Will Wesley Snipes Play Blade Again For Marvel?

Fresh from San Diego Comic Con comes word that action veteran Wesley Snipes has spoken with Marvel about a possible revival of the ‘Blade’ movies.

Snipes produced and took the lead in the three ‘Blade’ movies made between 1998 and 2004 for New Line Cinema, and the original film about the vampire hunting anti-hero is often regarded as one of the key turning points for Marvel movies.

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The film rights to Blade have long since reverted to Marvel, but there has been no word thus far on whether the studio had any plans for the character. However, Snipes has long since expressed interest in returning to the role - and now he tells Deadline he has met with Marvel to discuss the matter.

“The project is controlled by Marvel and we did have a really productive and a wonderful meeting and we discussed a number of things. I don’t know where it’s on their schedule at this point, that hasn’t been decided. I guess it’s still up in the air.”

Whether Snipes would remain on board in the role of Blade or just in a producing capacity is not made clear. Still, though it’s been eleven years since Snipes last played the sword-slinging Day Walker, the 52 year old actor certainly still looks fit enough for the role - plus we know from Robert Downey Jr. that Marvel are not averse to working with stars who’ve done time behind bars.

But even if he doesn’t reprise Blade, Snipes says taking on a different role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is “a possibility too. I’ve always been a fan of these pieces and adaptations and [it would] be nice to be a part of the family again.

“But if we don’t to a ‘Blade 4′ or something else with Marvel, we’ll do something else. We have some other characters and some other concepts that are going to be just as exciting and hopefully just as successful.“

As well as ‘Blade,’ Snipes had for a time been attached to a proposed ‘Black Panther’ movie which failed to get off the ground in the late 1990s. Asked whether he felt that things were looking up for African-American superhero properties - particularly with Marvel moving forward on ‘Black Panther’ - Snipes seems cautiously optimistic.

“I don’t know. It’s takes more than one situation to make it a trend. One wouldn’t qualify it as a trend or a real shift in the tides yet. We’ll have to see how well the films do and how well the characters are presented.

“Clearly there’s an audience for it, both domestically and internationally. And I know that only a few guys can do this, so it’s kind of hard. Not everybody can do the comic book adaptation thing and make it believable. It is challenging.”

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Picture Credit: New Line Cinema, Marvel