BURBANK – Entertainment news writers are more than guilty of taking certain jumps when a sliver of potential news is revealed by talent. One quote taken out of context can convince millions of franchise fans that their most beloved hero is being resurrected and/or their favorite actor will be playing him. It was no surprise than that a slew of reports from NYCC over the weekend jumped on the notion that Marvel Studios was working on a new “Blade.” Stop speculating: Kevin Feige says nothing ’imminent’ on ’Blade’ movie (or TV series or something). It was even trending on Facebook at one point or another.
That remark was spun by many to insinuate Marvel must be working on something with the Blade character now (not last year, not four years ago, but right now!). The vampire superhero was played by Wesley Snipes in three films produced by New Line Cinema: “Blade” (1998), “Blade II” (2002) and “Blade: Trinity” (2004). In 2012, the rights reverted to Marvel and even Snipes has had fun with fans and the media over the years teasing he might return to his iconic role.
Speaking after a sneak peek of Scott Derrickson’s “Doctor Strange” Monday evening, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige dashed any immediate hopes of a Blade return during a short interview with media in attendance. When asked about Beckinsale’s remark, Feige responded, “that’s both true.”
“They did ask a long time ago and I think our answer was, ‘No, we’ll do something with ‘Blade’ at some point.’ That’s still the answer,” Feige says. “We still think he’s a great character. He’s a really fun character. We think this movie going into a different side of the universe would have the potential to have him pop up, but between the movies, the Netflix shows, the ABC shows there are so many opportunities for the character to pop up as you’re now seeing with Ghost Rider on ‘AGENTS of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ that rather than team up with another studio on that character let’s do something on our own. What that is? Where that will be? We’ll see. There is nothing imminent to my knowledge.”
Now, if you want to insinuate that Feige is suggesting Blade might show up on “S.H.I.E.L.D.”…please, don’t.
For more industry insight and Oscar buzz follow Gregory Ellwood on @TheGregoryE
