Blade: The Deep Subtext Marvel Accidentally Got Right in 1998

Comments · 295

• VE

  @VexElectronica · 7 days ago · pinned

  If current-day Marvel could actually get Blade right, what would you want to see in the reboot?

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• SA

  @saltythebear · 6 days ago

  the biggest difference in how it portrays situations better is that the first time police show up in the film, they open fire on Blade IMMEDIATELY after announcing themselves. leads to one of the best lines in the film, &quot;Mothafucka ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR DAMN MIND????&quot; as the bullets just harmlessly ping of his armor. <br><br>It says everything. like 10 seconds of a scene

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• BO

  @BooshMcFadden · 8 days ago

  &quot;There&apos;s only ever gonna be one Blade.&quot;

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• YA

  @yaynative · 3 days ago

  I no longer try to ice skate up hill.

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• DU

  @dustind4694 · 5 days ago (edited)

  I will never forget the &quot;MFer are you out of your damn mind?&quot; as the cops open fire on the big Black dude instead of the blood-spattered, growling monster tearing through a hospital in plain sight. Nobody needed to say anything about it, it was just flatly obvious that Blade and Doc Jenson were being treated as, on the one hand, a threat, and on the other, expendable.

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• J-

  @J-Hue · 3 days ago

  Blade 2 continues this kind of subtlety exceptionally well, too, particularly where Blade meets the Blood Pack.

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• AN

  @andrewbrennan2891 · 7 days ago

  Arnie in Predator and Wesley in the first Blade are just the two greatest iconic images in the history of action movies. I believe Blade could easily ice skate uphill.

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• CH

  @chefntoast · 4 days ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fCjwOS7AO0&amp;t=216">3:36</a> Meteorman was on heavy rotation when i was a kid.

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• OG

  @OgIKidd · 3 days ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fCjwOS7AO0&amp;t=420">7:00</a> - I&apos;ll point one thing out about Whistler that most people don&apos;t realize. Technically Whistler IS a white savior archetype by proxy of the fact that his character is a white washed version of Blade&apos;s true mentor from the comics, Jamal Afari. Everything about Whistler and his relationship with Blade is lifted directly from Jamal&apos;s backstory, even down to Blade having to reluctantly kill him because Jamal/Whistler was turned into a vampire. The resurrection and Dracula ties are also loosely adapted directly from the comics. Additionally, Jamal served as a true cultural surrogate father figure, teaching Blade his love of Jazz as a horn player. Which in the context of the original movie would&apos;ve been interesting to see, or rather hear conveyed through the music which accompanied each character. The older, seasoned, semi retired vampire hunter who&apos;s passing the torch backed by old Blues, Jazz, and Soul music. Meanwhile, all of the music backing Blade is louder, more energetic Hip Hop and Electronic music. Sonically reflecting the passage of that torch being passed between generations.<br><br>Another side detail that people don&apos;t realize about Blade is that he&apos;s actually British. Jamal is from Harlem and was basically retired after falling ill in England before he met Blade. Blade ended up in the US after he killed a dude that he mistook as a vampire during his rookie years. Jamal turned himself in and sent Blade off to the US to be relatively safe(er). So if Marvel were to ever do a proper adaptation from the source, they&apos;d need to hire a Black actor to properly play his mentor this time. They&apos;d also be better off hiring someone like John Boyega for the part of Blade himself. Although, there are plenty of Afro-Brit actors playing American roles. So I guess it wouldn&apos;t hurt to cast another American just with a British accent this time. 😅😂

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• AN

  @antwonsmith8931 · 7 days ago

  My all time favorite Marvel character.

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• VI

  @vivander807 · 7 days ago

  Great video. I think you underplayed the importance of Deacon Frost thematically. He is a great foil for blade due to his own low position in the vampire hierarchy. To me that was one of the most compelling parts of the story - the underdog ambition that is an opposition both to blade and into his own clan. It is that driving fear of inferiority that drives the entire narrative.

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• SP

  @SpielkindFR · 9 hours ago

  To describe the family in fresh prince as middle class is wild.

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