All Blade Movies in Order

It began with a club scene where blood rained from the sprinklers. Wesley Snipes plays Blade as a wall of rage with dry humor: half human, half vampire, all hunter. With fast action, a pounding soundtrack and legendary sword fights, the film put vampire action on the map and, with over 130 million dollars at the box office, helped prove that Marvel characters could work on the big screen.

Guillermo del Toro takes over and applies his signature style. Blade has to team up with a squad of vampires, the Bloodpack, to stop a new threat: Reapers that even feed on vampires. The visuals are richer, the action more brutal and the atmosphere darker still. For many fans it's even better than the original.

And then it went wrong. Blade takes on Dracula, but the script trips over itself. Ryan Reynolds and Jessica Biel were added to attract a younger audience, but the tone falls flat. Snipes seemed to have lost interest, and there was well-documented trouble behind the scenes. It still made some money, but it felt like the end of the road.

Kirk 'Sticky Fingaz' Jones replaces Snipes in a TV series set after Trinity. More lore, more action, but less charisma. Ratings disappointed, reviews were lukewarm and the series disappeared after one season. Blade without Snipes proved a difficult recipe.

Then came the news: Mahershala Ali would be the new Blade. Expectations were sky-high, but the project has since been plagued by rewrites, delays and director changes, with its future still uncertain. Marvel has talked about an R-rated, darker approach, and in the meantime Snipes briefly returned as Blade in Deadpool & Wolverine (2024).