Before Wesley Snipes signed on for Blade, he had intentions to make a Black Panther movie, having announced his plans to do so in 1992.
While at the premiere for his new film Dolemite Is My Name, Wesley Snipes spoke with reporter Kevin McCarthy about his original plans for Black Panther years before he played Blade:
“I tried to get Black Panther [made], I had the rights to Black Panther, maybe four or five years before the Blade project came around… When Blade came around because we didn’t do Black Panther, our version of it, I thought it would be cool opportunity for me to do something for truly my friends. All the martial arts cats, all the cats that love Shaft.”
Although his Black Panther project never came into fruition, Wesley Snipes gave away some minor details in what his version of the film would’ve brought to the screen:
“At that time, we didn’t have the technology, but we would have done all the vibranium. I wanted it to be like what the comic was with the super city with the super-science.”
Ultimately, while Wesley Snipes never had the chance to bring his version of King T’Challa to the big screen, Chadwick Boseman was blessed with the honor of playing Black Panther for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His standalone film, directed by Ryan Coogler became a cultural phenomenon when it hit theaters in February 2018 and even received a Best Picture nomination at Academy Awards.
For quite some time, Wesley Snipes was campaigning to reprise his role as Eric Brooks in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Wesley Snipes played the character in a trilogy of films: Blade, Blade II and Blade: Trinity.
However, Marvel Studios opted to reboot the Blade character, so during their Phase 4 presentation at San Diego Comic-Con in July, Kevin Feige brought out Mahershala Ali on stage to announce that the two-time Academy Award winner will be replacing Wesley Snipes in a new Blade movie in the MCU.
Be sure to continue following Heroic Hollywood for all the latest news on Wesley Snipes, Black Panther and Blade!
Source: Kevin McCarthy
