Underworldstar Kate Beckinsale reveals an idea she had for a crossover with fellow vampire hunterBlade, something which she would still love to do. Beckinsale’sUnderworld/Blademovie would have seen her character Selene team up with Marvel’s Daywalker, with the pair no doubt striking fear in the unbeating hearts of vampires everywhere.
“I really wanted them to do an Underworld-Blade mashup. What a duo (Selene and Blade) would be. I would definitely do that, but I think they just wanted toreboot Bladeas Blade, so they didn’t go for it.”
This is not the first time that Beckinsale has pitched this idea, with the actress revealing during a 2016 Q&A for the franchise’s fifth movie,Underworld: Blood Wars, thatUnderworld’sproduction team had discussed the crossover with Marvel, who ultimately decided to turn it down. This was later confirmed by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige who said, “[The Underworld filmmakers] did ask a long time ago and I think our answer was, ‘No, we’ll do something with Blade at some point.’ That’s still the answer.”
While the likes of Selene andBladewould go together perfectly well, with the pair no doubt swapping stories and the best ways in which to keep your leather outfit looking fresh, Marvel Studios instead decided to keep Blade as a lone warrior, with the MCU reboot of the character due to go into production next year.
Academy award winning actorMahershala Ali is currently the only star attached, withWatchmenwriter Stacy Osei-Kuffour recently tapped to be on scripting duty for Marvel’sBladereboot. While details remain scarce, the Emmy nominated writer’s script will likely reset the franchise and tell all-new adventures of the part-vampire, part-mortal man who becomes a vampire hunter to protect humanity. While plot details remain unknown at present, the movie will no doubt once again involve the internal battle that rages inside Blade, a man who possesses all the vampire’s strengths and none of their weaknesses but does still require blood to survive.Mogul Mowglidirector Bassam Tariq was recently brought on board to helm the MCU outing.
As for theUnderworldfranchise, the story of Selene first began way back in 2003, with Beckinsale leading the charge as a Death Dealer bent on destroying the Lycans who allegedly killed her family. While the movie was not particularly well received by critics, the franchise found a passionate audiences and thus continued in several sequels,Underworld: Evolution(2006),Underworld: Rise of the Lycans(2009),Underworld: Awakening(2012), andUnderworld: Blood Wars(2016).
A sixth movie has been often been discussed, and whileKate Beckinsaleis “highly doubtful” that she will ever appear in anotherUnderworldmovie, she has not ruled it out, even stating her willingness to once again don the leather pants should the opportunity arise. “I know exactly where they are,” she said. “You never know who you want to impress.”
Do you think that Marvel missed out on not going forward with anUnderworld/Bladecrossover? Or are you happy that the studio stuck with an MCU-set reboot? This comes to us courtesy ofVariety.
