Though it certainly wasn’t without its faults, New Line’s Blade trilogy served up an overly faithful rendition of the fanged vampire hunter that ended far too soon with the release of David S. Goyer’s Blade: Trinity in 2004. And the Marvel fanbase has been quietly campaigning for a revival ever since.
For years, it seemed as though those cries had fallen on deaf ears, but when Blade‘s film rights reverted back to Marvel Studios in 2012, moviegoers began to stand up and take notice. One year later, we learned that Marvel had begun work on a script for Blade 4, which was later corroborated by Wesley Snipes himself, who assured viewers that both he and Marvel were trying to figure out the logistics of resurrecting Eric Brooks.
Indeed, last we reported, Kevin Feige went on record to say that there’s “nothing imminent” on the Blade front just yet, an anti-hero who he considers to be a “legacy character” of Marvel. But not all hope is lost.
In fact, if Underworld‘s Kate Beckinsale is to be believed, the Powers That Be have floated the possibility of a franchise crossover between Underworld and Blade, and that’s something that Stryder HD has latched on to in a big, big way.
Thanks to some slick editing and VFX work from VFX Nation and Heriyusf, the prominent YouTuber has produced a suitably dark, yet stylish trailer for Blade 4: Underworld. It’s the stuff of fan-fiction, really, but after more than 10 years on the sidelines, it only makes us long for the return of Snipes’ vampire hunter. Either that, or another actor in the role of Eric Brooks like, say, Jamie Foxx.
As you’ll see above, this is a whole new spin on Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan’s undead warrior, and we can only hope that Blade 4: Underworld can be the spark that helps reignite talk of a potential reboot.