50 Fun Facts About Blade Movies

Who plays Blade in the 1998 film and its two sequels?

Snipes signed on in 1996 after failing to get a Black Panther film made, and produced through his company Amen Ra Films.

What nickname do the vampires give Blade, a hybrid with their strengths but not their weaknesses?

His one remaining weakness is the need to consume human blood, which he suppresses with a serum.

Who directed the first Blade film?

David Fincher had been attached earlier and even worked on the script.

Which screenwriter wrote all three Blade films?

Goyer also directed the third film, an experience he called the most painful of his career.

Who plays Blade's mentor and weaponsmith Abraham Whistler?

Norrington's first choice was Patrick McGoohan because he loved The Prisoner; Jon Voight was also considered.

Who is the main villain of the first Blade film?

In the comics he was an older, white-haired literal church deacon; Stephen Dorff won Best Villain at the MTV Movie Awards for the part.

What is the profession of Karen Jenson, the woman Blade rescues from the hospital?

Her blood specialism matters: she works out that the anticoagulant EDTA explodes on contact with vampire blood.

Which 'blood god' does Frost try to awaken with a ritual using twelve pure-blood vampires?

In the original ending Frost became a swirling mass of blood, but the effect never looked right so a sword fight was shot instead.

What compound does Karen discover explodes when combined with vampire blood?

Blade finishes Frost with an overdose of it, turning him into a grotesque blob that explodes.

What is Blade's real name, as revealed in the first film?

His mother Vanessa, thought dead in the 1967 attack, turns out to have been turned by Frost himself.

Who plays Blade's vampire mother, Vanessa Brooks?

Traci Lords plays the vampire Racquel, and Arly Jover is the fleet-footed Mercury.

What term does the first film use for a human servant loyal to vampires, like the cop Krieger?

Blade II's Scud turns out to be one too.

In which comic was the character Blade created in 1973?

Creators Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan only got a credit because Goyer insisted; Wolfman later sued Marvel for $35 million and lost.

Which rapper was interested in playing Blade when Marvel began developing the film in 1992?

Even earlier, New World Pictures had planned a Mexico-set western with Richard Roundtree as the vampire hunter.

What weapon did Goyer give the film Blade in place of the comics character's teakwood knives?

The change gave him a samurai-like look, and the comics were later modified to match the film.

How long was the first cut of Blade, which had a disastrous test screening?

Re-shoots delayed release by more than half a year and added the final Blade-Frost sword fight.

Whose cameo as a cop in the aftermath of the blood club scene was cut from the first film?

He was to have discovered Quinn's body on fire.

Where were all of the first film's sets built and shot?

Filming ran from February to June 1997, with some scenes shot in Death Valley.

What was the first Blade film's production budget?

It grossed about $131 million, yet Marvel's share was a flat fee of just $25,000.

Which film did Blade knock off the top of the North American box office in August 1998?

Spielberg's war film had led for four weeks; Blade held number one for two weekends before There's Something About Mary took over.

Which British electronic act was asked to score the first Blade film but turned it down?

The hip hop soundtrack that resulted peaked at number 36 on the Billboard 200.

Which Southeast Asian country banned Blade (1998) outright?

The article notes it is widely considered to have the region's most controlling censors.

Who directed Blade II?

Norrington turned down the sequel; del Toro studied every dailies tape from the first film to learn its visual language.

In which city does Blade II open, with Blade searching for the captive Whistler?

Filming took place at Prague Studios and Barrandov Studios in the Czech Republic, plus London.

What are the mutant vampires in Blade II called?

They are immune to almost every vampire weakness except ultraviolet light.

Who is Jared Nomak, patient zero of the Reaper strain?

Damaskinos engineered him while trying to breed a vampire without weaknesses, then dismissed him as a failure.

Who plays Nomak in Blade II?

The former Bros singer later worked with del Toro again as Prince Nuada in Hellboy II.

What is the elite vampire unit, originally trained to kill Blade, that he leads in Blade II?

Goyer pitched the story as his version of The Dirty Dozen.

Which member of Blade's vampire team, played by Ron Perlman, gets an explosive on his skull?

Scud secretly swaps the charge for a dud, and Blade secretly swaps it back to kill Scud.

Who plays Scud, Blade's young technician who turns out to be working for the vampire overlord?

Donnie Yen plays the mute swordsman Snowman, and Tony Curran is the Irish-accented Priest.

What does Nyssa discover when she dissects a dead Reaper?

It explains why stakes and silver do nothing to them.

What does Whistler release to lure a horde of the mutants onto the treacherous Chupa?

Chupa had turned on Whistler in revenge for Priest's mercy killing.

Which Marvel character did Goyer want for Blade II before Marvel held him back for his own franchise?

Morbius is also the character who bit Blade in the comics in 1999, finally giving him the film version's powers there too.

Roughly how much did Blade II gross worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of the trilogy?

It opened to $32.5 million in March 2002, then dropped 59% in a weekend partly blamed on the NCAA Final Four.

Which critic called Blade II 'a really rather brilliant vomitorium of viscera'?

He gave the first film three stars and Blade: Trinity just one and a half.

Which two actors join Snipes as the vampire hunters Hannibal King and Abigail Whistler in Blade: Trinity?

Reynolds and Snipes reunited two decades later in the MCU.

What is the name of the vampire-hunting group King and Abigail belong to?

Their blind scientist Sommerfield develops the anti-vampire virus.

In Blade: Trinity, what does the vampire Danica Talos frame Blade for?

The frame-up leads the FBI to Blade's hideout, where they kill Whistler.

Where do the vampires dig up Drake, the first vampire, at the start of Blade: Trinity?

Dominic Purcell plays Drake, the first vampire, who can walk in sunlight.

What is the name of the viral bioweapon designed to kill vampires at the genetic level in Blade: Trinity?

It needs Drake's pure blood to become fully effective; the Sundog is the ultraviolet ammunition.

Which professional wrestler plays the vampire bodyguard Jarko in Blade: Trinity?

Goyer was sceptical about the studio's suggestion but expanded the role after seeing his comic timing.

Which constructed language appears on signs and flags in Blade: Trinity's unnamed city?

Hannibal King is even seen watching Incubus, the William Shatner film made in that language.

Which director was in talks to make Blade: Trinity in 2002 before choosing to make Downfall instead?

Del Toro did concept art for the film and is thanked in the end credits.

Which co-star said Snipes spent much of the Blade: Trinity shoot in his trailer, sending notes?

Snipes denied that account and later sued New Line and Goyer over his pay and reduced screen time.

Who replaced Snipes as Blade in the 2006 television series?

Marvel got the film rights back in 2012; the Mahershala Ali MCU reboot announced in 2019 was cancelled in 2026.

In which 2024 film did Snipes reprise the role of Blade?

It was his first time in the role in twenty years, opposite his old Trinity co-star Ryan Reynolds.

Which studio released Blade in August 1998 and both of its sequels?

Studio head Michael De Luca had floated Denzel Washington and Laurence Fishburne for the lead, but to the screenwriter Snipes was always the choice.

Which writer created Blade with artist Gene Colan in 1973?

He later sued Marvel and New Line for $35 million over the film, unsuccessfully, arguing he had not created the character as work for hire.

Who plays Quinn, Frost's enforcer who survives wounds that would kill lesser vampires?

Udo Kier instead played the vampire elder Gitano Dragonetti, and Traci Lords appeared as Racquel, who lures a man to the blood rave.

Which Shaft star was to play the vampire hunter in New World's planned Mexico-set western?

That version never happened; Marvel Studios restarted development in 1992, when LL Cool J showed interest in the lead.