Blade

Get the story of all the behind-the-scenes drama behind Mahershala Ali’s long-delayed ‘Blade’ movie.

According to viewers, here are the adult superhero movies most worth watching.

Production was supposed to begin next month.

Some directors are always trying to ice skate uphill.

Without ‘Blade,’ there might not be an MCU.

Snipes took this character very seriously.

With Marvel's latest movie blockbuster Doctor Strange opening in theaters this coming week, this is the perfect time to explore the weirdness and wonder of the mystical corners of the Marvel Universe. For our latest fantasy draft, our writers must compete to put together the best superhero teams made up entirely of Marvel magical characters.

Blade, the movie starring Wesley Snipes as the not-quite-a-vampire superhero who protects humans from the befanged and bloodthirsty creatures of the night, was a huge commercial success upon its 1998 release and launched a series that’s garnered a cult following over the years. It doesn’t get the credit it deserves for relaunching big-screen superhero movies, and some fans are hungry for the character’s return. Rumors recently flew on bat-wings about Marvel Studios perhaps planning to reboot the character, but Marvel president Kevin Feige says that probably won’t happen. At least, not on a large scale.

About this time last year, rumors were flying that Marvel was trying to get some version of Blade off the ground. There were reports that Marvel had met with actor Wesley Snipes to discuss the possibility of a Blade 4; there were also reports that Marvel wanted to move forward with a Blade movie focusing on the vampire hunter’s daughter. Whatever the final product might be, Marvel clearly had some vague notion that Blade would be a factor in the future of the franchises.

It's no secret that white male leads have dominated comic books since --- well forever. In the '60s, Marvel and DC finally started to put a change to that with the addition of super-powered people of color, which led to some of today's biggest names in comics. But it still wasn't enough. Eventually the lack of diversity led to the onset of Milestone Media in the '90s, where Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, and Derek T. Dingle crafted several intriguing characters. With an increasingly active black nerd, or blerd, community, new black characters are being created every day --- primarily through independent publishers, though Marvel has also kickstarted a focus on one of its most notable black characters --- but more on that later. To celebrate Black History Month, ComicsAlliance is running down our list of 20 Great Black Comic Book Characters. Our list considers old staples as well as some new favorites, including a certain katana wielding badass, space explorers and of course, plenty of superheroes.