Kate Beckinsale opens up about her desire to see her Underworld film franchise finally cross over with Marvel's vampire-hunting Blade series. Len Wiseman, Kevin Grevioux, and Daniel McBride created the former action-horror franchise and centered on a centuries-long war between vampires and werewolves, known as "Lycans" in the films. Produced by Screen Gems, five Underworld films were released to negative reviews from critics but amassed a cult following akin to fellow Sony franchise Resident Evil and solid box office numbers, grossing over $539 million against a combined budget of $212 million.
Created by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, Blade debuted in Marvel's The Tomb of Dracula No. 10 as a supporting character before leading his own comics. With his mother having been attacked by a vampire while pregnant with him, Blade is born as a dhampir or daywalker, possessing all of the superhuman abilities of vampires without their weaknesses and electing to use his powers to rid the world of all vampires. The character first made his way to the screen as a supporting character in Spider-Man: The Animated Series before Wesley Snipes led a film franchise for the character, with Sticky Fingaz taking over the role in the eponymous Spike TV series.
While chatting with Variety for her upcoming Amazon action film Jolt, Beckinsale looked to the future for the Underworld franchise. Though expressing doubt about returning, the actress revealed she would be open should it cross over with the Blade franchise and pushed for the idea. See what Beckinsale had to say below:
“I really wanted them to do an Underworld-Blade mashup. What a duo that would be. I would definitely do that, but I think they just wanted to reboot Blade as Blade so they didn’t go for it.”
Beckinsale has previously discussed her desire for a crossover between Underworld and Blade, with her last word on the matter revealing Marvel Studios was at work developing a project for the vampire hunter. With five years now having come and gone, the latest Blade adaptation is finally getting closer to fruition as the Mahershala Ali-led project hired Bassam Tariq to direct and Watchmen's Stacy Amma Osei-Kuffour signing on to script in February. Though Beckinsale's early words made it seem as though the studio was gearing up for the project sooner, it's still interesting how early in the knowledge she was on its development.
While a clash between Underworld's Selene and Blade could have been a fun crossover akin to Freddy vs. Jason, the likelihood of it happening even before the MCU seems reasonably low. Between the former being set at Sony and the latter at New Line Cinema before Marvel Studios, the rights logistics would already have presented plenty of hurdles, let alone the diminishing box office returns and critical reception both franchises saw near their end. In all honesty, it is probably for the better Beckinsale is ready to retire from the role of Selene and look towards bigger and better projects.
Source: Variety
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