Eric Brooks, the so-called daywalker who treads the line between mortal and immortal, has been on an unofficial hiatus since 2004, when David S. Goyer’s derivative Blade: Trinity almost sentenced the cult horror series to an early grave.
There’s still a palpable interest in the franchise, though, leading fans to theorize about Wesley Snipes and his inevitable successor. Such speculation has resulted in Anthony Mackie (Avengers: Infinity War) and Jamie Foxx (Baby Driver) being linked with a Blade reboot, but it seems a fourth movie is still on the table – even after all these years.
While discussing his own foray into superhero films with The Hollywood Reporter, including the Black Panther movie that never came to be, Snipes confirmed that, yes, he’s still “very much open” to the possibility of Blade 4, before acknowledging the groundswell of support for his second coming.
I am very much open to all of the possibilities. If Blade 4 comes along, that is a conversation we can have. And there are other characters in the Marvel universe that, if they want to invite me to play around with, I am with that too. I think the fans have a hunger for me to revisit the Blade character, so that could limit where they could place me as another character in that universe.
It’s by no means the first time that a fourth Blade movie has come up in conversation – nor is it likely to be the last – and at least according to Kevin Feige, there is still a future for Eric Brooks.
We still think he’s a great character. He’s a really fun character. We think this movie going into a different side of the universe would have the potential to have him pop up, but between the movies, the Netflix shows, the ABC shows there are so many opportunities for the character to pop up as you’re now seeing with Ghost Rider on ‘AGENTS of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ that rather than team up with another studio on that character let’s do something on our own. What that is? Where that will be? We’ll see. There is nothing imminent to my knowledge.
Chances are we’ll be waiting another two-to-three years before Marvel begins formulating its own Blade movie, as one need only look to the studio’s release schedule to realize that, at least for the time being, they have no shortage of comic book properties in development.
That immense, eye-watering slate was given a boost just before Christmas what with news that Disney is moving to acquire 20th Century Fox and its entertainment assets, and though the films rights for Blade had already reverted back to Marvel Studios by the time the historic merger was made official, it does open up the potential for R-rated movies at the House of Ideas – regardless of whether they’re incorporated into the MCU or not. And that’s something worth getting excited about.
