Blade Director: Wesley Snipes Got the ‘Ball Rolling’
In an interview with IndieWire posted to the website on Sunday, September 5th, 2021, the director of the high-anticipated upcoming Blade movie, Bassam Tariq, stated that the franchise owed a debt to original daywalker actor Wesley Snipes.
Snipes the Daywalker
“Him being a daywalker is the one thing that’s been established,” said Tariq. “And you know we can’t deny what Wesley Snipes did, which was he basically got this whole ball rolling.”
Photo: Marvel
Snipes originally played the role of Blade on the big screen in 1998’s Blade. He returned for Blade II in 2002 and Blade: Trinity in 2004 (which co-starred Ryan Reynolds in a non-Merc with the Mouth role).
Snipes also returned in an episode of What We Do in the Shadows, the ongoing sitcom on FX, as a vampire, even one with daywalker abilities! I guess if you are going to be typecast, there are much worse character archetypes with which you could be associated… like anything that doesn’t love blood.
Wesley Snipes as the Daywalker in What We Do In the Shadows. Photo: FX
Blade on the Way
In the upcoming Blade movie, the eponymous role will be played by Oscar-winning actor Mahershala Ali, who previously played the character of Cottonmouth on Netflix’s Luke Cage.
Mahershala Ali. Photo: IMDb
Tariq’s other work includes Mogul Mowgli, a narrative film, as well as documentaries like Ghosts of Sugar Land.
Tariq emphasized how important it was for him to be working with Black talent on the upcoming movie, including lead actor Ali and Stacy Osei-Kuffour (Watchmen), who wrote the screenplay.
Stacy Osei-Kuffour attends the Premiere Of HBO’s “Watchmen” at The Cinerama Dome on October 14, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Photo: Leon Bennett/WireImage
The director told IndieWire, “For me to now be working with somebody as talented and a juggernaut as Mahershala Ali, and the writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour, I’m just so — I’m so honored to be working with real Black juggernauts and Black talent. For me to just be with them in this room and listen and learn as I build this out, it’s really an honor.”
Blade, Eventually
What do you think about these details about the upcoming Blade movie, Marvel Blog True Believers? Are you pleased that we’re finally seeing more of the horrific side of Marvel? What are the odds that the daywalking vampire will end up running across our favorite wicked witch of Westview?
We want to hear from you! Let us know what you’re thinking in the comment section.
