Why Morbius was Cut from Blade II

Sony Pictures’ latest antibody antihero movie, Morbius, which stars Jared Leto as the Living Vampire, has drawn first blood. Following in the footsteps of the split-personality, villain movie Venom, Morbius is an origin story with a nemesis at the waiting, and the promise of bloody battles to come. Yet the self-made vampire should have made his entrance years ago. Indeed, Morbius was initially set up to be the main villain in Blade II, after Blade (1998) starring Wesley Snipes opened the wound to modern superhero films.

Writer David S. Goyer planned to feature Morbius as the main antagonist in the not-yet-produced sequel, according to the Blade DVD commentary. Blade director Stephen Norrington even shot a teaser scene, which was eventually cut, promising dark deeds to come from Dr. Michael Morbius in a sequel that never materialized.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is renowned today for promoting yet-to-be-made-films via surprise cameos that appear like last-minute product placement spots. Marvel Studios began including these post-credits scenes with Samuel L. Jackson’s introduction as Nick Fury at the end of Iron Man. But Blade was at the creative forefront of the tradition well before the MCU.