Have we completely forgotten or simply overlooked Spawn/Blade franchise?

[Frodo]

Spawn is very much a character steeped in the 90s who never left that decade.

Much like a character like the Shadow , he's pretty much been stuck in the times he was created and unlike other heroes hasn't really transitioned out of that period.

 

[redhawk23]

They're R rated films from 20 years ago. That's really the only answer you need for why Black Panther is being received the way it is despite the steps those films took in their time.

 

[redhawk23]

Blade's contribution to the rise of modern comic book films is overrated IMO. X-Men and especially Spider-Man were more integral to establishing comic book films as viable well-made blockbusters.

Blade was the first big success of the team of producers that would go on to make the X-men movies. Also it might just be more of an era type deal, but the costuming in those first X-men films are visually rooted in Blade in a big way.

 

[Saitou Hajime]

Blade was the first big success of the team of producers that would go on to make the X-men movies. Also it might just be more of an era type deal, but the costuming in those first X-men films are visually rooted in Blade in a big way.

X-Men was in development since the mid 90s and would've probably been released sooner if Fox wasn't so cheap. And the Matrix did more to inspire X-Men's costumes than Blade.

 

[Blade X]

Both Blade & Spawn were made back in the 90s. They might have contributed a little bit to BP, but I don't think they really helped that much considering that 20 years have passed and except for the first Blade movie, these movies weren't very well received critically and financially. BP's success has a lot more to do with MCU's brand recognition imo.

SPAWN was definitely garbage, but I'm biased since I HATE the character and the comic.

BLADE, OTOH, not only contributed to BP's success, but is the movie that kicked off the current comic book superhero movie genre and was Marvel's first successful movie. So the entire MCU owes it's gratitude to the first BLADE movie.

This is A list.

BP is the first black hero to be A list like Batman, Spider-man, Iron Man and Superman.

And it's about damn time.

Yeah, BP has skyrocketed to A-List status due to his appearance in CAPTAIN AMERICA:CIVIL WAR and because of receiving his own movie. However, Blade has also become A-List (more like B-List due to his movies being R rated) because of his movie.

 

[Blade X]

Blade n Spawn were like the only black ppl in them movies. It's not even comparable. Plus the fact you have to bring up movies from like 20 years ago shows the real problem

Both of those movies had two or more Black people in them. That being said, BP is ground breaking because it features a mostly Black cast.

 

[samsnee]

Agreed. It also seems to have integrated themes about black culture in its storyline. The other two had black leads, but were more generic straightforward movies.

 

[Blade X]

I don't think Spawn did much to help, Blade on the other hand proved Marvel characters with little public presence could still make bank even with a modest budget and ad campaign ushering thebigger budget fair

And with an R rating. It was because of the success of the BLADE movie that helped encourage FOX to make the X-MEN movie. The success of the X-Men movie then led to Marvel making a deal with Sony. BLADE was the first domino that started it all.

 

[Leo Zelinsky]

Both of those movies had two or more Black people in them.

 

[Travesty]

Blade was the reason I bought by first DVD player in the late 90's....solely for the blood bath scene which I still consider the best opening scene in any comic book movie.

Ha, Blade was the third DVD I ever bought. The first was The Matrix(everyone bought that DVD at the time), second was Austin Powers, and the third was Blade.

 

[Blade X]

To be fair, I believe X-Men only made like $160 million domestically, with 300 million worldwide. SpiderMan did INSANE business with 800 million globally, half of that domestically.

Blade did $131 million on a $45 million dollar budget. The sequel did $155 million on a $55 million dollar budget. Not too shabby since it was a rated R vampire action flick. I didn't even know it was a comic book film until years ago. I thought of it simply as "that film where Wesley Snipes did kung-fu and killed vampires". And I imagine so many had the same thought.

I agree that it's effect on superhero films is overstated, but perhaps it is definitely overlooked. In the 90's, how many A-listers found success in a comic book film? Only a few.

The first BLADE movie's affect on superhero films is that it showed that the material could be treated/taken seriously and be a success at the box office.

 

[Blade X]

I may be misremembering but Blade wasn't even marketed as a superhero movie, I didn't even know he was a marvel character until I saw the character show up in the 90's spider-man cartoon.

Well that all depends on what you mean by "marketed as a superhero movie". IIRC, any press for the movie acknowledged that the movie was based off of the Marvel comic book character. Hell, when the trailer was first shown on E Network's COMING ATTRACTION movie trailer TV show, the host of the show stated that the movie was based of the Marvel character and was one of the first/earliest Black superhero characters.

Which is kinda interesting as to how it was even produced since isn't Blade like a Z-list superhero? I guess Snipes must have really battled for the role and that they presented it strictly as a vampire action flick.

Despite what many comic book fans might think or want to believe, MOST Marvel and DC characters are considered to be "Z-List" characters to non comic book readers (which is the vast majority of people in this world). It isn't until those characters appear in either a successful movie or TV series that they become "A-List".

 

[The Batman]

Blade's contribution isn't all that overlooked. As others have said, his contribution to the genre is often overrated.

 

[Ipodman]

I might just be ignorant, but I think Black Panther's majority cast is a big deal

 

[Bayne]

I've always considered the Blade movies to be more World of Darkness type vampire movies rather than a Superhero franchise. In 1997 there were already a ton of vampire franchises so it wasn't exactly groundbreaking. He wasn't even the first black vampire. Blackula, Vampire In Brooklyn came before.

Spawn was more of an anti-hero and let's face it, that movie was utterly forgettable.

Hell, Halle Berry's Catwoman would qualify using those standards.

I think it's perfectly reasonable to consider Black Panther to be the first real superhero movie with a black actor in the lead role.

I completely agree with this. Regardless of source material, the Blade trilogy has almost no common ground with any other superhero movie. But it does fit perfectly alongside titles like Underworld, van Helsing, 30 Days of Night, Daybreakers, etc. It's really not relevant to this genre.

Although, you do have to add the qualifier of 'good movie' for that last statement to be true. Unfortunately, movies like Steel, Blankman and Meteor Man really do exist.

 

[Loki882]

I haven't. In fact I rewatched them recently to prepare for BP. And yeah, Blade and Blade II still hold up as solid and entertaining films. Blade Trinity and Spawn, not so much.

Honestly I really want to see Blade in the MCU. I don't care if it's a film or a Netflix series, or whatever, just something.

 

[MbJ]

As others have already said, a lot of it comes from a lot of people not thinking of Blade as a superhero or his movies as superhero movies. They're seen as supernatural horror/action flicks that just happen to star a guy with superpowers. Even Blade's signature look resembles the types of gear you saw in action flicks of the era (lots of black leather and tactical body armor) rather than anything you'd associate with a superhero costume.

That the films were R-rated also limits their impact somewhat. Black Panther being something kids can see and aspire to is a huge part of the representation aspect, while the Blade movies were usually not the sort of things you'd take a little kid to go see. And of course given this is the 21st century, the movie doesn't end in the theaters. If you're a little kid, you can go to your local toy store and pick up all sorts of Black Panther action figures and costume accessories, which wasn't the case for Blade. I think only the first movie had a toy line, and then the company realized it REALLY wasn't something they should be marketing at the kiddies, so it didn't happen for the sequels.

 

[jmc]

Somewhere, poor Wesley Snipes is crying himself to sleep having felt forgotten. I would like to see Blade make a come back however in the MCU, either on film or as a Netflix show.

 

[TheVileOne]

To be fair, I believe X-Men only made like $160 million domestically, with 300 million worldwide. SpiderMan did INSANE business with 800 million globally, half of that domestically.

Blade did $131 million on a $45 million dollar budget. The sequel did $155 million on a $55 million dollar budget. Not too shabby since it was a rated R vampire action flick. I didn't even know it was a comic book film until years ago. I thought of it simply as "that film where Wesley Snipes did kung-fu and killed vampires". And I imagine so many had the same thought.

I agree that it's effect on superhero films is overstated, but perhaps it is definitely overlooked. In the 90's, how many A-listers found success in a comic book film? Only a few.

I mean I love the Blade movies, and I think the the first two are definitely overlooked as really good R-rated comic book films with yeah, a black comic book hero lead.

I think they proved that these movies can be done and done well with an R-rating, something that always makes studios skittish. However, they don't have to be done with a $100 million budget either.

But I don't believe Blade hit the scene in 1998 and executives and filmmakers were like, "We have to copy this and the comic book movie boom will start!"

I think Blade was partly successful because it was different. They were able to make a dark and violent R-rated movie that wasn't necessarily trying to appeal to just the younger crowd.

For example, take Spider-Man, a Spider-man movie was definitely going to happen at some point. Even if films like Blade and X-Men failed, a Spider-Man movie would've happen because Spider-Man was still a pop-culture icon and one of the most popular characters on the planet.

 

[Chesterfield]

I want a flashback scene for black panther 2 with Wesley Snipes either as Azuri the wise or as Bashenga.

 

[Spiderine]

Considering Wesley originally wanted to get a BP film off the ground back in the 90's I would like to see him come on board as a major character/villain in the next film.

 

[KevTravels]

And with an R rating. It was because of the success of the BLADE movie that helped encourage FOX to make the X-MEN movie. The success of the X-Men movie then led to Marvel making a deal with Sony. BLADE was the first domino that started it all.

So we really owe Wesley Snipes and the production team a Huge thanks

 

[KevTravels]

The first BLADE movie's affect on superhero films is that it showed that the material could be treated/taken seriously and be a success at the box office.

I wonder if Blade might have been a far bigger hit for whatever reason. I'm sure the R rating hurt it, but it also made it far more likable. Maybe it deserved far more promotion. Neither film crossed $100 million domestically.

But they both seemed to do well abroad.

Makes me think back to a time when Wesley Snipes was A-list and near same status as Denzel or Will.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

Blade's contribution to the rise of modern comic book films is overrated IMO. X-Men and especially Spider-Man were more integral to establishing comic book films as viable well-made blockbusters.

I agree with this. A helluva lot of people still don't realise that Blade is a comic book character, let alone a Marvel one. I love Blade and (especially) Blade II but I never saw any black culture significance in them. Wesley Snipes was a grade A butt-kicker and that was it. The fact that he was black barely even registered with me, he was just a guy damned good at action in some damned entertaining films.

 

[wampa1]

I'd spent nearly 20 years trying to forget about the Spawn movie. Thanks a lot for reminding me >: (