Wesley Snipes didn’t think Blade return was possible until Ryan Reynolds called: ‘If you’re in, we’re in’ (exclusive)

After confirming his “Deadpool & Wolverine” character in a big, splashy Comic-Con panel, Snipes speaks with EW about his comeback.

Updated on July 26, 2024 02:00PM EDT

Warning: This article contains spoilers from Deadpool & Wolverine.

On Thursday night, during a massive Hall H panel at Comic-Con 2024 in San Diego, Marvel threw months of secrecy plans out the window and leaned fully into revealing all the A-list surprise cameos set to appear in Deadpool & Wolverine (playing now in theaters). Out of all the actors in attendance, including Jennifer Garner, Channing Tatum, and Chris Evans, the roaring crowd gave one of the biggest reactions to Wesley Snipes.

Snipes, 61, makes a shocking return as Blade, the fan-favorite Daywalker and vampire hunter inspired by Marvel Comics that headlined 1998’s flagship film, followed by 2002’s Blade II and 2004’s Blade: Trinity. Speaking exclusively with Entertainment Weekly after the splashy Hall H bow, the actor explains how he never thought this return was possible.

“Over the years, we’ve had very interesting conversations, some of them very substantive and some of them not,” he says during an interview out of EW’s Comic-Con suite. “So I kind of resided that I was moving on from them, which is okay. I did three of them, and I thought they turned out pretty good. Not so bad… So we move on to other things, and bigger and better things, as well.”

Then he received a text message from Ryan Reynolds, the star, producer, and co-writer of Deadpool & Wolverine, who appeared in Blade: Trinity with Snipes 20 years ago. It read, “I want to talk to you.”

Wesley Snipes and Ryan Reynolds back together again, 20 years after ‘Blade: Trinity’.

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

“I did not think it was possible,” Snipes recalls. “I didn’t think we would be able to pull it off. I didn’t think that Marvel was into it, Disney was into it — also because they had Mahershala cast for the next upcoming version of it.” Oscar winner Mahershala Ali has been attached to star in a Blade reboot set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for years, though the movie is still being developed. “I thought it didn’t make sense to me, but [when] you get a call from Ryan Reynolds out of the blue after 20 years, you go, ‘Okay, I got to take this call. Let’s see what this is about,'” Snipes continues. “He told me the idea… They said ‘yes’ and ‘it’s a go.’ ‘If you’re in, we’re in.’ Here we are.”

Deadpool & Wolverine gives Reynolds’ Wade Wilson a multiversal odyssey across different alternate realities with Hugh Jackman’s Logan. The film kicks off six years after the events of 2018’s Deadpool 2. Agents of the Time Variance Authority, the organization introduced in Disney+ series Loki, bring Wade to their boss, Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen). He learns that his reality is dying, so he sets out to find an alternate reality variant of the one person he thinks can save it, Wolverine. The two jaunt across different dimensions, leading them to meet the likes of Garner’s Elektra (from 2003’s Daredevil and 2005’s Elektra), Tatum’s Gambit (the role he was supposed to play in the now-scrapped Gambit movie), Dafne Keen’s X-23 (from 2017’s Logan), and Snipes’ Blade.

Snipes says it was “very challenging” keeping his role a secret until now, even hiding it from his family. But he attests the true challenge was getting back in Blade shape so he could wear the suit again.

Wesley Snipes as Blade in ‘Blade: Trinity’. New Line

“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,” he says. “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. 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!”

His big action scene comes during a team-up with Elektra, Gambit, X-23, Deadpool, and Wolverine all fighting Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), a powerful telekinetic and telepath who rules over a horde of other mutants (nearly all smaller characters from past X-Men movies). “Man, it was so cold out there,” Snipes comments. “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.”

Snipes remembers working with Reynolds all the way back on Blade: Trinity, in which the Deadpool actor played Hannibal King, a fellow vampire hunter working alongside Jessica Biel’s Abigail Whistler. Even back then, Reynolds was forming his now-signature sense of humor that has come to define Marvel’s Merc with a Mouth. “Some of the things he did back in those days, that’s not really my humor,” Snipes remarks. “I’m not tuned in that way. So I thought, ‘Well, it’s a little over the top for me.’ But seeing him do it in this context [in Deadpool & Wolverine] made a lot of sense. And seeing him do it and do it well, Ryan does something that most people can’t do. He’s unique in that way, and he’s found a fantastic niche for himself doing what he does. Deadpool is Ryan Reynolds all day long. So it was enjoyable. It was enjoyable to work with him. It was enjoyable to revisit.”

Wesley Snipes as Blade, Ryan Reynolds as Hannibal King in ‘Blade: Trinity’.

When asked if he had a chance to connect with Ali since the Blade reboot was announced, Snipes says, “Not since all the stories about the reboots and all of that have dropped. We haven’t spoke.” He does point to a statement he released in 2019 after Ali’s casting was made official. In it, he told “all the DAYWALKERS losing their minds right now ” to “chillaaxx.” He congratulated Ali for landing the job, calling him “a beautiful and talented artist whose expressions I look forward to experiencing for many years to come.”

“I shouted him out, told him he’s got all my blessings and support,” Snipes says now. “I even referenced the fact that some of the challenges they’re facing now with the project, it shouldn’t be accredited to him.” Multiple writers and directors boarded the new Blade over the years only to later part ways. Amid so many delays, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige commented to BlackTree TV while promoting Deadpool & Wolverine, “For the last few years, we’ve been trying to crack that movie. The most important thing for us is not rushing it and making the right Blade movie.”

“It’s not the actor’s fault,” Snipes tells EW, sticking by Ali. “There’s a lot more that goes on with pulling this Blade stuff off.” Sliding into a more playful tone, he adds, “You need a lot of secret sauce to do the Blade thing, man. Good luck. You’re my man, though.”