As both a comic book fan and a Netflix original series fan (House of Cards and Orange is the New Black) I was very excited to hear about Marvel’s collaboration with Netflix to produce Daredevil, Heroes For Hire and Jessica Jones series. I assume this move came so Marvel could effectively launch popular characters that might be too dark to thrive in the currently constructed Marvel Cinematic Universe. This move immediately made me wonder about the future of one of my favorite Marvel Characters, Blade, because he’s a darker character who had his own film trilogy as well as his own live action television series. Would he be better off getting his own Netflix series alongside the three already announced, or getting rebooting him in film? I wrote an article about who could portray Blade and what storylines could be used http://www.comicbookmovie.com/blade_movies/news/?a=95184
but I did not specify which medium would be the best delivery method for it.
A new television series could definitely provide Blade with a lot of autonomy. There’d be no limit on blood, guts and curse words (S/O to Wesley Snipes) used because the writers and producers would not have to worry about it fitting in with the target audience of the Avengers characters’ films. The show creators could also build a world/tone that is perfect for Blade rather than one that can fit amongst other characters. A potential downfall to this plan though is the fact that a TV series has already been made (Blade House of Cthon) and did not do particularly well from a ratings perspective. Also, TV series are often given smaller budgets than those given to movies.
A film reboot also comes with a few positives. Blade already has a well-established film history and did so during a time many were scared to make comic book movies (post Batman & Robin but pre X-Men). There’s also the chance that Marvel creates a Midnight Sons movie since a Dr. Strange film is inevitable. A Midnight Sons franchise could be a great opportunity to reintroduce Blade. This movie would also end Marvel/Disney’s streak of only making films with a white-male lead actor.
At the end of the day, I’m not sure which idea would be better in the long run. Blade, when written well, is one of the coolest characters (IMHO) Marvel has and I’d be more than happy to see him in either capacity.
Your Thoughts?