With such an expansive Marvel Cinematic Universe currently existing, it may be easy for moviegoers – especially younger ones – to forget how important of a role Blade played in the history of comic book cinema, but those of us who’ve been around a little longer have some pretty fond memories.
Long story short, our favorite vampire hunter, who sadly never showed up to bring The Twilight Saga to a bloody end, stormed onto the scene in the late 1990’s and, in doing so, showed the mainstream that the funny books have more to offer than just Batman and Superman. Really, one could even say that it opened the door for Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man and Bryan Singer’s X-Men as the vanguard of a different sort of Marvel Age.
But since Disney acquired the cinematic rights to the Daywalker a few years back, Blade has unfortunately been collecting dust. Still, that doesn’t mean he’s been absent from the hearts and minds of True Believers, especially when a fan-made trailer for Blade 4 recently hit the web.
Though even if the franchise were to be picked up off the ground, the question remains as to who’ll inhabit the titular role. Of course, Wesley Snipes could still pull it off, but a new actor should be employed if a reboot is to occur, lest general audiences become confused.
Actually, Idris Elba was somewhat keen on the gig in 2010, remaining tight-lipped about what we now know to be his Heimdall role in a conversation with Total Film:
“I have a picture deal with [Marvel]. I can’t tell you much about that, but I can tell you I’ll be back. I wouldn’t mind having a crack at bringing Blade back, personally.”
This time, however, it’s Screen Rant that’s dusting off the topic, to which Elba seemed less enthused than before, saying:
“Blade…. Wesley [Snipes] killed that. No one can do Blade better than Wesley.”
From the sound of that, one would think Elba is quite comfortable in the skin of Heimdall, thus he doesn’t feel the need to play Blade. Regardless, it’d make zero sense for him to portray two distinctly different and prominent characters within a shared universe. But should a vampire problem arise in the MCU, we’re sure there’s a perfectly capable actor out there just waiting to be cast.
