This 6″ Blade action figure by Toy Biz perfectly captures the first serious cinematic Marvel superhero.
A Trailblazer for its Time
August 21, 1998. The world was a different place then.
Columbine hadn’t happened yet. Neither had 9/11. Two Ph.D. students founded a startup called Google. And movies based on comic books were a joke.
Audiences were reeling from 1997’s Batman and Robin, a campy mess that buried the franchise launched by the dark, brooding Dark Knight of Tim Burton’s Batman less than a decade earlier.
And Marvel movies? There were only four produced, and two never saw wide release. (Coincidentally, the two unreleased films would later be remade with Chris Evans starring in both.)
Here they are, in chronological order:
And then came Blade, an action-packed flick that opted for a darker, serious approach versus a cartoony and campy one, setting the tone for the next generation of comic-book movies.
Enter Blade, the Vampire Hunter
Based on the 1973 Marvel comic book, Blade tells the story of the titular vampire hunter, AKA Eric Brooks, a human being with vampire powers, played by Wesley Snipes in one of his most iconic roles.
The 6″ Blade action figure by Toy Biz does an awesome job capturing Snipes’ likeness. It features a respectable 18 points of articulation, an array of vampire-hunting weapons, and Blade’s signature leather trench coat.
Blade’s sword tucks into a scabbard on his back, and his throwing glaive latches onto his belt. Three daggers are strapped to his left thigh, but aren’t removable.
Blade’s belt has two holsters–one for his EDTA launcher and the other for his MAC-11.
The Toy Biz Blade figure also comes with a working crossbow that launches pronged arrows, which there are three of included in this set.
Sunglasses attach to Blade’s face with pegs that plug into small holes near the figure’s temples.
Overall, this is a solid toy that still looks great after 22 years.
Did Blade Spearhead the MCU?
Blade was a moderate hit, earning over $131 million at the box office and spawning a trilogy.
Its success set the stage for the next round of comic book movies, which took a similarly serious, sometimes dark approach to the source material: Bryan Singer’s X-Men in 2000, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man in 2002, Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins in 2005…
Two decades later, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the most successful entertainment properties in history, holding six of the top 20 spots for the highest-grossing films of all time.
Did it all start with Blade? Or should we thank Howard the Duck?
