Ever since Marvel Studios reaquired the rights to Blade, there has been a lot of chatter about the Day Walker entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe in some capacity, with rumours of a Netflix series and even a female-led version. Original Blade actor Wesley Snipes even hinted at a return. In a new interview with Arrow to the Head, Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige has said it would “be cool” to have Blade in the MCU, but there are no plans at the moment. “My tenure at Marvel started 17 years ago, and there were two things that sort of launched the modern era,” he said. “One was X-Men, which was the first thing that people said, “‘Oh, there’s life here.’ But a few years before that, there was Blade. A character nobody had heard of at all, had only appeared in a few issues of Tomb of Dracula or something, turned into a big franchise. That was always a great lesson for me, where you go, ‘It doesn’t matter how well known the character is, it matters how cool the movie is.’ Which, many years later, would be the reason we do Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange. I think Blade is a legacy character now, and I think it would be fun to do something with him one day.” Read more here.
After leaving the project, Edgar Wright hasn’t said a lot about the Ant-Man movie he was developing with pre-MCU Marvel Studios as far back as 2005, but with his new movie Baby Driver in cinemas and comic book movies a hot topic, the subject has come up a couple of times. Turns out, Wright hasn’t even seen the trailer. “It would kind of like be asking me, ‘Do you want to watch your ex-girlfriend have sex?’ Like, ‘No, I’m good,'” he joked. “The closest I came to it was that somebody sitting near me on a flight was watching it. And when I saw that the person sitting next to me was going to watch the movie, I thought, hmm, maybe I’m going to do some work on my laptop.” Read the rest of his comments here.
I MIGHT JUST HAVE TO SAY GOODBYE
With Wonder Woman tearing up the box office, the subject of positive portrayals of females on screen is on everyone’s lips, but someone who has tirelessly campaigned for equality is Michelle Rodriguez. Speaking out for the release of The Fate of the Furious, Rodriquez has threatened to quit the series if female roles aren’t expanded in the car-based action adventures. “I hope they decide to show some love to the women of the franchise on the next one,” wrote Rodriguez. “Or I just might have to say goodbye to a loved franchise. It’s been a good ride and I’m grateful for the opportunity the fans and studio have provided over the years… One Love.” Read more here.
Director Colin Trevorrow has admitted that he is shocked and disappointed by the overwhelmingly negative reviews for his latest film The Book of Henry. “It came to us as a bit of a shock because we had screened this movie to so many people, and we’d had reactions from so many people that we felt we knew what we had and we knew how it was affecting the audience,” he told the Empire podcast. “And that actually hasn’t changed. It affects audiences in the same way that we thought it would.” Read more of the interview here.
Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds took to Instagram yesterday to announce that Hunt for the Wilderpeople’s Julian Dennison has joined the Merc With a Mouth’s second outing. Check out the announcement here.
RAGNAROK
Illiustrator Andy Park has taken to Social Media to share two pieces of concept artwork from Taika Waititi’s upcoming Marvel blockbuster Thor: Ragnarok featuring Chris Hemsworth’s God of Thunder, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, Anthony Hopkins’ Odin, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk and Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie. Take a look here.
Following the success of Wonder Woman, Ricky Church looks at six other female-led superhero movies he’d like to see. Read the article here.
Originally published June 29, 2017. Updated November 30, 2022.
