Actor Wesley Snipes made a surprise appearance in Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine, reprising his role as Eric Brooks, aka Blade, a half-vampire “daywalker” who hunts vampires. In the process, Wesley Snipes’ Blade wound up shattering two Guinness World Records.
Snipes appearance in the film means that he’s earned the distinction of “longest career as a live action Marvel character” and “longest gap between character appearances in Marvel films.”
The actor surpasses the previous record contender, his costar Hugh Jackman, with Snipes’ return arriving exactly 25 years and 240 days after he first played the character in 1998’s Blade. Jackman was expected to take the title. It was Jackman’s costar, Ryan Reynolds, to thank for Snipes’ return as Blade. Snipes recently told EW, “It started with a text from Ryan Reynolds. I hate this guy…You know, this is a joke. We’ve been playing this for like two decades. We’ve actually liked each other the whole time.”
The actor debuted as Marvel’s half-vampire superhero in 1998’s Blade and returned to the role in 2002’s Blade II and 2004’s Blade: Trinity, where he starred alongside Reynolds. Having last played Blade 19 years 231 days ago in the 2004 trilogy closer means that his appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine clinched his title for having the longest gap between character appearances in Marvel films.
What makes the record news even more fascinating is that Marvel is still struggling to get the Blade reboot off the ground. It was almost exactly five years ago at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 that Marvel announced they were inviting Blade into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a brand new reboot movie, with Mahershala Ali attached to star as the title character. Five years later, well, Marvel’s planned Blade movie has still never even found its way in front of the cameras. So much so that Blade makes a wry joke about it in Deadpool & Wolverine, referencing that he’s the only Blade audiences will likely ever see on the big screen.
Marvel remains committed to their R-rated reboot, at least as of now, despite the delays and a lack of director currently. Disney announced recent shifts in their release schedule this morning, yet Blade is still set for November 7, 2025.
The vampire-slaying character was created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan, introduced in July 1973’s The Tomb of Dracula #10. Wesley Snipes played Blade across three films from 1998 through 2004, and he was played by Sticky Fingaz in a short-lived TV series.
There’s a Guinness World Record for everything, but it’s always cool when a half-vampire holds a title or two.
