Marvel Officially Fills The Void Left By Blade With a New Vampire Project

Time will tell if and when Blade will return to the MCU, at least in the live-action form, seeing as Marvel and their deal with Mahershala Ali seem to be shelved, maybe, by the return of Wesley Snipes in Deadpool & Wolverine at the behest of Ryan Reynolds. But while all of that is being sorted ahead of Avengers: Doomsday releasing in December 2026, Marvel is finding another way to go at the throat of the vampire genre.

Of course, Blade isn't the only vampire in Marvel Comics, Morbius being another prominent one and, believe it or not, even the king himself, Dracula, is getting another storyline when Werewolf by Night: Blood Moon Rise #1 arrives in local shops in July; and let's not forget about his daughter, Lilith.

And, thanks to their collaboration with Dark Horse Comics, Marvel is set to do something special with The Best of Marvel’s Vampire Tales: Volume One, scheduled to arrive in late summer, and with comic historians Chris Ryall, John Lind and designer Chris Shadoian at the wheel for the dark, grueling ride.

• Type: Hardcover
• Length: 360 pages
• Dimensions: 8.375" x10.875”
• On sale: August 18, 2026
• Price: $65 US

Blade, Morbius, Dracula and Plenty More Horror from Marvel

It's not often that Marvel delves into the horror genre, but it's a thing, and even more so nowadays — the runaway success of Marvel Zombies, which just got amazing news, by the way, comes to mind. But, when they do trek down that dark and bloody alleyway, it's often a fun ride, especially in the comic book space.

That's what they and Dark Horse Comics are banking on with The Best of Marvel’s Vampire Tales: Volume One, what's being pegged as a "celebration of the history of Marvel horror". It will mark the first entry in what will be a series between the two companies that represent the "most ghoulish tales" in Marvel lore and with archival hardcover editions (no paperbacks here).

Per the solicitation: "The Best of Marvel’s Vampire Tales: Volume One contains nearly 300 pages of terrifying tales from the first six issues of the magazine, including stories by comic-book talent such as Alfredo Alcala, Rich Buckler, Ernie Chan, Chris Claremont, Gerry Conway, Bill Everett, Gardner Fox, Steve Gerber, Carmine Infantino, Tony Isabella, Gil Kane, Stan Lee, Don McGregor, Pablo Marcos, Esteban Maroto, Doug Moench, Tom Palmer, John Romita, Jim Steranko, Tom Sutton, Roy Thomas, Marv Wolfman, and more!"

Which Blade Will Take the MCU Mantle, Though?

That remains the question of the hour, or rather the year, now two years removed from Wesley Snipes' reprisal of the role in Deadpool & Wolverine, and months removed from Mahershala Ali and others all but putting hopes of his previously promised, in 2019, version of the Daywalker in an early grave with a stake in its heart.

Mia Goth (X, Pearl, MaXXXine, Frankenstein, The Odyssey) initially signed on for an undisclosed role in Ali's Blade, going so far as to have a costume fitting and a screen test with Ali, and there was optimism but, in 2025, she made it known that "it just unraveled" — Ali feeling ghosted by Marvel exec Kevin Feige despite very public pleas to finally push the project into production.

“Call Marvel. I’m ready. Let them know I’m ready," he said. "… I’m just taking it a day at a time, and I’m doing the best work I can. ... I would love for Blade to happen. We’ll see. I don’t know where Marvel is at right now.”

It's been reported that Snipes will reprise the role one final time, be it in Avengers: Doomsday or thereafter, and there's speculation that Ali will finally become the Daywalker in the highly-anticipated, but still rumored, Midnight Sons project expected to be inserted into the MCU; but until that's all ironed out, pick up The Best of Marvel’s Vampire Tales: Volume One for a reminder of how bloody Marvel can get.