MCU: 10 Supernatural Characters Who Will DOMINATE Phase 5

1. Blade

Blade Mahershala Ali
Marvel Comics / 20th Century Studios

Without Blade, you do not have the superhero movie boom of the aughts. That also means that, without Blade, it's doubtful you have the MCU. If Tim Burton's Batman laid the foundations for the all-encompassing monolithic comic book movie juggernaut that grew to consume everyone and everything (*inhale*), then Blade was the film that took those foundations and set to work actually building something.

That in itself is really important, because aside from Spider-Man, the MCU has never really had to reckon with such a hefty cinematic legacy. I know this is Blade and that Blade is literally just Wesley Snipes being The Best while Guillermo del Toro does his thing with vampires and such, but those first two films are a genuine seminal moment in the evolution of comic book movies.

Tackling Blade is also unique because Wesley Snipes was campaigning to reprise the role as recently as 2018, and that fans were behind him to do just that.

Of course, Marvel opted to go with another talent, and one that intimates the studio are more than capable of honouring the legacy of those earlier films - Oscar-winning actor Mahershala Ali.

Ali's casting is great news and the return of Blade is sure to be a highlight of not only Phase Four, but Phase Five. Marvel is assembling a new group of Avengers, only this time, things are going to get way more spooky.

Watch Next


Marvel Quiz: How Well Do You Know Blade?

Blade Thumbnail
Marvel

1. What Is Blade's Real Name?

Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.