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There is a moment in “Deadpool & Wolverine” where Wesley Snipes, making his first appearance as Blade in 20 years on the big screen, says “There’s only been one Blade. There’s only ever gonna be one Blade.” While Marvel Studios is currently working on a reboot of the franchise, the project has faced more than a few setbacks. So, for now, there is precisely one actor to play the Daywalker on the silver screen, and that is Snipes. Had things gone another way though, it might have been a different actor we’d now associate with the Marvel Comics antihero. That actor? Denzel Washington.
In a 2018 oral history published by Entertainment Weekly to commemorate the 20th anniversary of “Blade,” screenwriter David S. Goyer explained that the studio, in this case New Line Cinema, was having trouble wrapping its head around the concept as it existed. “At one point the [studio] came to us and said ‘Can Blade be white?’ and I said ‘Absolutely f***ing not. Like, that is just terrible. You cannot do that,'” Goyer recalled. In settling on a Black actor, the studio head presented three options. Per Goyer:
“[New Line studio head] Mike DeLuca said ‘I’ll make it for $40 million if you can get Denzel Washington, 35 if you can get Wesley Snipes, and 20 if you can get Laurence Fishburne.’ And that was it. We wanted Wesley.”
The following year, Fishbourne would star as Morbius in “The Matrix,” which was one of the biggest R-rated hits ever up to that point. At that time though, Washington was on a serious hot streak. The decade before “Blade” went into production, his credits included “Glory,” “Malcolm X,” “The Pelican Brief,” “Philadelphia,” “Crimson Tide,” and “Courage Under Fire,” among others. As such, he was viewed as the best financial bet.
Wesley Snipes made history with Blade
In the end, Snipes, who was coming off of films such as “Demolition Man” and “U.S. Marshalls,” ended up getting to front the R-rated Marvel Comics adaptation. Marvel had never been associated with a box office hit up to that point. Much has changed since 1998 but it’s important to remember that this was so very far from a sure thing. Even so, director Stephen Norrington’s “Blade” took in a respectable $131 million worldwide, paving the way for an entire trilogy. More than that, it proved the Marvel brand had value, paving the way for bigger hits such as “X-Men” and “Spider-Man.”
What would comic book movie history look like if Washington has been cast as Blade instead? That’s tough to say but it’s even harder to imagine an actor of Washington’s caliber doing anything shy of a great job in the role. Still, Blade became Snipes’ calling card and he got to carve out his little piece of cinema history. The character also accounts for arguably the biggest crowd-pleasing moment in “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which is now the most successful R-rated movie ever. That’s no small thing. In that same EW piece, Snipes reflected on his time with the character, expressing that, in some ways, being associated with this franchise is even better than winning an Oscar:
“I’m proud of ‘Blade.’ I’m thankful for it. I’ve been blessed with a wonderful opportunity, something that is now considered a part of the urban iconography. And I made some great friends. We learned a lot about the business, and we traveled around the world. When you think about it, how many people have won an Oscar versus how many have a movie that people from generation after generation after generation dig, remember, and appreciate? I wouldn’t take the Oscar! I mean, if I could take the Oscar for a vampire karate guy though, that’s cool… [Laughs]”
“Deadpool & Wolverine” is available now on VOD, with the Blu-ray/DVD available for pre-order on Amazon.
