Wesley Snipes Reveals His Thoughts On Being Replaced As Blade
Wesley Snipes has responded to many fans who are still disappointed that Mahershala Ali will be playing Blade instead of him.
This article is more than 2 years old
Even though fans of Wesley Snipes are still displeased with Marvel Studios’ decision to have Oscar-winning Mahershala Ali play the heroic human-vampire hybrid in the upcoming Blade film, the actor has once again proven that he harbors no such grudges. Recently, the OG Blade star took to Twitter to express his support for the True Detective actor though was also quick to remind folks about his status in the franchise.
The actor first responded to a fan’s tweet who admitted that while Mahershala is going to “smash it” as the new Blade, he will find it difficult to do a better job than Wesley Snipes as the legendary vampire hunter. Snipes responded to the tweet and showed his support to Ali by asserting that “he will do great” as the new Blade. This obviously set off a storm of comments, with fans of Snipes pointing out that he is the actor they will always see as the iconic half-vampire. This prompted the actor to assure his fans that whether he gets to play the character again or not, he will be Blade forever.
Wesley Snipes played the character for the first time in 1998’s Blade and was the human-vampire hybrid who possesses the bloodsucker’s powers, is immune to their bites, and can walk in the sun without being burned. His character was on a revenge spree against all vampires, especially the one who turned his mother into a vampire. He was hunting their species for a long time. It remains to be seen whether Mahershala Ali’s Blade will share the same backstory and powers or whether his character will get the usual Marvel Cinematic Universe improvisation.
This is not the first time when Wesley Snipes has openly supported Marvel Studios’ decision to cast Mahershala Ali as the anti-hero, even though initially Snipes was in talks to reprise the role he played in the original Blade trilogy. After Kevin Feige’s announcement at 2019’s Comic-Con that Ali was the new Blade, Snipes’ fans were quick to express their disappointment with the news. But the actor implored his fans to calm down and assured them that even though the development comes as a surprise, he has no hard feelings. He also congratulated Ali and called him a “beautiful and talented artist whose expressions I look forward to experiencing for many years to come.”
Given the magic of the multiverse, it is now possible for both Wesley Snipes’ and Mahershala Ali’s Blade to exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). But for now, it’s only the latter whose existence has been confirmed. In the post-credits scene of the recently released Eternals, Kit Harington’s Dane Whitman is seen opening a box that reads “Death is my reward” and looking upon a dark sword. While he is hesitant to pick it up, a mysterious voice off-camera asks him if he is ready for whatever he is planning to do to get the Eternal Sersei back from the Celestial, Arishiem. In case you are still wondering, the iconic voice belongs to Mahershala Ali, the new Blade.
But as mentioned above, we are in the multiverse era of the MCU. We are already bombarded with rumors of Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland starring in the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home. Who is to say that just because Mahershala Ali is starring in the Blade reboot, Wesley Snipes is done playing the character? It is the MCU- anything is always possible.
