Although the second season of The Punisher only hit Netflix last week, the future of the show remains uncertain. Three of Netflix’s other Marvel shows have been cancelled in last few months, and it remains a possibility that The Punisher might join the rest of them. However, showrunner Steve Lightfoot is already speaking about potential next projects, including revisiting another much-loved Marvel character.
Lightfoot would love to see Blade return as a TV show. Wesley Snipes took on the original role of the cult comic. Blade is a half human, half vampire…vampire hunter. Sounds dumb right? Well let’s add a little more context to it. Blade’s mother (Vanessa Brooks) was bitten by the vampire named Deacon Frost while pregnant. She apparently died giving birth to Eric, her son, who inherited vampires’ powers, but none of their weaknesses besides the thirst. Instead of feeding that weakness through humans, he concocted a serum to help fight off the urge.
In reality, Vanessa didn’t die, but was turned into a vampire herself, becoming one of Frost’s lovers, unknowingly to Eric.When Eric, who in the meantime had become the vampire hunter known as Blade, attacked Deacon Frost’s head quarters.
The project was a modestly budgeted action movie, but its impact on the genre is still being felt today. Blade had great characters, setpieces, a rich mythology and a perfect leading man in Snipes. Its surprise success would lead to comic book movies like X-Men getting a green light.
A short-lived Blade TV series also aired in 2006, where the title character was played by Kirk Jones. Now Marvel’s The Punisher showrunner Steve Lightfoot thinks the Daywalker is due to make a comeback, revealing to he’d love to see a new Blade TV show. Lightfoot told reporters – “I’m a big fan of the Blade Franchise. I would be excited to see that one done for TV, I think a television version of that would be excellent.”
Blade and The Punisher are similar in which they’re both loner vigilantes who are highly skilled in combat. The Blade series from 2006 showed that the concept had some sort of legs for television. While it didn’t receive stellar reviews, it actually had decent ratings. It ended up being canceled due to its high costs for production. With the right showrunner and network, it’s easy to see how a modern-day Blade series could be a hit.
With that being said, The Punisher itself is certainly facing cancellation alongside the rest of Netflix’s Marvel TV shows. So if a Blade series got green lit, it’s doubtful to end up there. Director James Wan (Aquaman) recently revealed he once pitched a Blade reboot to the rights holders, but it didn’t get off the ground.
Would you like to see a Blade TV show? Hit the comments to let us know.
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