One of the most unexpected yet exciting announcements to come out of Marvel Studios’ panel at San Diego Comic Con was the reveal that Blade was being rebooted as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali set to play the title character. The actor himself went to Kevin Feige with the idea of bringing the Daywalker back to the big screen, and despite the potential narrative headaches that introducing vampires into the MCU could potentially cause, the studio President was instantly on board with the idea.
As soon as the Blade reboot was made official, fans began campaigning for Wesley Snipes to be involved in the project in some way. After all, the 1998 original was one of the main driving forces behind the comic book movie boom at the turn of the millennium, with Snipes going on to play the Daywalker in a further two movies.
Both Ali and Snipes have been complimentary towards each other regarding the upcoming reboot, and in a recent interview, the notorious tax evader went into more detail on how he feels about a Blade movie happening without his involvement.
“People are very, very sneaky. They try to make it about the actors. It’s not about me and him. I’m happy for him to be considered. I’m happy for them looking at him. Flattery… what do they say? Imitation is the best form of flattery. It’s something that he has acknowledged that he wanted to do and his family wanted him to do it, so I’m appreciative of him getting the love that I’ve created something that others want to carry on and make their own stamp on.”
The certainly sound like some backhanded compliments from Snipes, as he manages to both praise Mahershala Ali while also taking all of the credit for Blade’s continued popularity. At this point, it seems unlikely that Marvel would involve him in their reboot, given his difficult reputation and the fact that having him appear in another Blade movie as another character would be jarring and distracting, but nothing can definitively be ruled out when it comes to the mystery surrounding the MCU.
