Blade (franchise)

Blade is a film and television franchise based on the fictional Marvel Comics character of the same name, portrayed by Wesley Snipes. They were written by David S. Goyer, based on the comics by Marv Wolfman, and Gene Colan. The three films were directed by Stephen Norrington, Guillermo del Toro and Goyer respectively, and distributed by New Line Cinema.
The character was created in 1973 for Marvel Comics by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan and was a supporting character in the 1970s comic Tomb of Dracula. In the comic, Blade's mother was bitten by a vampire while she was in labor with Blade.
==Installments==
===Blade (1998)===
Blade grows up to become a Vampire Hunter, swearing vengeance on the creatures that killed his mother. He teams up with a man called Whistler, a retired vampire hunter and weapons expert.
Meanwhile, in the urban underworld, a feud is started between "pure-blood" vampires and those who had been human, but were "turned." Blade becomes aware of this and investigates further, uncovering a plot to raise the blood god La Magra, something he must stop at all costs.
===Blade II (2002)===
A rare mutation has occurred within the vampire community. "Reapers" are vampires so consumed with an insatiable bloodlust that they prey on vampires as well as humans, transforming victims who are unlucky enough to survive into Reapers themselves. Now their quickly expanding population threatens the existence of vampires, and soon there won't be enough humans in the world to satisfy their bloodlust. Blade, Whistler and an armory expert named Scud are curiously summoned by the Shadow Council. The council reluctantly admits that they are in a dire situation and they require Blade's assistance. Blade then tenuously enters into an alliance with The Bloodpack, an elite team of vampires who were trained in all modes of combat to defeat Blade. They'll use their skills instead to help wipe out the Reaper threat. Blade's team and the Bloodpack are the only line of defense which can prevent the Reaper population from wiping out the vampire and human populations.
===Blade: Trinity (2004)===
The vampires succeed in framing Blade for the killing of a human (who was in fact a familiar being used as bait). Blade, now in the public's eye and wanted by the FBI, has to join forces with the Nightstalkers, a human clan of vampire hunters. Blade, Hannibal King, and Abigail Whistler go after Danica Talos, who has succeeded in locating and resurrecting Drake, also known as Dracula, the first vampire and by far the most powerful. In order to stop him, Blade has to release a virus that will wipe out all vampires, but being a dhampir, he must face the possibility of also dying as a result.
By August 2012, the film rights to Blade had reverted to Marvel Studios. In May 2013, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Marvel had a working script for Blade. At San Diego Comic Con 2015, Snipes told IGN that both he and Marvel were in talks about bringing Blade back to theaters. In 2016, Underworld actress Kate Beckinsale stated that Marvel was doing something with Blade, after she was asked about a crossover between both franchises.
===Blade (2006)===
In 2006, Spike TV aired a thirteen episode series set after Blade: Trinity.
==Cast and characters==
Character 	Films 	Films 	Films 	TV series
Character 	Blade 	Blade II 	Blade: Trinity 	Blade
Character 	1998 	2002 	2004 	2006
Eric Brooks 	Wesley Snipes 	Wesley Snipes 	Wesley Snipes 	Kirk JonesJon Kent Ethridge
Abraham Whistler 	Kris Kristofferson	Kris Kristofferson	Kris Kristofferson 	Adrian Glynn McMorran
Deacon Frost 	Stephen Dorff 	Mentioned 	  	 
Dr. Karen Jenson 	N'Bushe Wright 	  	  	 
Quinn 	Donal Logue 	  	  	 
Mercury 	Arly Jover 	  	  	 
Vanessa Brooks 	Sanaa Lathan 	  	  	 
Racquel 	Traci Lords 	  	  	 
Gitano Dragonetti	Udo Kier 	  	  	 
Michael Morbius 	Stephen Norrington	  	  	 
Eli Damaskinos 	  	Thomas Kretschmann	  	 
Jared Nomak 	  	Luke Goss 	  	 
Priest 	  	Tony Curran 	  	 
Nyssa Damaskinos 	  	Leonor Varela 	  	 
Dieter Reinhardt 	  	Ron Perlman 	  	 
Asad 	  	Danny John-Jules 	  	 
Snowman 	  	Donnie Yen 	  	 
Chupa 	  	Matt Schulze 	  	 
Scud 	  	Norman Reedus 	  	 
Dracula / Drake 	  	  	Dominic Purcell 	 
Abigail Whistler 	  	  	Jessica Biel 	 
Hannibal King 	  	  	Ryan Reynolds 	 
Danica Talos 	  	  	Parker Posey 	 
Dr. Edgar Vance 	  	  	John Michael Higgins	 
Jarko Grimwood 	  	  	Triple H 	 
Asher Talos 	  	  	Callum Keith Rennie 	 
Krista Starr 	  	  	  	Jill Wagner
Shen 	  	  	  	Nelson Lee
Marcus Van Sciver	  	  	  	Neil Jackson
Chase 	  	  	  	Jessica Gower
Agent Ray Collins	  	  	  	Larry Poindexter
==Crew==
Film 	Director 	Producer 	Writer 	Composer 	Cinematographer 	Editor
Blade 	Stephen Norrington	Peter FrankfurtWesley SnipesRobert EngelmanAndrew J. HorneAvi Arad	David S. Goyer	Mark Isham 	Theo van de Sande	Paul Rubell
Blade II 	Guillermo del Toro	Peter FrankfurtWesley SnipesPatrick PalmerAvi Arad 	David S. Goyer	Marco Beltrami	Gabriel Beristain	Peter Amundson
Blade: Trinity	David S. Goyer 	Peter FrankfurtWesley SnipesDavid S. GoyerLynn HarrisAvi Arad 	David S. Goyer	Ramin Djawadi 	Gabriel Beristain	Conrad SmartHoward E. Smith
==Reception==
===Box office performance===
Film 	Release date 	Box office gross	Box office gross 	Box office gross	All time ranking	Budget 	Reference
Film 	Release date 	North America 	Other territories	Worldwide 	North America 	Budget 	Reference
Blade 	August 21, 1998 	$70,087,718 	$61,095,812 	$131,183,530 	#724 	$45 million 	
Blade II 	March 22, 2002 	$82,348,319 	$72,661,713 	$155,010,032 	#558 	$54 million 	
Blade: Trinity	December 8, 2004	$52,411,906 	$76,493,460 	$128,905,366 	#1,036 	$65 million 	
Total 	Total 	$204,847,943 	$210,250,985 	$415,098,928 	 	$164 million	
===Critical and public response===
Film 	Rotten Tomatoes 	Metacritic 	CinemaScore
Blade 	54% (93 reviews) 	45 (23 reviews) 	A-
Blade II 	57% (146 reviews) 	52 (28 reviews) 	B+
Blade: Trinity 	25% (165 reviews) 	38 (30 reviews) 	B+
Blade: The Series	50% (18 reviews)https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/blade_the_series/s01	49 (15 reviews)https://www.metacritic.com/tv/blade	NA
==Soundtracks==
Year	Title	Chart positions	Chart positions	Certifications (sales thresholds)
Year	Title	U.S. 	U.S. R&B 	Certifications (sales thresholds)
1998	Blade
* Released: August 25, 1998
* Label: TVT	36 	28 	
* US: Gold
2002	Blade II
* Released: March 19, 2002
* Label: Virgin	26 	23 	
2004	Blade: Trinity
* Released: November 23, 2004
* Label: New Line	– 	68 	
==External links==
*Blade Trilogy at AllMovie
 
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