The first Blade film, directed by Stephen Norrington and featuring Wesley Snipes as the main character, was released in 1998. But how many Blade movies are there, and which ones should you see first? Follow me as I answer that question by looking at the Blade movies in order!
How many Blade movies are there?
All three Blade movies are linked together and describe the entire origin narrative from Blade’s birth to the conclusion of the epic when Blade kills the first vampire. Furthermore, each Blade movie continues the narrative from the previous film’s conclusion. All of the Blade films are interconnected and have a direct link to the preceding one. It is essential to see the Blade movies to grasp the narrative of the Blade Trilogy.
If you want to see the Blade movies in sequence, do it as follows:
- Blade (1998)
- Blade II (2002)
- Blade: Trinity (2004)
Blade movies in order (watch order fully explained)
1. Blade (1998)
The Blade is a superhero horror film directed by Stephen Norrington and written by David S. Goyer in 1998. It is the first chapter of the Blade series, and it is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Wesley Snipes plays the lead role, with Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson, and N’Bushe Wright rounding out the cast.
The blade is a Dhampir, a human with vampire abilities but not weaknesses. In the film, his instructor Abraham Whistler and hematologist Karen Jenson battles vampires, particularly the particularly deadly Deacon Frost.
In 1967, a vampire attacked a pregnant lady, forcing her to go into premature delivery. Doctors can rescue her baby, but the mother succumbs to an illness that is unknown to them. Thirty years later, the kid has grown up to become Blade, a vampire hunter who is a human-vampire hybrid with all of the supernatural powers of vampires but none of its flaws, save the need to drink human blood.
Meanwhile, Frost, the leader of a group of younger vampires, is chastised by the council of pure-blood vampire elders for attempting to instigate conflict between vampires and humans. Frost and his people are socially inferior since they are not natural-born vampires. Frost responds by having one of the elders executed and stripping the rest of their power.
Karen is assaulted by police officer Krieger, a “Familiar,” a human devoted to vampires, as she returns to her apartment. Blade subdues Krieger and utilizes his information to track down an archive containing chapters from the “vampire bible.” He stumbles upon Pearl, a morbidly obese vampire, and tortures him with UV light until he reveals that Deacon is planning a ceremony where he will employ 12 pure-blood vampires to awaken the “blood god” La Magra, and Blade’s blood is the key.
Blade injects himself with a special serum in the hideaway later to control his need to consume blood. Overuse, however, is causing the serum to lose its efficacy. Frost tells Krieger of the events, and Frost kills Krieger.
Blade’s mission is to eradicate all vampire evil from the Earth. When Blade sees a vampire bite, Dr. Karen Jenson battles the creature and returns her to his lair. Blade works with Abraham Whistler to assist Jenson in recovering. Quinn, the vampire assaulted by Blade, reports to his master Deacon Frost, preparing a massive surprise for the human population.
2. Blade II (2002)
Blade II is a 2002 American superhero horror film directed by Guillermo del Toro and written by David S. Goyer, based on Blade’s fictitious character from Marvel Comics. Blade: Trinity is the sequel to the original film and the second installment in the Blade film series.
The film follows Blade, a human-vampire hybrid, in his ongoing efforts to defend humanity from vampires and finds him in a violent fight with a gang of mutant vampires who want to wipe out both the vampire and human species on a worldwide scale. Blade and his human friends are forced to join forces with a mysterious vampire organization.
Blade looks for his mentor Abraham Whistler, who was believed to be killed after being assaulted by Deacon Frost but was transformed into a vampire and kept captive for two years. Whistler is rescued and cured by Blade. Scud, Blade’s new young technician, and stoner meet Whistler.
Vampires are being transformed into “Reapers,” primitive, mutant monsters with a voracious hunger for blood and a highly contagious bite that can convert both humans and vampires. To fight the Reapers, vampire ruler Eli Damaskinos sends his servant Asad and daughter Nyssa to negotiate with Blade, who grudgingly joins the vampires.
He joins forces with the Bloodpack, an elite squad of vampires formed to assassinate him. Asad, Nyssa, Reinhardt, Chupa, Snowman, Verlaine, her boyfriend Lighthammer, and Priest make up the pack. Reinhardt despises Blade and dares him to a battle, but Blade responds by implanting an explosive on his skull to keep Reinhardt in check.
Within the vampire community, a rare mutation has developed. The Reaper is a character in the game Reaper. A vampire with such a voracious appetite for blood that they feed on both vampires and humans, turning those who are unfortunate enough to live into Reapers.
Their rapidly growing numbers now threaten vampires, and there may soon be insufficient humans to fulfill their bloodlust. The Shadow Council has called Blade, Whistler, and an armory specialist named Scud.
The council grudgingly acknowledges that they are in trouble and that Blade’s help is needed. Blade then forms a precarious partnership with The Bloodpack, an elite squad of vampires who have been trained in all kinds of warfare to fight the Reaper menace. Blade and the Bloodpack are the only ones who can stop the Reaper population from annihilating the vampire and human populations.
3. Blade: Trinity (2004)
Blade: Trinity is a 2004 American superhero action-horror film directed by David S. Goyer, who previously authored the Blade and Blade II scripts. Wesley Snipes, who also produced alongside Peter Frankfurt and Lynn Harris, starred as Marvel Comics character Blade, with Ryan Reynolds, Jessica Biel, Kris Kristofferson, Dominic Purcell, Parker Posey, and Triple H rounding out the ensemble.
The battle between humans and vampires continues in the third and final chapter of the Blade trilogy. The vampire leader Danica Talos, on the other hand, has accused the human-vampire hybrid Blade of many killings and is ready to lead her vicious comrades to triumph. Now, Blade must join forces with a gang of renegade vampire hunters to rescue humanity from Dracula, his most formidable foe yet.
A tiny gang of vampires investigates an old tomb in the Syrian Desert where they think Dracula, the first vampire, is buried. They frame Blade for the murder of a human familiar to prevent him from intervening. Following that, FBI agents track down Blade’s hideaway and assassinate his mentor and buddy, Abraham Whistler. Blade, demoralized, surrenders and is apprehended.
The vampires’ familiars have arranged for Blade to be handed up to them by the authorities. Hannibal King and Abigail Whistler, Abraham’s daughter, save him and ask him to join their vampire-hunting band, the Nightstalkers. Blade learns through them that Danica Talos, King’s old foe, has resurrected Dracula, or “Drake,” intending to utilize his abilities to cure vampires of their flaws.
Drake is the first vampire to be able to live in the sunshine. The Nightstalkers have developed Daystar, an experimental bioweapon capable of destroying vampires at the genetic level, in addition to their newly developed UV “Sun dog” ammo.
To make it work, they’ll need a more pure blood supply. They expect that the virus will kill Drake and guarantee that the remainder of the species is wiped off; however, they are concerned that this will include Blade.
After eliminating the unstoppable evil known as the Reapers in Blade II, the dauntless vampire/human hybrid who has the finest of both worlds, Blade finds himself trapped for the first time in his blood-soaked vampire-slaying quest (2002).
This time, the greatest vampire assassin is pitted against the epitome of terror: the revived Count Dracula, or Drake, the perfect monster and humankind’s arch-enemy. Blade enlists the assistance of the Nightstalkers, a youthful band of vampire-hunters who have devised an ambitious scheme to rid the Earth of the parasitic bloodsuckers, with his already dubious image tarnished by intentional slander. Can the “Day-walker” and his new human friends, on the other hand, stop the King of Vampires?
