All 7 Ways Wesley Snipes Could Return As Blade In The MCU After Deadpool & Wolverine
Summary
- Wesley Snipes may have a future in the MCU as Blade, potentially appearing in upcoming Avengers movies.
- Snipes could return in Deadpool 4 to reunite with Blade, exploring the multiverse with Ryan Reynolds.
- Snipes could reprise Blade in a potential MCU project or special presentation like What If…? or Werewolf By Night.
Deadpool & Wolverine featured several notable cameos, but one potentially set up a future in the MCU for the original Blade actor, Wesley Snipes. Long before the MCU began, Marvel movies were made by various studios who bought the rights to a handful of characters each. While Sony got Spider-Man, and Universal claimed Hulk, New Line Cinema was one of the first to release a theatrical Marvel film with Blade in 1998, starring Wesley Snipes. And with Snipes returning to reprise the role in Deadpool & Wolverine, it's worth thinking about where his version of the character could appear next.
Marvel Studios has been actively working on a Blade movie for years now, with their initial announcement about the project being made back in late 2019. That initial announcement also confirmed that the role had been recast, with Mahershala Ali taking over as the Daywalker in the MCU. However, five years later, the only onscreen version of Blade to appear in the MCU is Wesley Snipes, who slipped in a reference about being the only Blade in the multiverse. So it begs the question, will Snipes be popping up elsewhere in the MCU?
Your browser does not support the video tag. 7 Avengers: Doomsday & Secret Wars Are The Most Likely Places For Wesley Snipes' MCU Return At present, the upcoming Avengers movies which are set to close out the Multiverse Saga are set to be the biggest MCU events since Avengers: Endgame. And, similar to Endgame, both Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars are expected to feature a gratuitous number of cameos. With that in mind, the most probable place for Wesley Snipes to return to the MCU will be these films. In this capacity, he would likely play a variant of the MCU's official version, and he could even meet Ali's version of the character.
With both of these Avengers movies being rumored to introduce the Battleworld to the MCU, it seems likely that Marvel could go all out and introduce any number of original characters, variants, and so on. The Battleworld is a planet which was created by Doctor Doom in the comics, and stitched together from various realities. Doom then populated his planet with various heroes and villains from across the multiverse so that he could rule over everything as the God Emporer of his newly formed planet. This would be an ideal setting to bring Snipes back as Blade again.
Related MCU Theory Explains Deadpool & Wolverine's Secret Wars Returns Even Without The Avengers Logan and Wade Wilson may return after Deadpool & Wolverine with their own MCU superhero team, bringing some long-absent X-Men heroes back.
3 6 Deadpool 4 Would Be A Perfect Opportunity To Bring Back Wesley Snipes' Blade At the conclusion of Deadpool & Wolverine, Deadpool was able to pull some strings at the TVA to save his friends in the void. However, while X-23 can be seen in the final scenes of the film with Wade and Logan, the others are absent. Whether this means that Elektra, Blade, and Gambit were returned to their own timelines, or simply spared, is unclear. So, if a Deadpool 4 were to happen, it's possible that Wade would venture out in search of his friends and continue to play with the laws of reality and the multiverse.
Not only would this set up a perfect opportunity for Deadpool to find Blade again, but it would add to the wider context of the fourth wall smashing film considering Snipes and Ryan Reynold's history in real life after they appeared together in Blade: Trinity. The Deadpool movies rely on meta humor and build on the foundations laid in the previous entries, in order to fully engage the audience and tell the story of Wade Wilson in a satisfying way. Bringing Wesley Snipes back again ticks these boxes, and is sure to have fans going wild in theaters, so it would be a worthy place for Snipes to return.
5 Wesley Snipes Would Be A Natural Fit For Mahershala Ali’s Blade Movie However, potentially an even better fit for Snipes, and one that could continue to build on the recent movie's success and response to Snipes' cameo, would be to cast him in the new Blade movie. No, it wouldn't make sense to have two Blade's in the movie, but, Snipes could take on a very different role. Snipes could be cast as a villain, or in a more reduced capacity, but considering how agile he appeared in Deadpool & Wolverine, it's more likely that Snipes could be cast in any physical or demanding role.
Having Snipes return to the MCU's Blade would not only serve as a nod of approval from the former leading man, but also create a full circle moment for the movie as it's passed down to the next actor to play Blade. Whether he would be up to playing anybody else in the movie remains to be seen, but at present, there is still only one Blade. In reality, this possibility doesn't seem very likely, but it would be a great way for Snipes to say goodbye to the beloved character he made famous.
Related Which Deadpool & Wolverine multiverse character deserves a new movie? Deadpool & Wolverine brought back multiple Marvel characters. Of the returning cast, the only hero who I don't think needs a solo movie is Jennifer Garner's Elektra. Thinking about the rest of the Resistance, Dafne Keen leading a solo Wolverine movie could be cool, but her staying in the MCU and appearing in other projects could also work. Wesley Snipes getting a final Blade movie in the vein of Logan, like Ryan Reynolds suggested, would be an epic send-off. However, after his scene-stealing performance and love for the hero, I think Channing Tatum's Gambit deserves a movie the most.
4 Wesley Snipes Could Get Blade 4 Many Years Later Another suggestion for how Snipes could return, despite it being incredibly unlikely, is in a fourth installment of the original Blade : Trinity. The Blade movies came out between 1998 and 2004. That means, even at the latter half of the series, the movies are now over 20 years old. However, having clearly demonstrated his ability to execute action and drama in Deadpool & Wolverine, there would be minimal reasons to not have Snipes jump in to all that a fourth movie could offer. Right now, it appears that Hollywood is in an age of reboots, looking back at what came before and playing up audiences' nostalgia for beloved films and franchises.
Top Gun, Bad Boys, Ghostbusters and so many others have all made steps to rebooting the franchise. Blade fits into this category, and considering the positive response to Snipes' role in the major motion hit, Deadpool & Wolverine, there is clearly an audience who were excited to see more of Snipes' iconic performance. With that in mind, a sequel which props up the franchise many years later could be the perfect setting for Snipes to return, as long as it doesn't impact the rest of the MCU.
3 Wesley Snipes Could Appear In The MCU Animated Shows Like What If…? While the live-action MCU movies and shows all appear to be set within the same universe, or at least connect back to the Sacred Timeline, the animated shows are a different story. X-Men '97 is a continuation of the classic 1990s cartoon, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is an alternative version of the hero from the movies, with new challenges and rivals, and What If…? is one of the most experimental titles on the slate. This makes it easier for shows like What If…? to create a narrative that does not need to account for the direction of the MCU.
What If…? is the perfect place to bring Snipes back in for a solo adventure. The series is built on the foundation of exploring alternative ideas for the MCU, and it could be quirky enough to use Snipes as the voice of Blade and look at the older version of the character. It's unclear if Ali would be ok with this, or if he'd prefer to be used while waiting for production to start on Blade, but it would be a great aspect for Snipes to cover if Ali was too busy with other projects and roles.
Related Deadpool & Wolverine Box Office Numbers: Total, Worldwide, Domestic, Opening & Records Deadpool & Wolverine is proving to be a smash hit for Marvel Studios; here is the complete breakdown of the film’s entire box office run thus far.
1 2 The Void Could Be The Perfect Setting For An MCU Project Otherwise, the MCU has begun to explore settings such as Wakanda with an upcoming spin-off. The Void is by far one of the most interesting parts of the Multiverse Saga, since it was introduced in Loki in 2021. This same Void was where much of Deadpool & Wolverine takes place, and it's revealed to be the home of a small rebel alliance which consists of Elektra, Blade, Gambit, X-23, and the Human Torch before he met an incredibly unfortunate end by the hand of Cassandra Nova.
With the strength of the Void as a central premise, it would be interesting to take a closer look at what happens across this wasteland. There are numerous variants of Loki, Deadpool, and so many others, so Marvel could have free rein on playing characters with any actor, and it would still fit into the canonicity. Such a series or show could focus on the resistance and their efforts to take down the tyrannical rule in the wasteland, giving it a Mad Max sort of vibe.
1 Wesley Snipes Could Appear In An MCU Special Presentation Like Werewolf By Night Finally, one more type of project which has been released by Marvel in recent years is the Marvel Studios Special Presentations. Thus far, this only consists of Werewolf by Night, and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. Both of which came out in 2022. Werewolf by Night was an interesting and unique project that introduced various supernatural characters to the MCU, but in the years after the presentation came out, the characters remain separate from others in the MCU.
This supernatural wing of the MCU is underdeveloped, but with characters like Blade, it can stand to follow another branch of adventures. If Snipes were cast to lead a smaller group that primarily deals with the supernatural, it could function in parallel with the MCU, without impacting the larger narrative. Of course, this would also be aided if the Werewolf by Night's Earth is established as being separate, but that may never happen. However, it does provide yet another chance for Wesley Snipes to return to the role of Blade after Deadpool & Wolverine.
Deadpool & Wolverine 4.0 R Action Sci-FiComedySuperhero A follow-up to the highly successful Deadpool and Deadpool 2 films starring Ryan Reynolds as the Merc with a Mouth. The third film will be the first in the franchise to be developed under the Marvel Studios banner following Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox.
Director Shawn Levy Release Date July 26, 2024 Studio(s) Marvel , Maximum Effort Distributor(s) Disney Writers Rhett Reese , Paul Wernick , Shawn Levy , Ryan Reynolds , Zeb Wells , Rob Liefeld , Fabian Nicieza Cast Ryan Reynolds , Hugh Jackman , Emma Corrin , Morena Baccarin , Rob Delaney , Leslie Uggams , Karan Soni , Matthew Macfadyen , Brianna Hildebrand , Shioli Kutsuna , Stefan Kapicic , Lewis Tan , Randal Reeder , Jennifer Garner , Aaron Stanford , Billy Clements , Ollie Palmer , Chris Hemsworth , Rob McElhenney Character(s) Deadpool , Wolverine , Cassandra Nova , Vanessa Carlysle , Peter , Blind Al , Dopinder , Mr. Paradox , Negasonic Teenage Warhead , Pinkie Pie , Colossus , Shatterstar , Buck , Elektra Natchios , Pyro , Russian , Bar Patron , Thor , TVA Minuteman Runtime 127 Minutes Franchise(s) Deadpool , Marvel Cinematic Universe prequel(s) Deadpool , Deadpool 2 Main Genre Action Expand Upcoming MCU Movies Captain America: Brave New World
Release Date February 14, 2025 Thunderbolts*
Release Date May 2, 2025 The Fantastic Four (2025)
Release Date July 25, 2025 Blade (2025)
Release Date November 7, 2025 Avengers: Doomsday
Release Date May 1, 2026 Avengers: Secret Wars
Release Date May 7, 2027