The Next BLADE Movie Could Be About… A GIRL?!?!

Wesley Snipes made some headlines when he casually mentioned he had been talking to Marvel about doing something with Blade, the half-vampire vampire hunter whose movies really were the launch of the modern superhero film moment. In recent years the rights to the Daywalker have reverted to Marvel Studios, and it shouldn't be surprising that Kevin Feige and friends have been considering what to do with the character. 

According to Bleeding Cool something is happening with the character at Marvel Studios - at least based on what is happening with the new Blade title at Marvel Comics. The comic has been delayed, and the site claims it's at the behest of Marvel Studios: 

I understand from well-connected sources that this is due to careful concern from up above the food chain, that the character and the comic are suddenly considered extremely important by the bean counters, and the multi-media folk.

Because the plan is that this new Blade will be the one that features in the next Blade movie.

That new Blade is Fallon Grey, and she's the 16 year old daughter of original Blade. It's Buffy The Vampire Slayer if Buffy were black and her Watcher was her dad. 

I'm of a few minds about the delay being related to a movie; I don't know just how close the relationship is between Studios and Comics this far out from a movie happening. I feel like Comics gets in the loop fairly late. What's more, I keep thinking that Marvel's slate is fairly full for the next few years; while they definitely could add new films to it - especially ones with as different a feel as Blade - this news makes it seem like they expect to have a movie in theaters in a year and a half, which doesn't seem right to me. 

BUT! What if there is no Blade movie. What if Blade is returning as a TV show, and it's the TV show that John Ridley has been quietly developing? That makes more sense when it comes to timing; Ridley's been working on this show for a little while now, long enough that whatever his direction is could be communicated back to Marvel Comics. And with the way production works on TV it's possible that this new show could be airing within a year, which makes the new comic much more contemporaneous than it might be with a movie coming in 2019. It's worth noting that new series don't always last long, so delaying your new comic for a movie that might come out in four or five years seems like putting your cart before your horse.

If this happens we're going to be in an intriguing spot where Marvel TV is largely dominated by female leads - Peggy Carter, Jessica Jones, Skye on Agents of SHIELD, Bobbi Morse on Marvel's Most Wanted. There will be plenty of men as well, but Marvel TV has the kind of female presence Marvel movies do not have. That could be a good argument for making Blade a movie, as is the tonal aspects that would set it apart from the regular MCU, while also allowing it to crossover with things like Doctor Strange. 

The weirdest thing that would come out of this, if Snipes is returning to play father figure to the new Blade: the MCU no longer begins in 2008 but rather an entire decade earlier, in 1998. Gentlemen, adjust your timelines.