Wesley Snipes, the American actor and martial artist best known for his roles in several classic action films of the ’90s, including Demolition Man, Passenger 57, and, of course, Blade, has managed to break not one, but two Guinness World Records following his decision to reprise his role as Marvel Comics’ half-vampire anti-hero in Deadpool & Wolverine, according to a new blog post that the authority on record-breaking achievements shared last week. The news comes as Marvel Studios’ latest film marches toward what some believe to be an inevitable $1 billion milestone, having now earned an estimated $824.1M through Sunday in the global box office.
Snipes’ new records include:
- Record of longest career as a live-action Marvel character (25 years, 340 days): Snipes beats out Hugh Jackman, who has been playing Wolverine for 24 years.
- Longest gap between character appearances in Marvel films: Snipes last played Blade in Blade: Trinity, which released 19 years ago.
Snipes on how he was able to return and how he prepared for the role:
- “I didn’t think we would be able to pull it off. I didn’t think that Marvel was into it, Disney was into it — also because they had Mahershala cast for the next upcoming version of it.”
- “I thought it didn’t make sense to me, but [when] you get a call from Ryan Reynolds out of the blue after 20 years, you go, ‘Okay, I got to take this call. Let’s see what this is about.'”
- “He told me the idea… They said ‘yes’ and ‘it’s a go.’ ‘If you’re in, we’re in.’ Here we are.”
- “…I didn’t have to do as much as I thought I would because the action movies are tough. They’re not easy at all by any means. About a month into it, I got the body right… and then, with the help of a little customized foam well placed in certain areas, it was all good to go, baby. Let’s ride!”
A classic 1998 interview with a younger Snipes discussing his hit film:
Snipes refusing to open his eyes in a scene for Blade: Trinity because he didn’t like the filmmakers, so they had to CG them in:
The late Roger Ebert said of the actor in 1998:
Wesley Snipes understands the material from the inside out and makes an effective Blade because he knows that the key ingredient in any interesting superhero is not omnipotence, but vulnerability. There is always a kind of sadness underlying the personalities of the great superheroes, who have been given great knowledge and gifts but few consolations in their battle against evil. The fun all seems to be on the villain’s side. By embodying those feelings, Snipes as Blade gives the movie that edge of emotion without which it would simply be special effects.