Now, here’s a twist: Ryan Reynolds is celebrating Deadpool & Wolverine‘s triumphant second weekend at the box office by petitioning for a “Logan-like send off” for Wesley Snipes as Blade. Only problem? There’s the little issue of Mahershala Ali’s long-gestating Blade movie at Marvel.
Spoilers past this point for Deadpool & Wolverine, but in the flick Snipes pops up in The Void as a member of the Resistance against Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin). He’s of course reprising his role from 1998’s Blade, 2002’s Blade II, and 2004’s Blade: Trinity, where he co-starred with Reynolds. In fact, the reprise was enough to snag Snipes not one, but two official Guinness World Records thanks to the surprise supporting role in the movie.
And Reynolds took to social media to celebrate that fact, writing, “There is no Fox Marvel Universe or MCU without Blade first creating a market. He’s Marvel Daddy. Please retweet for a Logan-like send off.”
To be fair, it’s unclear whether Reynolds is saying that the retweets will be a “Logan-like send off” or if he’s actually petitioning for a movie with Old Man Blade. But I tend to think it is the latter, a chance to bring back Snipes in the role for one last real go at it, a la what 2017’s Logan did for Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. Granted, Hugh Jackman later came back to the role for Deadpool & Wolverine, so there’s a bit of mixed messaging here, but whatever.
The other potential issue is Mahershala Ali’s Blade, which was announced back in 2019, and as of this writing is still slated for a November 2025 release… Despite not having a director or a finished script. With so much time and money put into Ali’s Blade, would a Snipes Blade 4 even be possible?
I mean… Yes. Anything is possible. And nothing against Ali, but it’s going to be very hard to shake the narrative of “troubled production” from his Blade, whenever it comes out — if it ever comes out. On the other hand, having Snipes return after such a rousing, positive response in Deadpool & Wolverine might be a better way for Marvel Studios to go.
A related note, here. Snipes has been nothing but positive and supportive of Ali in the role of Blade. He has been critical about how hard it is to get a movie about the character right, but he’s clearly not looking to jump in front of the younger actor to retake his role… Despite the joke about Snipes being the one and only Blade in Deadpool & Wolverine. So would Reynolds use his new status as Marvel Jesus to push forward a Snipes Blade sequel ahead of Ali’s movie? Is Reynolds basically pulling a The Rock style power-play on the MCU?
Probably not. Reynolds is a master marketer and a team player. If he is floating the idea of a Logan-esque movie for Blade out there, he’s not idly posting tweets… It’s something that’s been discussed internally and vetted by multiple parties. Sorry to spoil “Ryan Reynolds is having fun posting online” for people; this is all part of the marketing campaign.
So my best guess here is that given the way the tweet is worded, this is a trial balloon. If people aren’t interested, they can say it was just about showing the retweets. If they are — and they definitely will be — then this is something Reynolds can bring to the Disney brass to say, “Hey, there’s interest in this socially,” and see where it goes.
So will “Marvel Daddy” get one last chance to strap on the swords and take on the vamps? Honestly? That would not suck.
