The Blade is the working title of Marvel’s upcoming Blade revival, which is a huge missed chance to adopt the character’s other name for the movie.
The Blade will be the title of Marvel’s MCU revival of Blade, wasting a golden opportunity to use the other most popular term the main character is referred to as. Mahershala Ali will take on Wesley Snipes’s role as Blade in the MCU reboot, and while Marvel fans are thrilled to see the iconic vampire hunter join the series, there is a lot of pressure on it to live up to the previous Blade films’ popularity. In the meanwhile, the title for the Blade reboot has come off as a bit confusing.
Given that Blade’s name is not known to contain a “the” prefix, it seems strange that the MCU reboot is titled “The Blade.” The Blade’s chosen title is made extra stranger by Marvel’s apparent desire to capitalize Blade’s name in the title, as opposed to using “The Daywalker,” the vampire community’s fabled appellation for Blade. Working Blade’s nickname, Daywalker, into the title of a Blade movie is a wonderful idea on numerous levels due to his past and his genesis tale.
The Daywalker as a title would convey the atmosphere of impending mystery and terror that the figure strikes into the heart of the bloodsucking beasts, as he is resistant to the threat of daylight and other weaknesses that they fear. Blade is a feared legend in the vampire world in the MCU. The Daywalker, or even a slightly altered version like Blade: The Daywalker, would also imply a narrative that deconstructs its hero and his goal by taking him into unfamiliar territory, similar to The Dark Knight or Man of Steel. It’s interesting to consider why Marvel chose to call the movie The Blade rather than Blade’s Daywalker nickname, which was a title option that was well suited for the revival.
The Blade’s title was chosen by Marvel for the film for the most basic of reasons—to set it apart from the Wesley Snipes-starring Blade films and facilitate debates about it both offline and online. The simple act of renaming the film Blade creates an obvious risk for confusion with the prior film series, but numerous reboots and legacy sequels continue to oddly adhere to this tradition.
Going a step further, it’s possible that The Blade isn’t always referring to Blade. The character’s usage of his renowned sword gave rise to his reputation as a vampire hunter. The significance of this weapon to the plot of the reboot may go beyond what has been revealed to the general public, and it may even be what The Blade is supposed to represent. As Dane Whitman (Kit Harrington) opens the box containing the Ebony Blade, which he wields as Black Knight, Ali’s voice cameo in Eternals also hinted at a connection between Blade and Whitman. Within the framework of the MCU, Blade’s own weapon might have a similar mythical history and link to the Ebony Blade.
Whatever the in-story justification, the title of a Blade movie has been waiting in the open for a while: The Daywalker. Why Marvel chose that title for the character’s much anticipated return to theaters The Blade will undoubtedly be made clear, but the fact that The Daywalker is being disregarded is sad.
