Blade

Blade (birth name: Eric Cross Brooks; legal name: Frank Blade) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and penciller Gene Colan, his first appearance was in the comic book The Tomb of Dracula #10 (July 1973) as a supporting character, but later went on to star in his own storylines. Devoting his life to ridding the world of all vampires, Blade utilizes his unique physiology to become the perfect vampire hunter; while originally depicted as a human immune to vampire bites, Blade was retroactively established to be a dhampir following his adaptation as such in Spider-Man: The Animated Series and the Blade film series. He is the father of Brielle "Bri" Brooks (Bloodline). The character has been substantially adapted from the comics into various forms of media, including films, television series, and video games. Blade was portrayed by Wesley Snipes in the films Blade, Blade II and Blade: Trinity, and by Sticky Fingaz in the television series Blade: The Series, with J.D. Hall voicing the character in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, and Terry Crews voicing him in Ultimate Spider-Man and Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.. Mahershala Ali has been cast as the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise, debuting with an uncredited vocal cameo in the film Eternals (2021) ahead of the character's upcoming standalone film (2025). Publication history Blade was introduced as a supporting character in Marvel Comics' The Tomb of Dracula #10 (July 1973), written by Marv Wolfman and penciled by Gene Colan. The artist recalled in 2003, "Marv told me Blade was a black man, and we talked about how he should dress, and how he should look – very heroic looking. That was my input. [...] The bandolier of blades – that was Marv's idea. But, I dressed him up. I put the leather jacket on him and so on". Colan based the character's features on "a composite of black actors" including NFL football star-turned-actor Jim Brown. He initially sported 1970s-style Afro hair and wielded teak-bladed knives. Blade appeared in issues #10–21, with additional appearances in #24 and 28 (altogether ranging from July 1973 – Sept. 1974). Wolfman spoke on the character's inception during an interview: