Deadpool & Wolverine is a delightfully dirty superhero movie with multiversal mishaps. It’s also a very clever commentary on the transience of franchise movies. What happens to the characters in an aborted cinematic universe? As such, the movie features a plethora of cameos from versions of characters we know from previous films, most of whom don’t have a home anymore. And some never had a home to begin with. One particular cameo was so unlikely we’re still shocked it happened.
When Deadpool and Wolverine arrive in the Void, they quickly run afoul of Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin) and her crew of franchise baddies. They hear of a group of freedom fighters who eventually save them. Among the freedom fighters are X-23 (Dafne Keen), Elektra (Jennifer Garner), Gambit (Channing Tatum), and one other Marvel character whose franchise ended forever ago: Blade, as played by Wesley Snipes. While, hey, fun, Blade, it also represents a bit of moviemaking folklore that seemed unlikely to ever repeat.
Predating X-Men to movie screens by two years, the Blade movies were the first R-rated Marvel adaptations. The first and second movies were huge hits, but the third movie, 2004’s Blade: Trinity was not. It’s a very bad movie, but more than that, the behind-the-scenes stories were the stuff of movie-making nightmares. Infamously, director David S. Goyer did not get along well at all with Snipes, nor did Snipes get along with anyone in the cast. He went method actor for the role and refused to be addressed by anything other than “Blade.” One of those cast members with whom Snipes really clashed was none other than Ryan Reynolds.
Reynolds played Hannibal King, another vampire hunter who works with Blade and Jessica Biel’s Abigail Whistler. According to costar Patton Oswalt, Snipes refused to say a lot of his dialogue so they would toss lines to Reynolds. This made Hannibal King easily the mouthiest character in the movie, and began to hone a foul-mouthed persona that led to Reynolds playing Deadpool. A definite throughline. (You can read about all the behind-the-scenes drama here.)
At any rate, Reynolds left the movie having a very bad time, and Snipes said later he couldn’t stand working with Reynolds. But 20 years later, they appear together in Deadpool & Wolverine. Snipes even came out of retirement to assay the role of Eric Brooks, the Daywalker, again. Presumably time heals all wounds, and the success of the Deadpool movies, plus some dollars in the bank, will definitely help. Snipes and Reynolds never share the frame with Deadpool’s mask off, so maybe they actually didn’t work together again. Still, it’s a fun moment to see Blade, but also extra funny if you know the Blade: Trinity turmoil.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.