Wesley Snipes Says Marvel Didn’t Approve of Blade in Deadpool and Wolverine

Originally posted on Men's Journal | By Griff Griffin | Last updated Jul 31, 2024 2:34 PM ET

Wesley Snipes makes one of the biggest surprise additions to Deadpool and Wolverine, but plenty of people needed convincing beforehand.

Not only was the Blade actor doubtful at first, but so were Marvel and Disney. “I did not think it was possible,” Snipes told Entertainment Weekly.

“I didn’t think he would be able to pull it off. I didn’t think that Marvel was into it. Disney was into it. And also because they had Mahershala, you know, cast for the next upcoming version of it. So, it didn’t make sense to me.”

Marvel, New Line Cinema

Snipes debuted as Marvel’s half-vampire superhero in 1998’s Blade, later reprising the role in 2002’s Blade II and 2004’s Blade: Trinity , appearing alongside Ryan Reynolds in the latter. It was Reynolds who proposed the idea of Snipes returning to the Blade role in Deadpool and Wolverine.

“It started with a text from Ryan Reynolds,” continued Snipes. “I hate this guy…You know, this is a joke. We’ve been playing this for like two decades. We’ve actually liked each other the whole time.”

Marvel has been working on a Blade reboot since 2019. Mahershala Ali replaces Snipes in the lead role on the film, which is set to be directed by Yann Demange and scheduled for release on November 7, 2025.

Get ready for buckets of blood regardless, with Blade given an R rating for strong violence.

This article first appeared on Men's Journal and was syndicated with permission.

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