Tag: Blade

Anthony Mackie Wants to Spend Time in ‘Blade’s World

Marvel Studios is about t expand in many different ways. They finally started their new venture into Disney+ with WandaVision and the upcoming The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. There is also the exploration of a darker side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Moon Knight and Blade. Especially the latter opens up a whole new avenue for the franchise. In the latest press event for the second Disney+ show, Falcon’s Anthony Mackie was asked what future project he is most excited about, and he then revealed that he wants to be involved with

I would really like to, Kevin, spend some time in Blade world.

Anthony Mackie and Mahershala Ali would make for a fantastic duo in the MCU, which could be the focus of a future project. They wouldn’t introduce the vampire hunter without any plans for a crossover. I do love how he points out to Kevin Feige what he wants to happen. It’s going to be interesting how Blade’s world will get introduced into the MCU. We haven’t seen anything related to vampires yet, so they could be a rather new introduction t this world. In the comics, vampires were created through the Darkhold, so they could focus strongly on the magical connection. It wouldn’t be surprising for an Avenger to get involved once they start noticing more attacks. So, it is only a question of time before they start getting heavily involved in the more supernatural world of the MCU.

March 14, 2021
Blade Creator Marv Wolfman “Looking Forward” to Seeing the MCU Reboot…Next Year

Comic Book writer and Blade creator, Marv Wolfman, took to social media yesterday to express his excitement over seeing his comic book creations coming to life in other forms of media beyond the pages of the comic book. With the upcoming release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, “the writer-daddy” of characters like Cyborg and Deathstroke talked about how he was looking forward to the film’s debut on HBO Max, reminiscing on his past of creating those characters and feeling “gratified” about managing to live out his childhood dreams. Among his statements, he talked about how many of his dreams came true with last year’s premiere of Crisis On Infinite Earths on the CW, next week with Justice League, and next year with Blade. You can read his entire statement below.

Now that last part is very interesting as Wolfman believes that Blade might premiere in 2022. If history has taught us anything it’s that not every comic book creator is always entirely aware of the plans for their creations, so this is certainly not iron-clad proof that we’ll see the vampire slayer next year. However, our very own Charles Murphy has talked a lot about this before, stating that Blade is set to start production sometime later this year. With casting already well underway and the playwright Stacey Osei-Koffour penning the script for the MCU, it’s becoming more likely than not that we might see Mahershala Ali debut as the famous vampire slayer on the big screen sometime in 2022.

March 11, 2021
‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Release Date Leak May Hint at Marvel Studios’ 2023 Line-Up

Marvel Studios has once again mapped out their projects years in advance. Even with the pandemic shifting everything by one year, we still have plenty to look forward to. During Disney’s Investors Day, we got a good look at the future of this franchise. They announced various films and Disney+ shows. Alongside them, we also got some release dates, such as Black Panther and Captain Marvel 2 eyeing a 2022 release. Now, the interesting thing to note is that these films will release in July and November respectively. At one point, a comment by Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania director, Peyton Reed, hinted at it also eyeing a potential 2022 release date.
Yet, once the Investor’s Day rolled around, that seemed to have changed. The curious placement of Blade between the previously-mentioned titles points to it releasing in 2022. Keep in mind that it still has no official release date just yet. Helping that fact is that casting has already started for the film, as revealed a few days ago. There was always the risk of delays due to the pandemic. Even Black Widow‘s one-year delay may potentially get pushed back once again. Still, it would hint at 2022 consisting of five films, which will be kicked off in March with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Charles Murphy also had a similar prediction for 2022 based on similar information. Anything beyond that release date remained speculation.

Well, it looks like the site Cines Argentinos, who has been reliable in the past, may have accidentally unveiled the release date for the threequel. They have set the third entry in the Ant-Man franchise for February 16th in 2023. It makes sense with its placement in the fact sheet after Captain Marvel 2, which was already releasing as the potential fifth film in 2022. There is also the production that would line-up with this release date, as according to Evangeline Lilly, it will not enter production until the summer of this year. Film productions might try to plan in as much time as possible, especially as we’re still seeing temporary shutdowns due to the pandemic.

This leak connected with the fact sheet makes it a bit easier to predict when they might release. The release order according to the fact sheet would place the long-awaited threequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, in their usual May release slot. It is the only film confirmed for a 2023 release. Following it, Jon Watt‘s Fantastic Four would take one of the other 2023 release dates. 2023 has release dates slated in July and November, so it depends on how fast Marvel Studiospulls things together. Marvel Studios has been releasing information in smaller chunks rather than the entire phase in one go, as they did back in the day with Phase 3. So, we might get some official confirmations by the end of the year during the next Disney Investor’s Day for their 2023 line-up.

Source: Walt Disney, Investor’s Day Fact Sheet, Collider, Slash Film, The Hollywood Reporter, Cines Argentinos, NME

March 7, 2021
REPORT: ‘Blade’ Reboot Casting Supporting Roles Ahead of Fall Production Start

Just two days ago, we got the first casting details for the upcoming adaptation of Blade. The Mahershala Ali-led project will introduce the Marvel Cinematic Universe to the mystical world of vampires. It will be the second adaptation since Wesley Snipes tackled the role back in 1993. The seemed to hint at the addition of his daughter. She was a character that almost made her comic debut in 2015. Now, POC Culture revealed that Marvel Studios is casting two African-American female roles for an upcoming project. They do hint that there is a possibility they might also be for Black Panther, but it seems pretty likely, going by the descriptions, these belong to Blade.

Marvel is trying to cast an African-American woman in the age range of 20 to 35 to play Betsy. She aspires to become a heroine, and it seems that her role requests comedic chops from the stress. She would appear alongside Lucy, who is in a similar age range. She is on the run after her mother passed away under mysterious circumstances and living off the grid. It would make sense that the strange occurrence might get tied to a vampire attack, which some might not even believe in a world filled with heroes.

These characters might have a connection to Ruby, who was the focus of the last casting reveal. They are older, but she could accidentally get involved as the “mysterious circumstance” makes its return to haunt Lucy. It could be how she gets involved as a major supporting character and what leads to her meeting Ali‘s Blade. We still know very little about the story, so it is only speculation. With casting underway, we will hopefully find out who will direct the film in the coming weeks.

Source: POC Culture

March 4, 2021
How Marvel Studios ‘BLADE’ Could Bring Fallon Grey to Life in the MCU

Once upon a time, writer Tim Seeley and artist Logan Faerber were set to usher in a new era for Blade in Marvel’s comic book universe. The duo had created a new character, by the name of Fallon Grey, who would be introduced as the iconic vampire hunter’s teenage daughter. The concept behind the story excited a lot of fans, but many took issue with the idea of an all-white, all-male creative team telling the story of a young black woman. With pressure mounting from the backlash, Seeley and Faerber both departed the project and Marvel cancelled the book before it was ever released. As such, Fallon Grey never got to make her much-anticipated debut and faded into the obscurity of “what if” concepts. She remained in this obscurity until quite recently, when a surprising casting grid for Marvel Studios’ Blade revealed the production team was searching for a spunky 15-year old girl. Blade doesn’t have a long history of paling around with teenagers, so who could this young person be? Here at Murphy’s Multiverse, we think Kevin Feige and company might be interested in giving Fallon a second chance. If this is true, the question shifts from “who” to “how”, and there are two major possibilities that could answer that query.

Let’s start with the origin Fallon was supposed to have in the comics. When the character was announced at Comic-Con 2015, she came with the following log line:

Fallon Grey is a sixteen year old girl from rural Oregon. Nominated for Prom Queen, Captain of the debate team, most popular girl in her class. But there is another side to Fallon. A feeling like there’s something more inside of her. When terror strikes her small town, she’ll find out just how right she was. As fearsome supernatural forces hunt Fallon, she’ll come face to face with something even more shocking than the monsters on her tail. Eric Brooks…Blade…her father?! And in each other, they’ll discover the purpose they’ve each been struggling to find.

This unused plot seems almost tailor-made for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We know that Marvel Studios loves to tell stories about characters discovering they’re part of a larger world, and with heroes like Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel coming to the forefront of the franchise, we know they have a specific interest in doing it with young folk. One can assume that with a man of Mahershala Ali‘s stature in the title role, we’ll be getting a Blade who’s been around killing vampires for a while. Using the aforementioned origin for Fallon, and making her the actual protagonist of the story, would slip her into the role of audience surrogate quite nicely. We would learn about Blade and his mission to rid the world of vampires right alongside his daughter. Also, setting the bulk of the story in a small town invaded by bloodsuckers, a la 30 Days of Night, is a good way to show how the monsters and their hunter could have been waging this war for so long without anyone knowing, all while maintaining a firm hold on the horror genre. The plot could then end with Fallon accepting her role as a vampire killer, and leaving her suburban paradise to join her father as a new Blade. While this seems like a likely approach to introducing Grey, there is a possibility Marvel gives us a version of the Buffy-esque hero who is already working side-by-side with her father when we meet her. If that’s the case, the studio could find inspiration in a separate comic character they’ve shown interest in adapting before.

Elsa Bloodstone, a member of Marvel’s horror roster created by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning in 2001, would coincidentally be a perfect template for a re-imagining of Blade in the MCU. In the comics, Elsa is the daughter of little-known bronze age monster hunter Ulysses Bloodstone. Much like her pop, she grows up to become a proficient killer of things that go bump in the night and has since found herself becoming a member of teams like the Midnight Sons and the Astonishing Avengers. Unfortunately for Elsa, she had a less-than-ideal childhood dealing with a strict and abusive father intent on making her a killing machine. Now, Marvel Studios probably wouldn’t stoop to making Blade an abusive dad, but I don’t think anybody has ever described the character as “soft” or “loving”. It would stand to reason that if Fallon is brought to the big screen having been raised by Eric Brooks, she would have dealt with her fair share of stern scolding. Since Fallon technically has no pre-existing character traits, they could just make her a loose adaptation of Elsa. Portray the young protagonist as a talented vampire hunter, in a strained relationship with the man who didn’t know how to raise her, and tell the story of their re-connection. Marvel Studios could even have Fallon be more of a general monster hunter instead of being specific to vampires, separating her a little from Blade so they can co-exist more easily in the MCU going forward.

March 3, 2021
‘Blade’ Casting May Hint at the MCU Debut of His Daughter

Just today, we got our first casting detail for Marvel Studios’ upcoming Blade film. It describes that the studio is looking to add a character named Ruby, a teenager described as “thoughtful, serious, and burdened by growing up in a complex world.” It’s a curious casting choice, especially with them trying to cast the character so early. It made our gears turn until we remembered a story that never made it into comic bookshelves. It may also bring back life to a rumor that has been around for quite a few years now. What if Ruby is Fallon Grey, Blade’s daughter?

If you are confused, don’t worry. This character is quite obscure. In 2015, Tim Seeley revealed that he is working on an all-new version of Blade. It would premiere his teenage daughter. In a now-deleted article, Seeley revealed that he had quit the book before it ever got published. So, the character only existed through some artwork and a cover. It became a rather popular theory for a future Marvel Studios film, especially when Wesley Snipes, who played the character in the 1998 original film, revealed he had talks with Marvel for over two years.

There is also the following quote by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige that also adds to the theories of her getting adapted in a future film adaptation:

I think Blade is a legacy character now, and I think it would be fun to do something with him one day.

So, there is a possibility that Ruby may end up being Fallon Grey. They could give her a new name and just carry over the concept of a high school girl finding out her father is a vampire hunter. As the character never officially debuts in the Marvel comics, they aren’t restricted in any way. Ruby could be a play on the color of blood and act as a tribute to the red rose design on Grey’s outfit. No matter what direction they go, it would be a unique way to make the MCU’s version of Blade take a unique angle.

Legacy characters will be at the center of various stories, such as WandaVision, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Hawkeye, and many more. At this point, Blade could add a unique twist while also allowing Ruby to be the audience’s surrogate into the world of vampires. It’s certainly going to be something to keep an eye out for before it enters production at the end of the year.

Source: CBR, JoBlo, Newsarama via CBR, ToyLabs, Syfy

March 2, 2021
REPORT: First Casting Details for ‘Blade’ Revealed

Marvel Studios is starting to expand its portfolio in new and curious ways. No, I am not talking about its future Disney+ shows. I am talking about their visit to the darker corners of the Marvel comics. Mahershala Ali got cast in the role of the famous Daywalker Blade. The moment they announced it, we knew we will explore a new look Marvel Cinematic Universe. Yesterday, we got the reveal that the upcoming film is eyeing a late 2021 production start, so we didn’t expect some casting news until the latter half of the year.
Well, it looks like something already found its way online, as DisInsider shared a news piece that the film is eyeing a production start in September in Marvel Studios’ go-to Trilth Studios. The large takeaway is that the series seems to be casting a strong supporting role for the film. They are looking for a teen named Ruby. She is described as “thoughtful, serious, and burdened by growing up in a complex world.”
Interestingly, they are already casting this early if they aren’t going to enter production until September. This revelation would imply that the character may have a considerable role in the story, which could have some interesting implications for the MCU’s adaptation. The 1998 adaptation had a smaller cast, which included his mentor, Abraham Whisler, played by Kris Kristofferson. It would make sense to include Whistler, who is an essential character in Blade’s comic history, so the teen is a curious addition that could also have its roots in comics.

Source: Daniel Richtman via DisInsider

March 2, 2021
‘BLADE’ Set for Late 2021 Start of Production

Marvel Studios Mahershala Ali-led Blade reboot is set to begin production later this year. Brandon Davis revealed the news, which I can confirm is accurate, on this weekend’s Phase Zero podcast. With Spider-Man: No Way Home, Ms. Marvel and Hawkeye all wrapping up over the next couple of months and She-Hulk and Black Panther II up next in Atlanta, Blade would have to be a Fall shoot should it film there. And with Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, Captain Marvel 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 all set for the UK shoots this year, it would seem more likely to be a stateside project than not, though there’s been no official word from the studio.

After a 2020 in which everything on the slate took a hit, it looks like Marvel Studios is making the most of 2021 in anticipation of a HUGE 2022. Blade appeared chronologically slated between July 2022’s Black Panther II and November 2022’s Captain Marvel 2 on Disney’s official Investor Day Fact Sheet back in December. Moving into production later this year indicates not only that Blade is much further along than many fans think but also that it could indeed be ready for theaters for Fall of 2022, perhaps even the October 7, 2022 date that Marvel Studios has yet to abandon despite reshuffling their release slate several times. Less than a month ago we got the news that Stacy Osei-Kuffour would pen the script for the film so the next logical steps are the announcement of a director and casting for the film’s additional leads and supporting characters ahead of the late-2021 start of production.

Source: Phase Zero Podcast

March 1, 2021
Kevin Feige Confirms Marvel Studios Won’t Explore R-Rating Beyond ‘Deadpool 3’ For Now

The TCA has kicked off and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige got an entire panel to discuss the franchise’s future. While the event’s main focus remained on Disney+, some people got into questions regarding other properties. Most notably, they wondered if we would be seeing more R-rated films or projects in the franchise’s future. Interestingly enough, Feige confirmed that the now confirmed Deadpool 3 film is the only one in development.

Feige says other than #Deadpool3, there are still no plans to explore R-ratings for the MCU. Naturally, if there is a story where that would make sense, sure they would discuss it. (i.e. don’t hold your breath for an R-rated Marvel project outside Deadpool)

— Aaron Couch (@AaronCouch) February 24, 2021

What makes this so interesting is that it indirectly reveals that Blade will not be R-rated. The vampire hunter’s first live-action adaptation was quite famous for it, especially with the amount of blood used in the property. It will be interesting to see how they’ll approach the project and if they’ll showcase the darker side of a vampire-focused story. Of course, we’ve had vampire films with a PG-13 rating in the past, so technically, they aren’t forced to use it. Deadpool will most likely remain the only franchise with the R-rating moving forward, as the character is building on the franchise of the past entries. He does confirm that they are open to potentially exploring darker themes, but it won’t have any priority on their side.

Source: Twitter

February 24, 2021
3 Ways Marvel Studios Can Find New Fans in Phase 4

The last couple of years for Marvel’s Phase 3 seemed like the pinnacle of the MCU’s popularity. Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War hit a bunch of records and milestones for both the franchise and the genre as a whole, and the three movies that came out in 2019 all surpassed $1.1 billion. And, of course, Avengers: Endgame grossed well over double that amount to becoming the highest-grossing film of all time.

The hype for Phase 4 is still massive, of course, but it’s hard to imagine it surpassing the level it was at during the back half of Phase 3. I know the same thing was said about The Avengers back in 2012, but at this point, the MCU is probably the most popular movie franchise in the world. Pretty much everyone who would be interested in checking out these movies has done so by now, and the films themselves can’t get any bigger in scope and scale than they already have. Even with all the multiverse stuff on the horizon, we won’t see a movie with as many headlining heroes as the most recent two Avengers films for quite some time, if ever.

If Marvel Studios wants to expand its audience – and it surely does, especially since becoming a major part of a streaming service that needs to keep growing its subscription count by appealing to as wide a variety of potential users as possible – it needs a new approach to hook newcomers. And from the looks of the MCU project lineup set for the next few years, there are three main ways they are aiming to achieve this.

Inclusion

This is something we started to see more of an emphasis on towards the end of Phase 3 (it probably would have come sooner if not for Ike Perlmutter). Black Panther was a phenomenon that was highly praised not just as a superhero movie, but as a cultural moment for the Black community. Captain Marvel was the introduction for a lot of girls and women to superhero movies and many have since gotten invested in the MCU. Both movies piqued the interest of people who wouldn’t normally watch superhero movies, and a decent amount of those people seem to have stuck around and are now eagerly awaiting more Marvel content.

Looking at the 2021 projects alone, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Ms. Marvel, and Eternals are all set to feature characters from backgrounds that are underrepresented not just in superhero and action movies, but Hollywood in general. While it’s unknown just how well these stories and depictions are going to be handled, if they’re in a similar vein to the two aforementioned projects in how well they represent groups including the Asian, Muslim, Deaf, and LGBTQA+ (or GRSM) communities, they may draw in viewers from them who wouldn’t normally be into Marvel material and could be a major factor in the push for more of this kind of (hopefully positive) representation in the media going forward.

Medium

Pandemic aside, the launch of Disney+ couldn’t have come at a better time for Marvel Studios. It came out at the time when Marvel could no longer just keep scaling the scope of their movies up with each new event film; they had to find a new way to grow and expand their universe. The addition of miniseries on a streaming service to tie in with their theatrical films seems like a great direction for them to go in as it allows the studio to develop certain corners of the franchise in a deeper way than they could while operating on simply a few-films-per-year content schedule. It may also attract new fans who have subscribed to Disney+ for other reasons, like Star Wars or the library of classic animated films; it’s easier to press a few buttons and try something new on a streaming service that you’re already paying for than to drive out and fork over more money to go to a theatre and see something you’re not sure if you’ll like or not. And if newcomers to Marvel do enjoy the archive of movies and episodes of the new series, they may be more apt to head out to theatres to see future movies in the MCU.

Genre

Marvel Studios is no stranger to playing around with different genres; Ant-Man is a heist movie, Captain America: The Winter Soldier a political thriller, Guardians of the Galaxy a space comedy, etc. But some have pointed out that a lot of the movies seem to be getting formulaic in a sense, and it looks like Marvel Studios is trying to get away from that in Phase 4.

WandaVision is perhaps the most obvious example of a departure from the norm in terms of genre, given that several of its episodes will be much more sitcom-y than a typical action-adventure one would normally expect from Marvel Studios. Also on Disney+ will be the law comedy of She-Hulk and mystery thriller of Loki.

On the film side of things, Eternals is said to have a very different look and feel to the other MCU movies thus far, and it has been noted that the bulk of the film was shot on practical sets built specifically for the movie. There’s also been a lot of talk about how much Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness will diverge from the typical vibe of a Marvel movie. It was originally announced to be “the first scary MCU movie”, but there’s been debate about just how scary it will be, given the film’s PG-13 rating and original director Scott Derickson’s departure from the project and replacement by Sam Raimi.

The Doctor Strange sequel might not be getting the R rating some fans wanted, but at least one film on Marvel’s docket will and another just might. Shortly after Blade’s announcement in 2019 it was rumored to be rated R, and Deadpool 3 was confirmed to also be rated R (and set in the MCU) just a few days ago during WandaVision press. The R rating for Blade, in particular, may attract a certain demographic of moviegoers not normally into the MCU who generally prefer darker fare.

Marvel may be on top of the world right now, but it’s important that the studio doesn’t get complacent going into this next phase of projects and beyond. It’s time to take risks and get weird, and we’re about to see if they’re going to do just that.

January 14, 2021