Lioness Star Jill Wagner Starred In A Forgotten Marvel TV Show From The 2000s

Years before she took on the role of Bobby, a Ground Branch QRF team leader in the Lioness program, Jill Wagner co-starred in David S. Goyer's "Blade: The Series." This short-lived Marvel TV show aired for a single season in 2006 on the Paramount Network — then known as Spike TV — as a continuation of the "Blade" film franchise, which starred Wesley Snipes as the titular vampire hunter. In the show, Blade is portrayed by rapper Kirk "Sticky Fingaz" Jones. Wagner played Krista Starr, a military combat medic whose investigation into her brother's death leads to her discovering the existence of vampires. After Krista becomes a vampire herself, she reluctantly joins forces with Blade in order to bring down her brother's killer. 

"Blade: The Series" marked Wagner's first appearance as the main cast member in a TV show. It got off to a strong start with the premiere bringing in 2.5 million viewers (a new record for Spike TV), but the numbers dwindled as the season went on, with only 896,000 people tuning in for the finale. It was Wagner who broke the cancellation news in a message to her fans on MySpace. "I was just informed today that there will be NO 2nd season of Blade the Series," she wrote (via MovieWeb). "I really enjoyed playing Krista and I hope that I did her justice at least for one season! However, that is not the end of Jill Wagner's acting career. I will keep you guys posted on what's next for me."

It may not be among the best Marvel TV shows ever made, but Jill Wagner enjoyed her time on "Blade: The Series." After its cancellation, she continued to harbor hopes that she would be able to return to the world of the show and address some unanswered questions about the fate of Krista Starr. "Since the show got canceled, I am not sure I will get to see that take place," Wagner admitted to Flick Direct in a 2006 interview when asked about Krista's future. "If another network does plan to give us another shot I feel that Krista should start to own being who she is now, not fighting it, but using it as a weapon to help Blade."

Sadly for Wagner and fans of "Blade: The Series," it wasn't picked up elsewhere and the "Blade" franchise hasn't had much luck since. The character was supposed to be coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe courtesy of Mahershala Ali, with a splashy Comic-Con announcement in 2019 getting fans excited for a new "Blade" movie, but the development dragged on for years and, in 2026, the actor confirmed to GQ that he had "moved on" from the project. We got to see Blade in anime action when Marvel collaborated with Madhouse for the series "Marvel Anime," but, other than that, Daywalker fans haven't had much to shout about since the plug was pulled on "Blade: The Series."

Jill Wagner promised that we hadn't seen the last of her when "Blade: The Series" was canned, and she was right. She didn't get to reprise the role of Krista Starr like she wanted, but she's had an interesting career. She walked straight into the guest star role of starship commander Larrin in the fourth season of "Stargate: Atlantis" before landing the part of Kate Argent in MTV's "Teen Wolf," appearing in 20 episodes across the show's six seasons. Since 2015, she's been a staple of Hallmark and Great American Family, starring in several Christmas TV movies and playing Amy Winslow in the "Mystery 101" film series on Hallmark Mystery.

However, as Wagner was carving out her place as a wholesome Hallmark star, she was also developing a very different kind of project: "Lioness." That's right — Wagner was the one who pitched the idea of the show to Taylor Sheridan, who was her acting coach at the time. She comes from a military family and her husband is a former Army Major. "My husband, David, was the one who told me about the Lioness program," Wagner told Parade. "From that moment on, I knew there was a story to tell. It took about five years, but I never gave up." On top of playing Bobby, she serves as an executive producer on the hit Paramount+ series. Wagner has come a long way since announcing the cancellation of "Blade: The Series" on MySpace.