If there’s one franchise I never really got into, it’s the Underworld films, starring the lovely Kate Beckinsale. Okay, I think we can all agree that we can never get enough of Kate Beckinsale. Speaking of which, how come she hasn’t been in more movies recently? I remember when she was a rising star in the early and mid 2000s, but I haven’t seen her in any major movies in recent years. That’s very unfortunate, but at least she has that action movie Jolt coming out soon, which looks super fun. But if we’re going to point to the most popular Kate Beckinsale movie role, it would have to be the vampire death dealer called Selene. Needless to say, the Underworld movies made her a bankable action star.
Now if you’re not too familiar with the Underworld movies, you can just boil it down to vampires fighting werewolves. Well, in this case, the werewolves are referred to as Lycans, an ancient species of werewolf. The first Underworld takes place in the modern era, where the vampires have gained the upper hand in the ongoing war against the Lycans. The vampires have found a place in modern society and use their human appearances to blend in. They have wealth, influence, and the numbers to give them an advantage in the war. The Lycans rely more on guerrilla tactics, hiding underground and using their werewolf forms to terrorize the vampires. They are considered to be the savages in the war, but the first Underworld explains that the vampires once enslaved the Lycans until they began a revolution.
In fact, we got to see that in full in the 2009 Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. I’ll be honest, that’s the only Underworld movie I’ve ever watched from beginning to end. The rest I’ve watched periodically on TV and never got to finishing them. I do think the whole vampires vs. werewolves schtick gets old very quick, but then again, Kate Beckinsale is in it, so can’t go wrong there.
Now when Underworld was becoming popular, it kind of overshadowed another film franchise that put a vampire hunter on center stage. This other vampire hunter, however, has been around a lot longer and originated in comic books. I am, of course, talking about Blade from Marvel. In fact, when Wesley Snipes’ run on Blade ended, that’s when Underworld began, back in 2003. It’s just a crying shame that the Blade film franchise ended with that atrocious third movie. I think it was called Trinity, but does anyone really care to remember?
Can you fans just imagine if Selene and Blade joined forces to hunt vampires together? Well, Kate Beckinsale apparently thought so, but according to her, Marvel shut down that idea. She revealed this in a recent interview, explaining how she believes that a sixth Underworld movie probably won’t happen. However, she did say that she would be open to returning to the role of Selene. Interestingly enough, that’s also when she revealed that there were talks for an Underworld/Blade crossover at one point. Marvel obviously never went through with it, but that’s okay. We’ll be getting a new Blade in the form of Mahershala Ali in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I can’t wait to see how that will turn out, although I will greatly miss Wesley Snipes as the vampire hunter.
And how did the Underworld franchise end? Not exactly on a good note since the last movie didn’t receive the best critical and audience reception. I think it’s pretty clear that another Underworld movie isn’t something many movie-goers are dying to see. If that’s the case, then it’s still possible we can at least see the Selene character again. Kate Beckinsale said she’ll return, so why not? And while I’m not a big fan of the Underworld film series, I’m actually open for a crossover with Blade.
But how will it work? Well, we all have to remember that the MCU will be incorporating the Multiverse into its lore. They’re probably starting this with No Way Home (hopefully) and Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness will spice it up from there. At this point, who knows what characters from other cinematic universes will show up, but something tells me we’ll be seeing some unexpected faces. I mean, if you told me Jamie Foxx was returning as Electro before last year, I would’ve told you to bugger off. And now, he’s actually coming back in the next Spider-Man movie. I will now officially say that anything can happen.
Blade and Selene can meet and if they do, they’ll do what they do best. For them, it’s all about hunting the vampires and other creatures who threaten them. But for the most part, it’s vampires, and it works for them because they both share vampire blood. They also both have a good reason to hunt vampires, as both characters lost a parent to the monsters. What would be very fun about this crossover is the fact that Blade has never really crossed paths with Lycans. This is something Selene can educate him on, and explain the long history of the war between the two monsters. In my opinion, that was the coolest thing about the Underworld series. Vampires vs. werewolves is something that’s been done several times before, but Underworld has made a bit of a mythology of it.
In the case of Blade, vampires just blend in with humans and use this advantage to feed on them. There’s not much of a history or extended mythology behind them in Marvel, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that Blade goes around killing them and he looks awesome while doing it. If he joins forces with Selene, then that could be just a vampire bloodbath. Would it be a MCU canon? Maybe not, but it would still be fun to watch.
What are your thoughts, Marvel fans? Do you think an Underworld/Blade crossover would be cool? If it were to happen, but separate it from the MCU, it could be animated. And just get Wesley Snipes back to voice Blade.
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