Ryan Reynolds is calling for more Blade on the big screen following Wesley Snipes’ long-awaited return as the Marvel superhero in “Deadpool & Wolverine.” Reynolds took to Instagram to share behind-the-scenes photos he took with Snipes on the set of the film. Snipes first appeared as Blade in the 1998 film of the same name and reprised the character in 2002’s “Blade II” and 2004’s “Blade: Trinity,” which Reynolds co-starred in.
“The reaction when Wesley Snipes walked into the movie was the most intense thing I’ve ever heard in a theater,” Reynolds wrote in his post. “People screaming with joy and unrestrained love is also the sound of a legacy. More Blade, please.”
Snipes' Blade was one of several heroes from Fox's Marvel era who returned in “Deadpool & Wolverine.” Jennifer Garner's Elektra and Chris Evans' Johnny Storm also made appearances, much to the delight of comic book movie fans. Snipes spoke to Entertainment Weekly about his experience reprising Blade 20 years later in “Deadpool & Wolverine” after the film's record-breaking opening weekend.
“Over the years, we’ve had some really interesting conversations, some of which were substantive and some of which weren’t,” Snipes tells EW of remaking Blade for a fourth time. “So I realize I’m moving away from it, which is good. I did three of them, and I thought they were pretty good. Not too bad… So we move on to other things, bigger and better things.”
Reynolds texted Snipes during development of Deadpool & Wolverine to ask if he would be interested in reprising Blade. Reynolds texted back, “I want to talk to you.”
“I didn’t think it was possible,” Snipes said of returning to Blade after 20 years. “I didn’t think we could do it. I didn’t think Marvel was interested in it, but Disney was interested in it too — because they had Mahershala.” [Ali] The cast for the next version of it has been cast… I thought it didn't make sense to me, but… [when] “I got a call from Ryan Reynolds out of the blue after 20 years, and I said, ‘Well, I have to take this call. Let’s see what this is about.’ He told me the idea… They said, ‘Yes,’ and, ‘We can do it.’ ‘If you’re okay, we’re okay.’ Here we are.”
Marvel has been developing a new version of Blade with Ali for the past two years, despite facing several development issues. On June 12, it was announced that director Yann Demange would be leaving the film and that new screenwriter Eric Pearson (The Fantastic Four, Black Widow) would be joining the cast.
“Deadpool & Wolverine” has grossed $1.15 billion at the worldwide box office and is expected to become the highest-grossing R-rated film in history. The film is also the second-highest-grossing film of 2024 so far, behind “Inside Out 2.”
