The 90s were a really interesting time for comic book and superhero movies, with the likes of Dick Tracy (1990), The Rocketeer (1991), Batman Returns (1992), The Crow (1994), The Mask (1994), Judge Dredd (1995), Tank Girl (1995), The Phantom (1996), and Men in Black (1997). Perhaps the best of all though was the Marvel movie Blade, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary today.
Blade preceded darker, more ‘grown up’ comic book and superhero movies of the 2000s such as Hellboy, The Punisher, Watchmen, Constantine, and Sin City. The X-Men franchise and Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy were also a huge part of the decade. Many of these films had morally complex antihero protagonists, rather than the more obvious good guys such as Spider-Man or Superman.
Stephen Norrington’s Blade stars Wesley Snipes as a human-vampire hybrid who hunts vampires. It also stars Stephen Dorff as the main villain, Kris Kristofferson as Blade’s mentor, and N’Bushe Wright as a doctor who is bitten by a vampire and becomes close to Blade.
A reboot starring Mahershala Ali has been in development for years. We have been given an MCU Blade release date several times, with the most recent being Valentine’s Day 2025. Directors have come and gone from the project, and the script has seemingly been through many rewrites.
The costumes in Blade were massively influential, with the leather trench coats of The Matrix a year later also forming part of the trend. The vampire rave scene is still much talked about as well, with the movie being considered cool, edgy and reveling in its LA underworld setting.
Check out our guide to the best vampire movies and the best superhero movies. Be sure to see what we thought of the most recent superhero movie, in our Blue Beetle review too. Keep up to date with the MCU’s upcoming movies as well.