Eric Brooks is a superhero primarily portrayed by Wesley Snipes in the New Line Cinema Blade franchise—based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name—commonly known by his alias, Blade. Brooks is depicted as a dhampir with superhuman abilities after his mother was bitten by a vampire while giving birth to him. Brooks is trained as a vampire hunter by Abraham Whistler and dedicates himself to protecting humanity. A variation of the film's storyline was integrated into Spider-Man: The Animated Series by John Semper in 1995 ahead of the first Blade (1998) film, and Blade's redesigned costume and powers were integrated into comics in 1999.Gambit (1999) #4. Marvel Comics. Peter Parker: Spider-Man (1999) #8. Marvel Comics. Snipes reprised his role in two further sequel films, Blade II (2002) and Blade: Trinity (2004), as well as in Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), which incorporated his iteration of the character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) franchise through the multiverse. The character also appeared in Blade: The Series (2006), portrayed by Sticky Fingaz.
Snipes' portrayal of the character received significant critical praise, described as the "quintessential black superhero [before] Black Panther", with the first film starring him receiving a cult following and beginning Marvel's film success, setting the stage for further comic book film adaptations. Snipes' portrayal of the character won him the Guinness World Record for "longest career as a live action Marvel character" in 2024 with his reprisal of the role in Deadpool & Wolverine.
In 2015, New Line Cinema producers were in talks to have Snipes reprise the role in a crossover with the Underworld film series, but ultimately the concept never came to fruition. In 2019, Mahershala Ali was announced to be cast as Blade in a planned reboot for the MCU before dropping out of the role in 2026.
Concept and creation
The character Blade made his first appearance as a supporting character in The Tomb of Dracula #10 (July 1973), written by Marv Wolfman with art by Gene Colan, his first solo story coming in the black-and-white horror-comics magazine Vampire Tales #8 (December 1974), and his first solo series (in color), Blade the Vampire Hunter, being published from July 1994 to April 1995 across ten issues, written by Ian Edginton and Terry Kavanagh, with art by Doug Wheatley.
When New World Pictures bought the rights to Marvel Comics, they were set to make a Mexico-set western starring Richard Roundtree (who would later portray Blade's father in Blade: The Series) as Blade. Marvel Studios then started to develop the film in early as 1992, when rapper/actor LL Cool J was interested in playing the lead role. Blade was eventually set up at New Line Cinema, with David S. Goyer writing the script. When Goyer heard a film was in development he went in to pitch director Ernest Dickerson. New Line originally wanted to do Blade as "something that was almost a spoof" before the writer convinced them otherwise. Goyer wanted to take the character seriously and pitched a trilogy of movies "almost Wagnerian in scope", saying that "I'm going to pitch you the Star Wars of black vampire films", wanting to demystify vampires and treat them as serious villains with a greater sense of realism instead of the doomed romantic characters shown in Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire. Goyer's vision for the project was to create a "post-modernist vampire film", noting that his initial draft was written before the release of movies with similar approaches such as From Dusk till Dawn and Vampire in Brooklyn. Snipes stated that while such a character "isn't going to lend itself to a great deal of emotional depth", there is also "some acting involved in creating the character and making him believable and palatable".
Casting
When Goyer first pitched the idea of doing a Blade film, New Line Cinema asked that Blade and his mentor Jamal Afari both be cast as white instead of black, which Goyer rejected. While the role of Afari was redeveloped as Abraham Whistler, portrayed by white actor Kris Kristofferson, New Line head Mike DeLuca then suggested Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, and Laurence Fishburne for the role of Blade; of these three, only Snipes was seriously considered, and had the film's finalized script sent to, as opposed to Washington or Fishburne, who were sent earlier drafts. Having failed to get a Black Panther film starring him into production, Snipes signed on to star as Blade in 1996, the film releasing in 1998, before signing on to reprise his role in Blade II (2002) and Blade: Trinity (2004); in the first film, a young Blade is portrayed by André Hyde-Braithwaite. Kirk "Sticky Fingaz" Jones signed to star as Blade in Blade: The Series, replacing Snipes following Blade: Trinity, with Jon Kent Ethridge portraying a young Blade.
Characterization and redesign As created by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan in 1973, the original comic book version of Blade used teakwood knives and was much more the everyman in his behavior and attitude, wearing red/green clothing and sporting a short afro-style haircut. Although cunning and brave, he displayed flaws as well, such as an inability to get along with certain other supporting cast members and a hatred of vampires that bordered on fanaticism. The character was not originally a "daywalker" but a human being immune to being turned into a vampire. Lacking the superhuman speed and strength of his undead quarry, he relied solely on his wits and skill.The Tomb of Dracula (1972) #10–61. Marvel Comics. Prior to the film's development, Wolfman and Colan had partially revamped the comics character in 1991 with a dark leather jacket, short hair, and more violent tendencies.The Tomb of Dracula (1991) #1–4. Marvel Comics. The 1998 film updated the leather jacket into a body-length coat and added sunglasses, a new haircut, and an enhanced dhampir powerset. The comics character was subsequently modified to match, wearing the new outfit and being bitten by the character Morbius to similarly make him a dhampir like his film counterpart.
Relishing the "challenge [of] stepping back into Blade's shoes" for Blade II, Snipes stated: "I love playing this role. It's fun as an actor to test your skills at doing a sequel, to see if you can recreate something that you did", with Peter Frankfurt adding that "Wesley is Blade; so much of the character was invented by Wesley and his instincts are so spot on. He takes his fighting, his weapons and attitude very seriously. He's incredibly focused, but he's also very cool and fun", and Guillermo del Toro saying that "Wesley knows Blade better than David Goyer, better than me, better than anyone else involved in the franchise, [that he] instinctively knows what the character would and wouldn't do, and every time he twists something around, something better would come out".
However, with Blade: Trinity, Snipes was unhappy with both Goyer's script and original choice of director; when Goyer was selected to replace the director, Snipes additionally protested, reportedly causing difficulty during filming, including frequently refusing to shoot scenes and forcing Goyer to use stand-ins and computer effects to add his character to scenes. Goyer described making the film as "the most personally and professionally difficult and painful thing I've ever been through". Co-star Patton Oswalt alleged that Snipes would spend much of his time smoking marijuana in his trailer, becoming violent with Goyer after accusing him of racism, and refusing to directly interact with Goyer or his co-stars outside of filming, instead communicating with them through his assistant or the use of notes. Snipes also allegedly referred to co-star Ryan Reynolds as a "cracker" on one or more occasions. Snipes denied that version of events and said having been promoted to the role of executive producer on the film, he had the authority to make decisions but that some people had difficulty accepting that.
Addressing Blade's characterization after being cast to replace Snipes in Blade: The Series, Fingaz commented that he was not out to make people forget about the Blade films, saying that "I think it's more my own direction, but I have to incorporate some of what [Snipes] did, [which is] what people are familiar with, and you don't want to change it up drastically. You might want to change the seasoning a little bit, but you want the same meat". Goyer commented on Blade's characterisation in the series as being written as "Wiseguy with vampires", following him after "realiz[ing] at the beginning of the pilot that he's not making much headway, just sort of hacking and slashing, that he needs to know more about [vampire society's] inner workings".
Abandoned crossover and the Marvel Cinematic Universe
In October 2016, Underworld film series star Kate Beckinsale confirmed that a crossover film between Underworld and Blade had been discussed as a sequel to Blade: Trinity, with both her and Snipes returning, but was declined because Marvel Studios had plans to introduce the character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). In May 2013, Marvel had a working script for a Blade film. Snipes said in July 2015 that he hoped to reprise the role in any future film and had been in discussions with Marvel Studios about doing so, in an adaptation of the unpublished Blade the Hunter, following Blade and his teenaged daughter Fallon Grey. At the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con held in July, Marvel Studios announced a Blade reboot set in the MCU, with Mahershala Ali cast as the title character, after he had personally pitched a Blade film starring himself to Kevin Feige. Marvel Comics writer Daniel Kibblesmith confirmed that his one-shot comic book The Darkhold: Blade #1 (released in October 2021), illustrated by Federico Sabbatini, Rico Renzi, and Clayton Cowles, follows Snipes' version of the character; presented as a vision given to the Blade of Earth-616 by the titular Darkhold, the narrative follows Snipes' Blade after an alternate ending to the first film where he fails to stop Deacon Frost from using La Magra to make vampires the dominant species on Earth. In July 2026, Ali announced he was no longer set to play Blade in the MCU and criticized Marvel Studios for keeping him under contract for a film he believed they never truly intended to make.
Todd Williams voices Eric Cross Brooks as the Avatar of Khonsu in Marvel Zombies.
Fictional character biography Early life In 1967, the pregnant human Vanessa Brooks is attacked by the vampire Deacon Frost and she goes into premature labor. The doctors are able to save her baby, Eric Brooks, but Vanessa dies. Brooks possesses an eidetic memory; he remembers every moment of his life, beginning with his birth. Thirteen years later, Brooks lives on the streets and preys on other homeless people to fulfill his need for human blood. He meets vampire hunter Abraham Whistler, who becomes Brooks' mentor. Realizing Brooks' is a human-vampire hybrid who possesses the enhanced abilities of vampires without the weaknesses to sunlight, silver and garlic, Whistler trains Brooks in martial arts and the use of various weapons. He also develops a serum to replace Brooks' need to consume blood.
Battle against Deacon Frost