Slashing its way into theaters around the globe in 1998, the Blade franchise has been praised by many for being one of the better vampire trilogies in the industry. With just three movies in its complete run, the Blade franchise can be a fun R-rated adventure into the dark, vampire-infested streets the movie successfully sets up.
In the trilogy, we follow Eric Brooks, famously known as the Blade, as he goes around hunting vampires for the safety of humans and personal vengeance. In the first movie, Blade takes down his arch-nemesis Deacon Frost. In the second, he teams up with vampires to fight against a rampant virus. In the third movie, Balde is tested against the creator of vampires, Dracula.
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With Marvel rebooting the Blade franchise to make it a part of Phase 5, there couldn’t be a better time to get into this classic franchise. This article provides all the information you need before starting the Blade franchise and will answer some of your questions.
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Blade Movies in Release Order
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Blade
Streaming On: Can be rented from – DIRECTV, Youtube, Apple TV
Director: Stephen Norrington
Writer: David S. Goyer
Stars: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, N’Bushe Wright, Kevin Patrick, Donal Logue, Sanaa Lathan, Udo Kier, Traci Lords, Kris Kristofferson, Arly Jover, Tim Guinee, Eric Edwards
Genres: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Introducing us to its dark and cruel world, Blade (1998) gets right into its story. In the movie, we see Blade’s origin story of becoming a half-vampire. Thirty years later, unbeknownst to him, Blade confronts the vampire who created him.
In 1967, a vampire bites a pregnant lady, which causes her to go into labor. The doctors can save the child, but the woman dies. Thirty years later, that child has become Blade, a half-vampire vampire hunter.
Blade raids another vampire, Deacon Forst’s Club. When Karen, a hematologist, is injured by a Vampire, Blade carries her to Whistler, his old friend. As a Vampire bite marks Karen, Blade suggests she leave the city.
At a Pure-Blood Vampire meeting, Frost is scolded for trying to wage war between Humans and Vampire. Blade saves Karen from a Vampire familiar and extracts the location of some pages of the Vampire Bible.
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Frost kills an elder and strips others of authority as revenge for their previous disrespect. Blade tortures a vampire to extract Frost’s plan. The vampire reveals that Blade’s blood is the final key. Karen successfully develops a cure for vampires and promises to make one for Blade.
Frost raids Blade’s hideout, infecting Whistle and abducting Karen. Blade puts Whistle out of his misery and follows Frost. Blade is shocked to see his mother alive, and Frost reveals that he was the one who bit her.
Frost drains Blade’s blood to complete the ritual, but Blade is saved by Karen, who offers him her blood. Blade injects Frost with an overdose serum which kills Frost.
The movie ends with Blade confronting a vampire in Moscow.
Starting the franchise with a bang, Blade (1998) is filled with super gory and well-animated fights. While the story is enough to keep the viewers on the edge of their seats, the well-choreographed fights are the icing on the cake.
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Blade II
Streaming On: Can be rented from – DIRECTV, Youtube, Apple TV
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Writers: Marv Wolfman, Gene Colan, David S. Goyer
Stars: Wesley Snipes, Thomas Kretschmann, Matt Schulze, Ron Perlman, Danny John-Jules, Tony Curran, Marit Velle Kile, Donnie Yen, Luke Goss, Kris Kristofferson, Karel Roden, Leonor Varela, Norman Reedus, Daz Crawford, Santiago Segura
Genres: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Continuing the narrative from the previous movie, Blade II ups the stakes and provides even more deadly fights. When a virus starts turning humans and vampires into primal beasts, Blade has to team up with other vampires to defeat the creators of the virus.
Blade rescues Whistler, who was thought to be dead. With the help of Scud, Blades’ new technician, cures Whistler. A Virus has started turning humans and vampires into Reapers, primal, mutant creatures. The virus is spreading through bites.
Blade allies with Asad and Nyssa, two vampires sent by Eli Damaskinos to deal with Reapers. Blade joins a team of 8 other vampires, who were initially put together to kill Blade.
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When the group raids the Reaper’s base, their leader Noamak tries to recruit Blade. One of the group members is killed while another hides his bite. Blade fights Nomak, but his weapons don’t work on him. When the sun rises, Nomak runs away.
With the help of Scud, the group realizes that the Reaper’s only weakness is UV light. The group is geared up with UV weapons and heading to the next nest. In the nest, the bitten member kills another, while a third member sacrifices herself to kill the infected member.
After being ambushed, Assad dies, while Nyassa is heavily injured. Blade gives Nyassa his blood to revive her. The Damaskino people betray and capture Blade and his team. Damaskino reveals that Nomak and Scud are both reapers and his experiment. Blade kills Scud with a remote bomb.
Damaskino wants to use Blade’s blood to create an invincible vampire race. Nomak turns on Damaskino as he considers him a failure, with Nyssa also joining him. Blade kills Nomak by hitting his weak spot. Balde fulfills Nyssa’s promise to die as a vampire.
Bringing over what the viewers liked from the first movie, Blade II raises the stakes compared to the previous movie. Wesley Snipes’s acting as the title character was critically acclaimed, and the movie won the best screenplay award.
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Blade: Trinity
Streaming On: Can be rented from – DIRECTV, Youtube, Apple TV
Director: David S. Goyer
Writers: David S. Goyer, Marv Wolfman, Gene Colan
Stars: Wesley Snipes, Jessica Biel, Natasha Lyonne, James Remar, John Michael Higgins, Parker Posey, Haili Page, Dominic Purcell, Mark Berry, Ryan Reynolds, Patton Oswalt, Kris Kristofferson, Callum Keith Rennie, Triple H
Genres: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
The third & final installment in the Blade franchise wraps up Blade’s story while maintaining the quality of the previous movies. In it, we follow Blade as he joins the Nightstalkers, a group of vampires who have discovered that the first-ever Vampire, Dracula, has been awakened.
To stop Blade from interfering with the resurrection of the original vampire Dracula called ‘Drake,’ they kill his friends and frame him for the murder. Blade is rescued by the vampire hunter group called the “Nightstalker,” who asks him to join to defeat Danica Talos, who has revived Drake.
As Drake is too powerful, the Nightstalker decides to use a virus to kill Drake, resulting in all the vampires dying. Eager to test Blade, Drake isolates him on a human farm that takes blood from the brain-dead. Blade shuts the farm down and leaves.
Blade and Abigail Whistler return to find all the Nightstalkers dead, with their leader King and the bioweapon creator abducted. Blade successfully saves the captives but is intercepted by Drake.
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Abigail fires the bioweapon arrow and distracts Drake long enough for Blade to strike Drake with the arrow, activating the Bioweapon. Drake slowly succumbs to the virus and, using his last energy turns himself into Blade as a gift for Blade to go free while Drakes’s body will be used as proof of death.
Blade: Trinity introduces the strongest villain, and the fight is directed very well. While the fights keep the viewer’s adrenaline high, the story feels slightly rushed. The movie maintains a grand sense of doom and feels like the finale.
Conclusion
All Blade movies were arranged in order, sorted by their release year, IMDB ratings, and box-office collection. The movies were stylized perfectly to match the story being told. The action sequences were absolutely thrilling and animated superbly.
During a period when the superhero genre was being flooded with good guys fighting for a noble cause, the Blade franchise was a breath of fresh air, as Blade, as a character, fights for his motives. So if you are looking for R-rated movies with loads of amazing fight sequences and a cold lead character, the Blade trilogy might be the right pick.
Blade Movies According To IMDb Ratings
- Blade (1998) – 7.1 By 285K Votes
- Blade II (2002) – 6.7 By 226K Votes
- Blade: Trinity (2004) – 5.8 By 183K Votes
Blade Movies According To Box Office Collection
- Blade (1998) – $131 Million
- Blade II (2002) – $155 Million
- Blade: Trinity (2004) – $129 Million
FAQs
Release order. The Blade movies follow linear storytelling so the correct watch order for these movies is the release order which goes as follows – 1. Blade (1998), 2. Blade II (2002), 3. Blade: Trinity (2004)
Yes. In 2019 Marvel Studios announced that they are rebooting the Blade franchise. The movie will be released on 14 February 2025, as part of Marvel’s phase 5, with Mahershala Ali taking the role of the title character.
Bloodlust. As it goes with vampires, Blade is very weak in his Bloodlust. To keep himself from losing his mind and flying into a complete rage, Blade has created blood serum to keep himself well-stocked in times of dire need.
Dhampir. Blade is a half-vampire also known as Dhampir. He has all the strengths and abilities of a vampire while having none of their weaknesses.
