David Goyer Talks Blade 3: Trinity

Posted by:

For most comic fans, when the first "Blade" film hit the big screen the collective reaction was one of surprise. Blade, as a character, wasn't a major player in the Marvel Universe, just a supporting character in the Ghost Rider section of said universe and that piece was getting smaller and smaller as interest in the character had waned. And the character on the screen was quite different than the one in the comic. Comic fans as a whole didn't mind much at all because the changes made Blade that much more interesting and the movie was treated with respect, something comic fans weren't exactly used to following films like "Batman & Robin." "Blade" was a surprise hit with comic fans, horror film fans and even mainstream audiences. It spawned a sequel that did even better box office, so it was absolutely no surprise when the third film was announced, "Blade: Trinity," coming this August.

Last week CBR News was invited to a round table discussion with "Blade: Trinity" writer/director David Goyer. Goyer's a veteran of the franchise, having written the first two films, and this time out he's not only written the film, but directing it as well. While this is Goyer's second film as director (he directed the indy film "ZigZag" in 2002), this is his first big-budget Hollywood production and it's an important one as "Blade: Trinity" will likely be the last film starring the character.

We should point out right now that while we'll do our best not to spoil too much of the movie for you, you've been forewarned that what comes below does contain spoilers to "Blade: Trinity."

Goyer started by sharing about 15 minutes worth of unfinished video footage from "Blade: Trinity." Most of the visual effects from the film are incomplete, so many of the biggest action sequences couldn't be shown quite yet as the scenes would look too naked without the finished effects, but there was still plenty to see.

Naturally we have the return of Wesley Snipes as Blade and Kris Kristofferson as Abraham Whistler. This third film sees Blade in a far more precarious situation than in the first two movies. An apocalyptic event takes place that could potentially shift control of the planet from humans to vampires. Blade is in an all out war to see that that doesn't happen. His mission is made more difficult as the vampires have launched a public relations smear campaign against the Daywalker, cluing the world in to his existence. As a result, Blade forms an uneasy alliance with the Nightstalkers, a group with numerous cells across the world that hunts vampires. Hannibal King (played by Ryan Reynolds) and Abigail Whistler (played by Jessica Biel), the daughter of Whistler, are members of this group and join the fray with Blade. If the film proves successful and Hannibal and Abigail prove popular with audiences, a "Nightstalkers" film is highly likely.

The film opens with a network news/talk show headed by Eric Bogosian, who's in a role similar to the one he had in "Talk Radio." A discussion of the existence of vampires and the vigilante Blade ensues that sets the tone for the rest of the film. What followed were numerous scenes displaying the high level of action you'll see in the finished movie. We got our first look at Reynolds as Hannibal King and Abel as Abigail Whistler, who both trained six days a week, three hours a day for six months straight to handle the action in this film. Goyer pointed out, "Every single ounce of fighting they did," leaving very little up to stunt men and women.

We get our first sample of that action in a subway scene with Biel, where she's being hunted by a number of vampires bent on taking her down. In this scene we see Biel doing a number of high level martial arts moves and it's clear the training's paid off. We also get a look at her weapon of choice, a hand-held ultra violet arc that she pulls from the small of her back that opens to reveal an oscillating U.V. laser which she deftly uses to dispatch her opponents.

Read the entire interview
http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=3337