Twitter Reminds Folks Wesley Snipes 'Blade' Was The MCU Foundation

Source: Hulton Archive / Getty

Disney/Marvel Studios cinematic universe has become one of the most successful film franchises on the planet. But there was a marvel superhero world before Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark suited up, and now one user’s tweet has spurned Twitter users to remind folks who actually paved the way for the MCU. Monday (Sep.6), there was a bit of a civil war among comic book movie fans when a Twitter user @OmarOVO24 tweeted the bold opinion that without “Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man and the X-Men movies… we would’ve never gotten the MCU.”

While there is a small hint of truth to that, this tweet is making a glaring omission. Before we saw McGuire don the Spidey-suit or Hugh Jackman take ownership of the Wolverine character on the big screen, Wesley Snipes pretty much put the Marvel movie franchise on his back, slaughtering vampires as the half-human/half-vampire hybrid Blade in not one but three films, with the first two being regarded as classics and were box office successes even though they were R-rated movies. Twitter wasted no time putting on their capes to remind folks who agreed with that tweet that he spelled Blade’s name wrong. One Twitter user wrote, “typical bullshxt Blade was the first SUCCESSFUL Marvel movie it came out in 98 SM didnt drop til 2001-02 by that time Blade II had already dropped please put some respect on W. Snipes.” https://twitter.com/OfficialLouRawz/status/1435083304169086982?s=20 Another wrote, “Blade was Marvel savior financially and cinematically. Marvel Comics was bankrupt which lead to licensing out to Sony and Fox to pay debts. Blade success gave Marvel the capital to stay afloat.”

No lies detected. It’s been about 17 years since Blade’s last adventure on the big screen in the very forgettable film Blade: Trinity, but he will be coming to the MCU very soon, but it won’t be Snipes in the titular role. Instead, Mahershala Ali will be donning the dark shades, black trench coat, and signature sword in a Blade “reboot” that’s due out sometime in 2023. Speaking with IndieWire, the film’s director Bassam Tariq confirmed what many are saying about Snipe’s run as the dark superhero telling the publication that “you know we can’t deny what Wesley Snipes did, which was he basically got this whole ball rolling. A Black man created the superhero world that we’re in, that’s just the truth.” Facts. So it’s time we start putting some respect on Wesley Snipes’ name regarding his place in Marvel comic book movie lore. You can peep more reactions in the gallery below. — Photo: Hulton Archive / Getty