Wesley Snipes brought Blade to life in three vampire-fueled solo outings in the early 2000s and recently reprised the role with a "very challenging" cameo as part of Deadpool & Wolverine's resistance against Cassandra Nova.
The Blade return comes as Marvel Studios struggles to get its Mahershala Ali-led reboot off the ground ahead of a planned November 2025 release.
[ Mahershala Ali's Blade Reboot Supervillain Reportedly Revealed ]
Wesley Snipes Addresses Deadpool & Wolverine Cameo Challenges
Following the release of Deadpool & Wolverine, Wesley Snipes spoke with Entertainment Weekly at San Diego Comic-Con about his Blade return.
The 61-year-old actor revealed it was "very challenging" to hold onto the secret surrounding his return, which was kept hidden until Deadpool 3 hit theaters.
Snipes noted how he wasn't "Blade ready" going into Deadpool & Wolverine and had to get his body in the condition to "deal with whatever the actor was:"
"I wasn't Blade ready, man. I don't walk around as Blade every day, you know what I mean? With a trench coat and shades and fangs in my mouth. We had to work out. We definitely had to get the body, and my biggest concern was being in condition enough to deal with whatever the action was. They didn't really tell me what the action was going to be, so I prepared for whatever that was going to come."
He explained he "didn't have to do as much as [he] thought" in preparation, and "the help of a little customized foam" got him ready to be Blade again:
"Thankfully, I didn't have to do as much as I thought I would because the action movies are tough. They're not easy at all by any means. About a month into it, I got the body right... and then, with the help of a little customized foam well placed in certain areas, it was all good to go, baby. Let's ride!"
Blade found his latest action spectacle alongside Elektra, Gambit, X-23, Deadpool, and Wolverine as they took on Charles Xavier's telekinetic twin, Cassandra Nova, outside her Ant-Man skull base.
Snipes discussed the production of Deadpool & Wolverine and how it "was so cold out there" when filming the sequence. He explained how he filmed scenes in Europe both before and after the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike:
"Man, it was so cold out there. My nuts shriveled up to about that, brother. It was so very cold when we shot this. We started shooting before the strike, and that was in the summer. Then we had to come back, and it was winter. That was winter where we shot in Europe there, very, very tough. Doing action scenes in subzero weather is not easy and not good for your health, that's for sure."
Despite the challenges Snipes revealed came with his Deadpool 3 return, he and Marvel Studios overcame them all, including his troubled relationship with star Ryan Reynolds after they worked together on Blade: Trinity.
Blade's MCU Future After Deadpool 3 Explained
Deadpool & Wolverine never clarified the fate of Wesley Snipes' Blade as the titular heroes left him and the other resistance fighters behind in The Void. However, as the final dinner sequence of the MCU blockbuster included X-23 (Dafne Keen), the whole group likely survived and escaped The Void, too.
It is hard to tell where Blade may have landed after that, as his presence in The Void indicates that the TVA pruned his whole universe. Perhaps, much like X-23, the vampire killer found a new home in the Fox universe with Deadpool and Wolverine.
Marvel Studios is already lining up a Blade reboot starring Mahershala Ali, announced over five years ago at San Diego Comic-Con 2019. Since then, Ali debuted as Eric Brooks, aka Blade, in Eternals as he warned Dane Whitman (Kit Harington) about the dangers of the Ebony Blade in a vocal cameo.
Deadpool & Wolverine even poked fun at the reboot as Snipes declared "There's only been one Blade, there's only ever gonna be one Blade" in reference to the upcoming recast as Ali steps into the role.
Since then, the script has gone through many writers, storylines, and delays, with the release date being November 7, 2025. With no sign of production starting soon, concerns are mounting that Blade may catch another delay into 2026 or beyond, possibly even after the upcoming Avengers blockbusters.
Regarding what the future may hold for Snipes' Blade, his role in Deadpool & Wolverine proved to be one of the better-kept secrets, so who knows what else Marvel Studios may have in store for him. Perhaps he could find his way back to the MCU again in Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars.
[ Marvel's Blade Reboot Actor Receives Word of Advice From Wesley Snipes ]
Deadpool & Wolverine is now playing in theaters worldwide.
Read more about Blade on The Direct:
Deadpool 3 No Longer Will Be Marvel's Only R-Rated MCU Movie (Confirmed)
MCU: Travis Scott Wants to Collab on This 1 Marvel Phase 5 Movie
Kit Harington Shuts Down Popular Marvel Rumor About His MCU Future
