Where Blade Could Appear In Marvel's Cinematic Universe
With the legal rights to Blade safely back in Marvel's hands, here are several places the badass vampire hunter could pop up. If he does, hopefully he won't be played by Wesley Snipes, whose on-set meltdowns derailed the franchise in the first place with 2004's Blade: Trinity. It's definitely time for some new... blood? Wow, that was awful. Forget that happened. Moving on.
Captain America: Civil War
With Captain America: Civil War already introducing Black Panther and the new Spider-Man, along with basically cramming the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe into the film, what's one more character at that point? So don't be surprised to at least hear—if not, see—references to a trench coat-wearing vampire hunter as Captain America and Iron Man wage war against each other to determine the fate of the Avengers.
Doctor Strange
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has made it very clear that Marvel Phase 3 will focus heavily on magic, starting with Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange. The mystical flick, set for release in 2016, will reportedly feature a more horror-film type of tone, making it the perfect backdrop to introduce a secret vampire war being fought in the shadows.
Avengers: Infinity War
With Thanos set to wreak havoc across the entire Marvel universe, even more heroes are going to be needed to fight back against the power of the Infinity Gauntlet. And while it'd be a waste to drop Blade in as a foot soldier in the fight against Thanos, the Avengers are going to need all the help they can get, even if it's from a half-vampire who's really good at slicing up other vampires. That's gotta come in handy somewhere.
Marvel's Netflix Shows
Thanks to the success of Marvel's Daredevil on Netflix, a self-contained, street-level New York City has been built into the Marvel Cinematic Universe that already set the stage for the Punisher to prominently appear in season two of Daredevil. But he's not the only character who can fit smoothly into this world, thanks to Daredevil having also opened the door to more mystical elements of the Marvel Universe. The show has paved the way for Iron Fist, and is the ideal setting to drop Blade into. If you're fan of the character, this is where you want Blade to show up.
New Spider-Man Movies
While details surrounding the deal that allowed Marvel and Sony to "share" Spider-Man have been vague, his teased appearance in Captain America: Civil War plants him firmly in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so it's a safe bet to assume Spidey's new standalone films will be based there as well. And considering Blade has roots as a side-character in the Spider-Man comics in the first place, it'd make sense for Marvel to use Blade as a bargaining chip to get access to Sony's Spider-Man. That could make the new Spidey films just about as perfect a setting as plunking Blade into the Marvel Netflix version of New York City. Plus, it'd be a welcome change of pace to see Spidey team up with Blade to fight vampire Michael Morbius, rather than the same Spider-Man villains we've seen over and over again. Looking at you, Green Goblin.
A Solo Blade Movie
Marvel already has a full slate stretching all the way to 2019, so the odds of seeing a solo Blade movie before then are pretty slim. While, the character has proven to be box office gold when handled right, it'll still have been a full 20 years since his film debut, and we're talking about a third-tier character at best. Then again, Marvel turned the Guardians Of The Galaxy into a powerhouse franchise, and that movie's based on an obscure '70s space comic book only super-nerds knew about.
Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
And now for the worst possible place to introduce Blade: he could become a guest character on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It probably won't happen thanks to the show focusing entirely on the Inhumans. Then again, people forget Blade was the comic book movie that started the big superhero boom in the late '90s. If Agents of S.H.I.E.LD's ratings continue to drop, Marvel might use Blade to give the third season a hand—rather than relying on Agent Coulson's new robotic one.