, Dracula , who goes by the name “Drake” ( Dominic Purcell ), simultaneously using to get a virus that kills vampires in the local area,
• In July 2011, Marvel’s Joe Quesada CCO revealed that the rights to the character had been reverted to Marvel Studios . ^{[ citation needed ]} In May 2013, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Marvel had a script for a Blade feature. ^[56] In July 2015, Wesley Snipes stated that he had discussions with Marvel to reprise his role. ^[57] In October 2016, star of Underworld film series , Kate Beckinsale stated that the option of a Blade team-up had been discussed, but declined to the fact that Marvel Studios has plans to use Eric Brooks / Blade in theMarvel Cinematic Universe . ^[58]Kevin Feige later stated that there are currently no immediate plans for the character. ^[59]

Video games

• Blade is playable in Blade (for the PlayStation ) and Blade II (for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox ). A Color Game Boy Game was also produced titled Blade .
• Blade is an unlockable character in the action role-playing game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance , voiced by Khary Payton . ^[60] He can be unlocked by playing the game in Murderworld which Blade is trapped in.
• Blade is an unlockable character in the movie-based Ghost Rider video game , voiced by Fred Tatasciore .
• Khary Payton covers his role of Blade in Spider-Man: Friend or Foe . He is seen in a similar costume to the Kirk “Sticky Fingaz” Jones version of the character. Spider-Man encounters Blade in Stokerstov, Transylvania decimating the PHANTOM troops. Blade informs Spider-Man that he is hunting a creature with eyes like Spider-Man’s. Spider-Man figures out that the creature in question is Venom and convinces Blade to let him help.
• Blade appears in the PS2, PSP and Wii versions of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 , voiced again by Khary Payton.

Novels

• Blade briefly appears in the Anno Dracula series story “Andy Warhol’s Dracula: Anno Dracula 1978-1979”. ^[65]

Collected editions

• Blade: Black & White (material from Vampire Tales # 8-9, Marvel Preview # 3 and # 6, Blade: Crescent City Blues # 1, Marvel Shadows and Light # 1)
• Blade Max ( Blade vol.5, # 1-5)
• Blade Vol. 1: Undead Again ( Blade vol 6, # 1-6)
• Blade Vol. 2: Sins of the Father ( Blade 6, # 7-12)

References