Long before Ryan Coogler and Chadwick Boseman (Infinity War) began mulling over a Black Panther movie, there was another prominent Hollywood star fighting to bring Wakanda to the big screen.
His name? Wesley Snipes, of Blade and White Men Can’t Jump fame, who recently told The Hollywood Reporter that during the ’90s, he fought to bring T’Challa and his Afrocentric fable to Western audiences, only for the project to stall in pre-production. Sadly, it never got off the ground, but Snipes clearly isn’t one to harbor a grudge, as he’s “overjoyed” by Marvel’s achievement on Black Panther.
Excited is definitely not the word. Overcome, overjoyed, clutch the pearls, I am ecstatic about it. I know what it’s going to do, the impact it’s going to have, not only on the minds of the community, but on the industry and the minds of those who are now the new gatekeepers. When they see the money, that’s a wrap. It’s a wrap. It’s inevitable that it opens up new opportunities, it’s like dropping a load of seed in the mud. It’s going to grow. It’s going to grow.
Two decades ago, Wesley Snipes struggled to keep hold of a director and/or writer for his Black Panther film, before admitting that the VFX technology of the ’90s simply wasn’t capable of rendering the rich, vibrant nation of Wakanda.
That’s something the actor-director touched on during his chat with Slate (h/t ComicBook.com), where he noted the following:
Keep in mind, too, the digital age opens up that possibility. It brings the world closer, and then it allows your marketing dollars to travel further. So, I can’t even imagine what this version of Black Panther would have been 20 years ago when we were talking about it.
Nevertheless, Snipes fully believes that it’s high time Marvel Studios delivered a mainstream black superhero movie of their own, even if it could’ve fallen into place much, much sooner.
It’s the right thing, at the right time, and the right occasion. For that, that’s the divine will of the most high, and I am always, always submissive to that. Let it be. I feel no sense of loss whatsoever, none. I’m happy, ’cause I know what’s going to happen after this. I know where it’s going. Remember, I was 20 years ahead of the game then, I’m already 20 years ahead of the game now. It ain’t got worse, it got better. I know where this is going.
Black Panther pounces into U.S. theaters this Friday, February 16th.