Marvel Totally Missed the Best Blade Movie Setup 7 Years Ago

The MCU’s Blade movie has been in flux for years now, and while there is no telling what shape the movie will take, Marvel definitely missed a perfect setup seven years ago. Hypothetically, Blade should be a cool movie to make. All it takes is a leather-clad vampire hunter hunting vampires, and all kinds of stories can include these elements. However, amid the confusing production of Blade, now is the perfect time to revisit the MCU’s best missed opportunity.

Mahershala Ali will play Blade in the MCU, but years after this casting was announced, he still hasn’t been seen in live-action. The MCU’s Blade first appeared in the post-credits scene of Eternals, where his voice was heard from off-screen. Then, a multiversal version of the character appeared in Marvel Zombies, with this version being a cross between Blade and Moon Knight. While Wesley Snipes returned as the character in Deadpool & Wolverine, Mahershala Ali’s version of the character still hasn’t made his proper MCU debut.

The Blip Was The Perfect Opportunity To Introduce Blade’s Vampires

While there are plenty of ways to introduce vampires to the MCU, Avengers: Infinity War featured the best possibility. At the end of Infinity War, Thanos snaps his fingers with all of the Infinity Stones, wiping out half of all life in the universe. While this impacted basically every living species, one group that it probably wouldn’t have impacted is vampires.

One of the key traits of vampires is that they are undead, meaning that they obviously wouldn’t have been affected by Thanos’ snap. This means that, in relation to humans, the vampire population essentially doubled during the Blip. This means that the five-year period between Infinity War and Endgame would have been a time for vampires to thrive. The massive shift in human society could have allowed the vampires to take advantage of the chaos, killing more humans and growing their ranks.

A Blade movie set during this period would have been incredibly interesting, with it following Blade as he takes on the growing number of vampires. Blade has probably been operating in the background of the MCU for a while, but this larger threat would mean that it would make sense for a movie to finally focus on him at that point. This would have been a more epic Blade story than ever before, with it being a logical entry point for the character in the MCU.

Unfortunately, Blade wasn’t a top priority for the MCU during the events of Infinity War and Endgame, meaning that the franchise missed out on this opportunity. While there are other ways to introduce Blade in the MCU, this would have easily been the best way to tie him into the broader MCU’s story. Blade probably won’t have a massive impact on the overarching story, so this would have been a clever way to make an Avengers-level threat have an impact on Blade.

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The MCU Can Still Set Blade During The Blip

Although it would have made more sense for it to be released around the events of Endgame, the MCU could still release a Blade movie set during the Blip. Marvel hasn’t been afraid to revisit the Blip, as projects like Hawkeye have shown what characters were up to while half the universe was missing. A Blade movie set a few years before the MCU’s current day would be perfect, revisiting one of the most popular eras of the MCU.

Plus, having Blade set a few years early means that Blade’s later stories can be set up in a much better way. It is expected that Blade will lead the MCU’s Midnight Sons, explaining why he talks to Black Knight in the Eternals post-credits scene. Blade could have used the years between the Blip and Eternals to begin recruiting other supernatural superheroes, with him training and forming a proper team. More character development could have happened during this time jump, changing him from a solo character to a team leader.

However, this probably won’t happen. One of the original plans for Blade was that it was supposed to be a period piece, but this was eventually scrapped. The film has undoubtedly gone through a lot of changes, and nobody is sure what the MCU is doing with the character now. However, its production troubles mean that it will probably be a stand-alone film, allowing other MCU movies to not worry about when Blade will finally be released.

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