Blade is a 1998 American superhero film directed by Stephen Norrington and written by David S. Goyer. Based on the Marvel Comics character Blade, it is the first installment of the Blade franchise. The film stars Wesley Snipes as the titular character with Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson and N'Bushe Wright in supporting roles. Blade is a Dhampir, a human with vampire strengths but not their weaknesses, who fights against vampires.
Blade II is a 2002 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Blade, directed by Guillermo del Toro and written by David S. Goyer. A sequel to Blade (1998), it is the second installment in the Blade franchise, followed by Blade: Trinity. The film follows the human-vampire hybrid Blade in his continuing effort to protect humans from vampires, Blade must join forces with an elite group of vampires to fight against mutant vampires who plan a global genocide of both vampire and human races.
Blade is a fictional character and antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and penciller Gene Colan, his first appearance was in the comic book The Tomb of Dracula #10 as a supporting character, but he later went on to star in his own storylines. Devoting his life to ridding the world of all vampires, Blade utilizes his unique physiology to become the perfect vampire hunter. While originally depicted as a human immune to vampire bites, Blade was retroactively established to be a dhampir following his adaptation as such in Spider-Man: The Animated Series and the Blade film series. He is the father of Brielle "Bri" Brooks (Bloodline).
Wesley Trent Snipes is an American actor and martial artist. Snipes has made films in a variety of genres, such as numerous thrillers, dramatic feature films, and comedies, though he is best known for his action films. He was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his work in The Waterdance (1992) and won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his performance in the film One Night Stand (1997).
Hannibal King is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared as a supporting character in the title The Tomb of Dracula, issue #25.
Blade: Trinity is a 2004 American superhero film written and directed by David S. Goyer, who also produced with Peter Frankfurt, Lynn Harris, and Wesley Snipes, who also starred in the leading role as the title character, in his last widely released film until 2009. Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, it is the third installment in the Blade trilogy, and co-stars Ryan Reynolds, Jessica Biel, Kris Kristofferson, Dominic Purcell, Parker Posey, and Triple H in his acting debut. In the film, the war between humans and vampires continues. Blade has been framed for numerous murders by the vampire leader Danica Talos, who is determined to lead her bloodthirsty compatriots to victory. Blade must team up with a band of rogue vampire hunters to save humanity from his most challenging enemy yet, Dracula.
Deacon Frost is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He appears in The Tomb of Dracula, and is an enemy of Blade. In the comics, Deacon Frost was depicted as a tall, white-haired, late middle-aged gentleman with red eyes, and wearing 1860s Germany period clothing. His doppelgänger sported an accent and attire that suggested a Southern preacher.
Nightstalkers is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics from 1992 to 1994, featuring a trio of occult experts reluctantly banded together to fight supernatural threats. Operating under the business name Borderline Investigations, the team was composed of vampire hunters Blade and Frank Drake and private detective Hannibal King, all of whom had fought Count Dracula in the 1970s series The Tomb of Dracula. They are gathered by Doctor Strange in Nightstalkers #1 to battle an immediate threat, but under Strange's larger, hidden agenda.
Abraham Whistler is a fictional character appearing in the Blade film and television series. Developing the 1998 film Blade, screenwriter David S. Goyer created the character, and named him after Abraham van Helsing, the nemesis of Count Dracula from Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897). Whistler is a vampire hunter and Blade's mentor. Whistler is an original character created by Goyer, although some comparisons have been made to Jamal Afari who appeared in the comics as Blade's mentor. Kris Kristofferson was cast in the role and later reprised his role in Blade II (2002) and Blade: Trinity (2004). Ahead of Kristofferson's casting and the film's release, Whistler first appeared onscreen in Spider-Man: The Animated Series in 1995, adapted from Goyer's then-unfilmed screenplay, where he was originally voiced by Malcolm McDowell and later by Oliver Muirhead. In Blade: The Series (2006) a young Whistler was played by Adrian Glynn McMorran.
Stephen Norrington is an English special effects artist and retired film director known for his work in the horror and action genres. Beginning his career as a sculptor and makeup artist, he worked under Dick Smith, Rick Baker, and Stan Winston on a number of well-known, effects-driven films of the 1980s and 90s. His directorial credits include the cult sci-fi horror film Death Machine and the comic book adaptations Blade and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. He portrayed Michael Morbius in the alternate ending to Blade.
Dracula is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is based on the vampire Count Dracula from the novel of the same name by author Bram Stoker. After the initial run of the series The Tomb of Dracula, the character has been depicted primarily as an antagonist to superheroes in the Marvel Universe.
X-Men is an American superhero film series based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. The series was produced by 20th Century Fox and Marvel Entertainment from 2000 to 2020.
The superhero team Fantastic Four featured in Marvel Comics publication has appeared in four live-action films since its inception. The plots deal with four main characters, known formally as Reed Richards, Susan Storm, Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm, and how they adapt to the superpowers they attain.
Underworld is an American action horror film series created by Kevin Grevioux, Len Wiseman, and Danny McBride. It follows characters who are caught up in a war between vampires and werewolves. Most of the films star Kate Beckinsale as Selene. The first film, Underworld (2003), introduces Selene, an elite vampire-warrior who defies her orders, and Michael Corvin, a human who gets caught up in the war. The second film, Underworld: Evolution (2006), follows Selene and Michael as they are hunted by their enemies. The third film, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009), is the prequel to the series, chronicling the origins of the vampire-lycan war. The fourth film, Underworld: Awakening (2012), is the sequel to Underworld: Evolution. In this film, humans have discovered the existence of vampires and lycans, and are trying to eradicate both species. A fifth film, titled Underworld: Blood Wars (2016), focuses on Selene who tries to stop a new war between vampires and lycans.
The fictional character Frank Castle / Punisher, a comic book vigilante antihero created by Gerry Conway, John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru and featured in Marvel Comics publications, has appeared as a main character in multiple theatrical, several animated straight-to-video films, and three fan films. Most notably, he has appeared in two self-titled films, the first in 1989 with Dolph Lundgren in the title role and the second in 2004 with Thomas Jane in the title role, as well as Punisher: War Zone, starring Ray Stevenson.
Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is a group of American superhero films and television series produced by Marvel Studios based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. Phase Five features all of the Marvel Studios productions set to be released starting from 2023 to mid-2025, with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distributing the films, while the series release on Disney+. Starting with Agatha All Along in late 2024, live-action series were released under Marvel Studios' "Marvel Television" label, while animation in the phase was produced by Marvel Studios Animation. The first film in the phase is Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which was released in February 2023, while the first series in the phase, Secret Invasion, premiered in June 2023. The release schedule of Phase Five was changed several times due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes. Kevin Feige produces every film and serves as executive producer of every series in this phase, alongside producers Stephen Broussard for Quantumania; Lauren Shuler Donner, Ryan Reynolds, and Shawn Levy for Deadpool & Wolverine; and Nate Moore for Captain America: Brave New World.
Eric Brooks is a superhero primarily portrayed by Wesley Snipes in the New Line Cinema Blade franchise—based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name—commonly known by his alias, Blade. Brooks is depicted as a dhampir, with enhanced abilities after his mother was bitten by a vampire while giving birth to him. Brooks is trained as a vampire hunter by Abraham Whistler and dedicates himself to protecting humanity. A variation of the film's storyline was integrated into Spider-Man: The Animated Series by John Semper in 1995 ahead of the first Blade (1998) film, and Blade's redesigned costume and powers were integrated into comics in 1999. Snipes reprised his role in two further sequel films, Blade II (2002) and Blade: Trinity (2004), as well as in Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), which incorporated his iteration of the character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) franchise through the multiverse. The character also appeared in Blade: The Series (2006), portrayed by Sticky Fingaz.
