1998’s Blade was the first superhero movie that gave audiences a peek at the potential of bringing Marvel characters to the big screen. Wesley Snipes became iconic as the half-human, half-vampire Blade, with the film earning a sequel that was an even bigger hit and directed by a young Guillermo del Toro. For the third movie, franchise writer David S. Goyer was given the opportunity to direct, and New Line Cinema opted to spin the series off, using the film to introduce two new characters, Jessica Biel’s Abigail Whistler and Ryan Reynolds’ Hannibal King, part of a vampire hunting team called The Nightstalkers.
According to various reports, including co-star/standup icon Patton Oswalt, the shoot was a disaster. Wesley Snipes, perhaps rightly, assumed the franchise was being taken away from him, with him resenting Blade’s reduced screen time and being uncooperative on set. He apparently did not like Ryan Reynolds, even referring to him a “cracker,” and Snipes eventually sued New Line for allegedly violating his rights as a producer and reducing the character’s screen time without his approval. Director Goyer later called it one of the most professionally and personally difficult times in his life.
In the end, the film underperformed at the box office, only grossing $52 million domestically. The Nightstalkers never got their spin-off movie, with Snipes, sadly, ending up in jail for many years due to a controversial tax evasion case. With Blade getting a reboot, now is an excellent time to look back at the original trilogy’s controversial and much-loathed final instalment, so we can determine whether it’s as bad as everyone says. This episode of Marvel Revisited is written, narrated and edited by Kier Gomes.
Do you think Blade: Trinity merits the hate it receives from fans? Let us know in the comments.
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