It’s not really fair that Bryan Singer’s X-Men and Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man get the majority of the credit for ushering in the age of the superhero blockbuster when Stephen Norrington’s Blade is right there, and it arguably had a tougher job on its hands to find success.
Landing in theaters just a year after Batman & Robin had almost killed the entire genre single-handedly, an R-rated adaptation of a minor Marvel Comics character was hardly viewed as being one of the single most important features in the entire medium’s history.
And yet, that’s exactly what it was, with Wesley Snipes displaying a complete and utter disdain for motherf*ckers who harbor intentions of ice skating uphill, with the opening scene still ranking as one of the best introductions in the entire history of comic book cinema.
Today marks precisely 25 years to the day since Blade exploded out of the blocks and hoovered up $131 million at the box office, so it’s time to reminisce on the fact it very nearly introduced a certain Living Vampire a full quarter of a century before Jared Leto won a Razzie for headlining a horrendous film that bombed twice over.
In a deleted scene, Blade was supposed to reveal a shadowy figure clad in a black trenchcoat staring ominously from afar, who was intended to be Dr. Michael Morbius, setting up a showdown for the sequel. One of the most fascinating “what ifs” of the modern age, things worked out pretty well for Blade II because it was awesome in its own right, but the vampiric physician did not fare so well.