Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) may be the savior of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe — aka “Marvel Jesus” — after the events of Deadpool & Wolverine, but there wouldn’t really be an MCU without Blade.
Wesley Snipes kicked the door open for superhero movies almost 30 years ago, ushering in a new era of blockbuster storytelling. Though the Blade trilogy was warmly received by fans, the films didn’t exactly do the character justice in the end, and Snipes’ Blade has all but faded into legend since. Deadpool & Wolverine gave Snipes the chance to end the character’s story on his terms, along with a handful of forgotten Marvel heroes like Elektra (Jennifer Garner) and X-23 (Dafne Keen). According to Reynolds, though, this could just be the beginning of Snipes’ second act. If the fans demand it, we could see Blade return in a multiverse event like Avengers: Secret Wars — or possibly in another standalone film.
“There is no Fox Marvel Universe or MCU without Blade first creating a market,” Reynolds recently wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter). “He’s Marvel Daddy. Please retweet for a Logan-like send-off.”
The Problem With the Legacysequel Trend
Over 90,000 users have shared Reynolds’ post so far, so there’s definitely some interest in seeing Snipes reprise his role as Blade soon. Deadpool & Wolverine could very well have set the stage for a Blade project in the same vein as Logan, which served as a farewell to Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in 2017. It wouldn’t be the first to bring a legacy character back for One Last Ride: we’ve seen this trend repeat in franchises like Star Trek and Indiana Jones. The problem is, it has never worked half as well as it did with Logan. At best, legacyquels capitalize on some nostalgia. At worst, they can feel like empty cash grabs. Snipes notably has a lot of passion for Blade — but in an era where studios will recycle any IP regardless of relevance, passion isn’t enough to tell a worthy story.
There’s also the little matter of Marvel’s planned Blade reboot, which will see Mahershala Ali taking over the Daywalker mantle. Granted, the film isn’t in the best of shape (it’s been in production purgatory for the past five years), but Marvel clearly isn’t ready to give up on the project. The studio is working hard to create a version of Blade that fits into the MCU; despite its setbacks, that’s definitely the right move. Another Blade film would be too confusing at this point. Some fans will likely be disappointed about saying goodbye to Snipes again, but his character doesn’t really need a send-off: that’s what Deadpool & Wolverine was for.
