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While a modernized Blade has run into problems making it to the big screen, there’s an updated version of the character already available to fans — via the video game phenomenon Marvel Rivals. But what kind of thought goes into making a Blade for 2025?

“It's a dream come true for me, and I'm sure for everyone else up here as well,” Marvel Games art director Dan DaLuca said about the opportunity to bring Blade to the game — and redesign him in the process. After all, the original character was created back in the 1970s and looks like it, and his most popular incarnation since is synonymous with his 1990s movies, and reflects the style of that era.

“One of the things we always talk about is ‘fashion-forward,’” DaLuca told the crowd. “It's really important to just Marvel Rivals in general, and you'll see that in all of our costume designs. But with Blade we wanted to make sure that he had some functionality and maybe a bit modernized for the Rival version.”

What does that mean in practice? Marvel Games creative development manager Dakota Maysonet answered it in practical terms, after DaLuca said that he’d “worked a lot on the hair.” It wasn’t a joke. “Specifically, with this interpretation of the hair we decided to go with straight back braids,” he explained. “It's honestly about more than the hairstyle — it's about mobility, being on the go, no fuss. We didn't want to go with something too elaborate, and not something that's too traditional. Something that feels authentic and feels right, that gives him a level of, ‘I am on the move, I am not messing around with this. But I look good while doing it.’”

“We also thought about his tatts,” DaLuca added. “We thought about how do we make the magic corse through his veins. And then we thought about what if we bring this Y2K pattern into that. So that's where we went with that tattoo.”

A lot of thought went into Marvel Rivals’ version of Blade. Maybe Marvel Studios could ask for some help.

Want more? Make sure you've read our list of all the best Marvel Comics stories of all time, and get ready for all the free Marvel comics coming as part of this year's Free Comic Book Day / Comics Giveaway Day events.