Wesley Snipes’ Blade film is a significant project in Marvel history, considering that it paved the way for the Spider-Man and X-Men films. Despite not being a critics’ favorite, it was praised by fans worldwide and spawned two sequels- Blade II and Blade: Trinity.
Although Mahershala Ali is presently set to be the new Blade in the MCU, Snipes stated in an interview on the 20th Anniversary of the 1998 film that he could have made an even better fourth installment.
According to Wesley Snipes, there was a lot of conversation related to a fourth installment of Blade before the Kevin Feige studio decided to reboot the hero in their universe.
Wesley Snipes was confident about the possibilities of Blade 4
Even though the Blade movie, released in 1998 became a fan favorite, the sequels witnessed some fall. The concluding project of the trilogy, Blade: Trinity became the most-criticized project in the series. On top of that, it also suffered from production issues caused by Wesley Snipes‘ alleged misbehavior on set.
Even after everything, in a 2018 interview with Vice on Blade‘s 20th Anniversary, Snipes commented that there had been several talks for a fourth part. He could not confirm anything but added that everyone was “enthusiastic about it”. The Demolition Man actor assured that they could pull off a much better job than what they did with the past three installments.
But the next time you see something in [the Blade universe], mark my words: what we did before is child’s play compared to what we can do now.
Sadly, his vision never came to fruition as Kevin Feige announced in 2019 that the Oscar-winning actor Mahershala Ali will take over the mantle of Blade. However, the presently 61-year-old agreed that Ali would be a good replacement and only had wise words of advice for his successor.
What did Wesley Snipes advise Mahershala Ali to become a good Blade?
During the interview with Vice, Wesley Snipes asserted that presently there are not enough actors who can pull off the role of Eric Brooks easily. On asked about a possible replacement, he claimed that the character demands a lot, and not everyone can fulfill that- “Skill wise, there’s not a lot of guys out there that dance, that do the martial arts, that act well and can have that Blade flavor.”
However, after Mahershala Ali was announced to be the new Blade in the MCU, Wesley Snipes admitted that he was cool with it and believed that Ali would do “a great job”. According to a report by Games Radar, Snipes had some advice for his successor to pull off the character gracefully.
Make sure you’re in shape. Try not to get hurt… The demands of an action movie is you’ve gotta be an elite athlete, and being well-conditioned to survive and to avoid injury.
It cannot be denied that despite being one of the most-anticipated MCU projects, Blade has gone through a lot of hurdles. From the repeated production halts to the numerous writer and director changes, things did not go very well with the project. Earlier it was slated to be directed by Bassam Tariq before he was replaced by Yann Demange.
The repeated hurdles also make it debatable if the project can meet its release date next year. Only time will tell if we can get a good R-rated Blade movie even after such a messed-up production.
MCU’s Blade is slated to be released on November 7, 2025, while Wesley Snipes’ Blade can be rented on Apple TV+.
