Tales from the Crescent

Blade is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and penciller Gene Colan, his first appearance was in The Tomb of Dracula #10 (cover dated July 1973) as a supporting character, before going on to star in his own solo storylines. Shortly after his introduction, Blade became one of Marvel's most prominent supernatural heroes, appearing alongside teams including the Nightstalkers, the Midnight Sons, and the Avengers. Blade stories, both solo and as part of ensemble casts, have been published across multiple ongoing series since the character's creation. Blade is the antihero persona of Eric Cross Brooks, a Black British man born in the Soho neighborhood of London. When his mother was attacked by the vampire Deacon Frost during childbirth, certain vampire enzymes passed to the newborn Eric, making him a dhampir. 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. Devoting his life to ridding the world of all vampires, Blade possesses superhuman strength, speed, agility, and stamina, an accelerated healing factor, and immunity to both vampire bites and hypnosis, while remaining unaffected by sunlight, earning him the title "The Daywalker". He is proficient in weaponry ranging from firearms to swords and is a master of martial arts. He is the father of Brielle "Bri" Brooks (Bloodline). Major Blade storylines include his ongoing feud with Dracula across The Tomb of Dracula, his formation of the supernatural detective agency Borderline Investigations alongside Hannibal King and Frank Drake, and his roles in the company-wide stories "Civil War" (2006–2007), "Heroes Reborn" (2021), and "Blood Hunt" (2024). Blade's chief enemies include Dracula, Deacon Frost, and the ancient vampire lord Varnae. The character has been substantially adapted from the comics into various forms of media, including films, television series, video games, and his own animated series. Blade was portrayed by Wesley Snipes in the films Blade (1998), Blade II (2002), and Blade: Trinity (2004), as well as Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU); Sticky Fingaz replaced Snipes for the television series Blade: The Series (2006). Snipes's portrayal helped establish Blade as one of Marvel's most recognizable supernatural heroes and is widely credited with revitalizing the superhero film genre. Mahershala Ali voiced the character in the MCU film Eternals (2021) ahead of a standalone film, before dropping out of the role in 2026, following several years of development issues.