Before Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” and Bryan Singer’s “X-Men,” there was Stephen Norrington’s “Blade.” The 1998 action-horror flick wasn’t the first film based on a Marvel Comics title (nor was it technically “Howard the Duck,” contrary to popular belief), but it was the one that proved the House of Ideas might just have a future in the movie business after years of financial failures. Wesley Snipes would go on to reprise his role as the titular daywalker in the sequels “Blade II” and “Blade: Trinity,” the latter of which paired him against Ryan Reynolds as a wise-cracking, kill-happy Marvel superhero.
No, not that one.
Indeed, it would be another 20 years before Snipe’s Blade shared the screen with Reynolds as Wade Wilson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe crossover “Deadpool & Wolverine,” with the two characters coming face-to-face upon being banished to The Void by the Time Variance Authority. If you’re doing the math in your head, you may already realize that means Snipes has been donning his “Blade” sunglasses for more than a quarter century — specifically, 25 years and 340 days, as calculated by Guinness World Records. That’s even longer than his “Deadpool & Wolverine” co-star Hugh Jackman has been wearing his claws as Logan (going back to his debut in “X-Men”), which makes Snipes the current record-holder for longest career as a live-action Marvel character.
This does not, however, make him the actor with the longest career as a live-action superhero. For now, that honor belongs to Michael Keaton, who only barely dusted off his Bat-suit for Andy Muschietti’s “The Flash,” a film that hit theaters 34 years after Keaton first played the Caped Crusader in Tim Burton’s “Batman.” (No, George Reeves and Christopher Reeve being digitally resurrected as Superman in that movie doesn’t count.)
There’s only one Blade (for now)
Snipes was excited to learn the news on Twitter (only Cassandra Nova refers to it as “X”), posting, “Whuuuut?! Really? Do I get a certificate too? Lordy Lordy Lordy…Thank you [Guinness World Record], I’m your fan!” The actor also technically set a new record for the longest gap between character appearances in Marvel films by reprising Blade 19 years and 231 days after “Blade: Trinity” came out, beating out the previous record Alfred Molina set when he returned as “Spider-Man 2” villain Doctor Octopus for Jon Watts’ own 2021 MCU multiverse crossover bonanza, “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” However, that depends on whether or not you count Snipes showing up as “Wesley” — a member of the international vampire tribunal — in the “What We Do in the Shadows” season 1 episode “The Trial” (which aired in 2019) as an official Blade appearance or not.
May it never be said that we here as Slashfilm dot com take our live-action superhero world records lightly.
As for the future, most signs point to Snipes’ return as Eric Brooks being a one-time event, what with Marvel Studios focused on finally getting its “Blade” reboot starring Mahershala Ali off the ground five years after the film was originally announced. Ali’s vampire hunter could previously be heard, but not seen, in the post-credits scene for Chloé Zhao’s MCU movie “Eternals” in 2021 — though, since that was an uncredited appearance, that means Snipes remains the only actor to officially play Blade for the time being (with an asterisk, anyway). Meanwhile, with Jackman un-retired as Wolverine until further notice, he may yet have a shot at reclaiming his crown from Snipes.
Ah, who are we kidding? As Wade Wilson points out multiple times in “Deadpool & Wolverine,” we all know Disney’s gonna make Jackman wear the claws until he’s 90. He’ll have that record back in no time.
“Deadpool & Wolverine” Is currently playing in theaters.