The future of Marvel’s Blade still remains up in the air. Though Kevin Feige hasn’t officially cancelled the project, the production of the reboot has dealt with so many problems that one has wonder if the film will still happen. However, the Wesley Snipes version of Blade is often credited for saving Marvel Studios from bankruptcy back in the early 90’s. There’s no denying that the half-human/half-vampire is a valuable commodity to the studio.
The comic, Vampire Tales #8, made it’s debut in 1974 and pushed the elements of superhero comics further into the limelight. The comics never held back on the blood and gore of the popular anti-hero. Neither did the films as the three Wesley Snipes movies were Rated R. However, Marvel’s brand has changed since then. Though Deadpool 3 is a guaranteed rated-r feature, there’s no telling if Kevin Feige might feel the same way about Blade. Can a traditionally violent superhero comic be stripped down to a PG-13 setting?
Why Deadpool MUST Keep It’s R-Rating
It’s might be strange to talk about Deadpool in this article as him and Blade are nothing alike. Both characters are definitely anti-hero; but Blade is more of a cool under pressure guy that thinks logically with a snarky line or two. Deadpool is a complete psychopaths who enjoys murdering people (at least the bad guys), with crass humor, and immaturity that’s somewhat endearing. It’s rare that a film rating can determine the quality of a movie, but in the case of Deadpool, it certainly does.
Deadpool is not like the other superheroes. His personality and world thrives in a rated-R setting. He’s called the “merc with the mouth” for a reason. The two times that Marvel (or then Fox) tried to put the Masked anti-hero in a PG-13 setting (X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Once Upon A Time In Deadpool), the character was notably stripped of his personality. Plus, the violence was toned down heavily.
When you compared him to Blade, the anti-hero is rather tame by comparison. This isn’t a shot at Blade as he’s one of the more compelling names from the comics, but Blade has never been the type to relish in violence nor is he a crass character. Blade has not issues getting violent, but he’s able to fit better until the Pg-13 setting than Deadpool ever will.
Blade Doesn’t Fit Under The Marvel Formula
With that said, Blade doesn’t work under the Marvel formula. The world of the character itself doesn’t necessarily have to be extremely dark and depressing, but the light-hearted and comic tone goes against his character. Blade isn’t the type to joke around like Ant-Man or Spider-Man. Sure, he has a sarcastic quip or two up his sleeve, but he’s generally a name that’s more on the serious side.
Does that mean Blade can’t fit into the world of Marvel? Of course not. In fact, some of the fun of Blade joining the MCU is seeing how he interacts with the other Marvel heroes. There’s also some fun potential for crossover films such as Blade and Spider-Man or even the new generation of X-Men. Blade will nicely fit into the MCU world as long as Kevin Feige doesn’t change the core elements that made the character such a cool and intriguing anti-hero in the comics.
Vampire Films Tend To Work Better Under The Mature Rating
While Blade isn’t your usual Vampire, the anti-hero tends to deal with plenty of classic monsters like Dracula, Baron Blood, even Morbius. Speaking of Morbius, a big part of the reason that film was so bad (other than the horrendous writing) was that Sony was afraid to push the boundaries of the character. Morbius is a vampire, and blood and violence is synonymous with these creatures. The laughably bad way Morbius tried to get around that severely hindered a film that was fighting an uphill battle due to the script.
If Blade is going to truly stand out with it’s unique set of villains then it would be better if Feige let the character loose under a rated-R setting. The character doesn’t fight your standard MCU villain. Blade more so fights supernatural (and often blood thirsty) creatures that are more than just one-dimensional and forgettable villains. Kevin Feige should allow Blade to maintain it’s R-rating. Hopefully, it comes out and has the high level of quality of the earlier MCU films.
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