Blade (New Line franchise character)

The character Blade made his first appearance as a supporting character in The Tomb of Dracula #10 (July 1973), written by Marv Wolfman with art by Gene Colan, his first solo story coming in the black-and-white horror-comics magazine Vampire Tales #8 (December 1974), and his first solo series (in color), Blade the Vampire Hunter, being published from July 1994 to April 1995 across ten issues, written by Ian Edginton and Terry Kavanagh, with art by Doug Wheatley. When New World Pictures bought the rights to Marvel Comics, they were set to make a Mexico-set western starring Richard Roundtree (who would later portray Blade's father in Blade: The Series) as Blade. Marvel Studios then started to develop the film in early as 1992, when rapper/actor LL Cool J was interested in playing the lead role. Blade was eventually set up at New Line Cinema, with David S. Goyer writing the script. When Goyer heard a film was in development he went in to pitch director Ernest Dickerson. New Line originally wanted to do Blade as "something that was almost a spoof" before the writer convinced them otherwise. Goyer wanted to take the character seriously and pitched a trilogy of movies "almost Wagnerian in scope", Snipes stated that while such a character "isn't going to lend itself to a great deal of emotional depth", there is also "some acting involved in creating the character and making him believable and palatable". Casting speaking at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con When Goyer first pitched the idea of doing a Blade film, New Line Cinema asked that Blade and his mentor Jamal Afari both be cast as white instead of black, which Goyer rejected. While the role of Afari was redeveloped as Abraham Whistler, portrayed by white actor Kris Kristofferson, New Line head Mike DeLuca then suggested Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, and Laurence Fishburne for the role of Blade; of these three, only Snipes was seriously considered, and had the film's finalized script sent to, as opposed to Washington or Fishburne, who were sent earlier drafts. Snipes signed on to star as Blade in 1996, the film releasing in 1998, before signing on to reprise his role in Blade II (2002) and Blade: Trinity (2004); in the first film, a young Blade is portrayed by André Hyde-Braithwaite. Kirk "Sticky Fingaz" Jones signed to star as Blade in Blade: The Series, replacing Snipes following Blade: Trinity, with Jon Kent Ethridge portraying a young Blade. Prior to the film's development, Wolfman and Colan had partially revamped the comics character in 1991 with a dark leather jacket, short hair, and more violent tendencies. The 1998 film updated the leather jacket into a body-length coat and added sunglasses, a new haircut, and an enhanced dhampir powerset. The comics character was subsequently modified to match, wearing the new outfit However, with Blade: Trinity, Snipes was unhappy with both Goyer's script and original choice of director; when Goyer was selected to replace the director, Snipes additionally protested, reportedly causing difficulty during filming, including frequently refusing to shoot scenes and forcing Goyer to use stand-ins and computer effects to add his character to scenes. Goyer described making the film as "the most personally and professionally difficult and painful thing I've ever been through". Co-star Patton Oswalt alleged that Snipes would spend much of his time smoking marijuana in his trailer, becoming violent with Goyer after accusing him of racism, and refusing to directly interact with Goyer or his co-stars outside of filming, instead communicating with them through his assistant or the use of notes. Snipes also allegedly referred to co-star Ryan Reynolds as a "cracker" on one or more occasions. Snipes denied that version of events and said having been promoted to the role of executive producer on the film, he had the authority to make decisions but that some people had difficulty accepting that. Addressing Blade's characterization after being cast to replace Snipes in Blade: The Series, Fingaz commented that he was not out to make people forget about the Blade films, saying that "I think it's more my own direction, but I have to incorporate some of what [Snipes] did, [which is] what people are familiar with, and you don't want to change it up drastically. You might want to change the seasoning a little bit, but you want the same meat". Goyer commented on Blade's characterisation in the series as being written as "Wiseguy with vampires", following him after "realiz[ing] at the beginning of the pilot that he's not making much headway, just sort of hacking and slashing, that he needs to know more about [vampire society's] inner workings". ==Abandoned crossover and the Marvel Cinematic Universe==