A tweet, that has since gone viral, has given credit to Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man and Hugh Jackman’s X-Men movies for setting up the groundwork of the MCU as we know it. After the tweet gained traction, other Marvel fans stepped in to declare that we wouldn’t have the MCU without the initial success of 1998’s Blade, which was released before both X-Men and Spider-Man.
Since Blade gave Marvel their first true financial success back in 1998, fans of the film and its star, Wesley Snipes, feel that “we would’ve never gotten the MCU” without the box office triumph of the daywalker. While X-Men, and especially Spider-Man, were more successful on a domestic and worldwide scale, Blade did test the waters first and proved that Marvel could be viable at the box office. You can check out the initial viral tweet and some of Blade’s fan support below!
Wesley Snipes first appeared as the character in 1998’s Blade and the film became an early indication that Marvel could be viable with the fans and at the box office. The film took in $131 million worldwide and eventually paved the way for two sequels. Blade II was released in 2002 and Blade: Trinity followed in 2004. By the end of Snipes’ run as the character, the franchise grossed $416 million worldwide. Blade essentially paved the way for bigger Marvel box office hits like X-Men and Spider-Man so its importance to the genre is more significant than it’s probably given credit for. At the end of the day, I think the fans are saying let’s put some respect on the name of Wesley Snipes and Blade.
Do YOU believe that Blade set the groundwork for the MCU?