Blade: Trinity's Alternate Ending Would Have Fixed Its Biggest Mistake
David S. Goyer's Blade: Trinity has an alternate ending that would have fixed the movie's biggest mistake. First released on September 8th, 2004, the third and final installment in the Blade trilogy sees Wesley Snipes' Blade attempt to end the vampire-human conflict once and for all by defeating his eternal enemy Dracula (Dominic Purcell). Yet despite an epic premise and $132 million box office haul, Blade: Trinity has unequivocally been deemed the worst movie in the Blade trilogy - a consensus owed in no small part to the movie's bizarre ending.
Blade: Trinity's coda delivers on the promise of a showdown between Blade and Dracula, the first vampire, with the pair clashing in formulaic fashion as the world's fate lies in the balance. Although bested by a vicious Dracula, Blade and his human cohorts Abigail Whistler (Jessica Biel) and Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds in his first Marvel appearance) manage to release the Daystar virus and wither the vampires around them. As Dracula dies, he suddenly changes tune, congratulating Blade on winning an "honorable" fight before shapeshifting into a false version of Blade to let the FBI think Blade is dead. This random moment of kindness and humility from Dracula further mars what is an already bungled ending in Blade: Trinity, going against every previous narrative beat Dracula's character has established.
Yet Blade: Trinity's alternate ending would have fixed the movie's biggest Dracula mistake. Blade: Trinity's DVD-exclusive unrated extended edition swaps the movie's original ending for a far more cohesive story that ties in Blade's heritage as a Dhampir and his ever-growing hatred for the FBI in two quick, clean scenes. As a result, here's how Blade: Trinity's alternate movie ending would have fixed its biggest mistake, as well as why the ending Goyer ultimately chose for his movie is so strange.
As aforementioned, Blade: Trinity ends with Blade and his allies defeating the vampires by releasing the Daystar virus, which quickly becomes airborne. While Danica (Parker Posey) and the rest of the vampires perish instantly, it takes Dracula/Drake longer to succumb to the virus, allowing him time for one final conversation with Blade. During this exchange, he praises Blade for fighting honorably but warns him that he will eventually succumb to his need for blood, stating that "the blood always wins" and alluding to Blade as the future of the vampire race. Using the last of his power, Dracula then shapeshifts into Blade and allows the FBI to recover the body, but, as they begin the autopsy, it transforms back into the deceased Dracula. Hannibal King subsequently narrates that Drake's final transformation was a gift so that Blade could escape, leaving Blade free to continue fighting his never-ending war against the forces of evil.
However, this mention of Blade's honor and subsequent parting gift flies in the face of everything Goyer's final Blade movie tells audiences about Dracula's character. Throughout Blade: Trinity, the revived Dracula is shown to be a cruel, manipulative, and vicious entity nicknamed "The Beast," who has no problem massacring innocents at will and using rampant death as a chess piece in his pursuit of Blade. While Dracula does show a clear admiration for Blade's "Daywalker" status, this does not account for a clear change in motivations and thought processes on his deathbed. It makes no difference to Dracula whether or not Blade is hunted or captured by the FBI, making his choice to use the last of his lifeforce to transform into Blade's doppelganger all the more puzzling. In this way, Hannibal's final narration regarding Dracula also makes no sense, with Dracula and his kin literally the "evil" Blade was sworn to fight across the entire trilogy.
In contrast, Blade: Trinity's alternate extended edition ending appears a much neater fit to Goyer's overall story. Following his final exchange with Dracula, the Blade: Trinity alternate ending sees Blade's body taken to the morgue by the FBI for testing before the Daywalker suddenly wakes up on the operating slab and begins fighting back against the bureau medical staff. Enraged, Blade appears to hurt several orderlies before turning his attention to a cowering nurse, although her fate is left unclear. As with David S. Goyer's final Blade: Trinity ending, the scene then changes to Blade riding a motorbike as Hannibal narrates, except this time, Hannibal explains that the Daystar virus failed to kill Blade due to his half-human, Dhampir origins which protected him from the virus.
As a result, Blade: Trinity's alternate ending fits far better with the themes and lore established across the original Blade trilogy. The first link here is Blade's famed Dhampir origins as depicted by Blade 1998, with Blade being a half-human, half-vampire "abomination" that can survive in sunlight. The Blade trilogy goes to great lengths to establish that Blade's Daywalker status sets him apart from all other vampires, even Dracula, with Blade naturally stronger than all but the vampire progenitor in combat. It makes sense, therefore, that the Daystar virus would act as another differentiator between Blade and the vampire race, with Daystar primed to kill "normal" vampires as opposed to targeting the human halves of Dhampirs as well.
Furthermore, Blade: Trinity's alternate ending also eradicates Dracula's sudden benevolence in favor of a far darker, more apt conclusion. By having Blade react aggressively to the FBI medical staff, Blade: Trinity's alternate ending hints there may be a shred of truth to Dracula's final words about the blood always winning, setting up a bleaker timeline in which Blade may give in to his bloodlust. In this way, Goyer's decision to omit this ending in favor of the theatrical cut's version is perplexing, with Blade: Trinity's alternate ending perfectly tying off several of the movie's loose narrative threads. While it is true that Blade: Trinity's issues run far deeper than a poorly conceived ending, there is little doubt that this alternate unrated conclusion would have fixed one of the movie's most glaring problems.