Wesley Snipes turned out to be the biggest surprise cameo in Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool & Wolverine. Fans didn’t expect to see the vampire-hunter Blade in the film after his alleged falling out with Reynolds after Blade: Trinity. With his role, Snipes now has set the record for the longest career as a live-action Marvel character.
While fans enjoyed the cameo from Snipes, they were not particularly happy with the record going to the Demolition Man actress instead of Hugh Jackman. Their frustration is understandable since Snipes, with just four films, stole the record from Jackman, who appeared in ten films.
Fans Are Unhappy Over Wesley Snipes’ New Marvel Record Beating Hugh Jackman
Wesley Snipes returned to his Blade role after nearly two decades in Deadpool & Wolverine. The unexpected appearance also sets a record for the 62-year-old veteran actor. His return to the Marvel character marks 25 years and 340 days since he first took on the role (via Guinness World Records). He bagged the record for longest career as a live-action Marvel character.
The earlier record was held by Patrick Stewart who marked 22 years in the role with his appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Hugh Jackman was all set to beat that record with his Deadpool 3 appearance, but Snipes snatched away the record from The Wolverine actor.
Interestingly, Jackman appeared in a significant number of movies over his 24 years in the X-Men character, while Snipes returned after a long gap. In fact, the Dolemite is My Name actor also set the record for the longest gap between character appearances in Marvel films. He returned after a gap of 19 years and 231 days after Blade: Trinity.
Fans of The Greatest Showman actor shared that Snipes’ record didn’t really count due to the long gap between his appearances. One of the fan comments shared that years shouldn’t matter but appearances should. Other fans wondered whether Jackman could grab back the record with another Wolverine appearance. Some of the fan reactions read:
Does it really count when he hasn’t been blade since 2004? Lmaooo
— Sancheezzzy (@Scoby20) August 2, 2024
No way, how true is this?
— Nana Yaa❤️🩹🦋 (@Yhaa_Queen) August 2, 2024
Three films and one guest star!
— E.D.B 🇺🇸🥩🐺 (@I_Am_EDB) August 2, 2024
How is that a record? How does that make it the longest career as a live action marvel character????
Hugh Jackman‘s career spans ten films as wolverine!!!
Make it make sense!!!!!
So will Hugh beat this record if he's in another marvel movie?
— CaineRivers (@CocaineRivers) August 2, 2024
So will Hugh beat this record if he's in another marvel movie?
— CaineRivers (@CocaineRivers) August 2, 2024
Even Snipes himself couldn’t believe that he could return to the role all these years later. He was welcomed at the San Diego Comic-Con with the biggest applause for a Deadpool 3 cameo actor. Snipes revealed that he had to keep his cameo secret even from his family members.
How Did Wesley Snipes’ Deadpool 3 Cameo Happen?
Wesley Snipes had entirely given up hopes on reprising the Blade character once Mahershala Ali was announced as the MCU’s Blade. When Reynolds’ call came out of the blue after 20 years, it was a surreal moment for the actor. He revealed to EW that he had to take the phone call from the Green Lantern actor and it only made sense to hear what he had to offer.
Ryan Reynolds explained the idea and shared that he had got the green light from Marvel to proceed with it. He only had to get Snipes to agree to the idea. Snipes did the smart thing and took on the role, which received a grand reception in theaters. Snipes shared with EW:
I did not think it was possible. I didn’t think we would be able to pull it off. I didn’t think that Marvel was into it, Disney was into it — also because they had Mahershala cast for the next upcoming version of it.
I thought it didn’t make sense to me, but [when] you get a call from Ryan Reynolds out of the blue after 20 years, you go, ‘Okay, I got to take this call. Let’s see what this is about.’ He told me the idea. They said ‘yes’ and ‘it’s a go.’ ‘If you’re in, we’re in.’ Here we are.
Snipes also shared that he wasn’t Blade-ready when he was asked to join the film. He had to prepare for the role for two months despite not having challenging action sequences in the film. Nevertheless, it wasn’t an easy task by any means for the 61-year-old actor.
Deadpool & Wolverine is currently running in theaters. The Blade films are now available for rent on AppleTV+.
