What Marvel should do about the new ‘Blade’ movie

If ‘Deadpool and Wolverine’ didn’t paint a clear picture, you’re blind.

Some things just need to be made right. As I cross a bridge in Bradenton on the way to supposedly the best biscuits in town after enjoying my second favorite Terminator movie, let’s talk about the next good deed that Marvel needs to do.

This may be still considered a big spoiler-I swear these things are like laws that eventually expire like Facebook stories-but one of my favorite parts about the recent smash hit Deadpool and Wolverine was the surprise cameo of Wesley Snipes as his most iconic character, Blade. I’m (not) sorry, James Gunn. Some fan service cameos are simply… right.

So, Mr. Feige, it’s time to make it right. Reinstate Snipes as Blade in the still delayed fresh addition to the Marvel origin hit franchise.

Think of it as killing two birds with one stone. For one, it’ll solve your current production issues with the film. It eats directors like Deadpool fans devour meta humor. Mahershala Ali may be as old as his True Detective character by the time it starts shooting. Since the announcement, it has faced script issues. Maybe the universe is telling them they shouldn’t make a Blade movie without… Blade himself. There lies the second good thing about this idea.

With no disrespect to the phenomenal Ali, Snipes is the guy. He’s still in shape, loves the material, made up with Ryan Reynolds, and has been open about returning. People are always up for nostalgia; a decaying real world makes the comforting jump look like junk food at the end of October. I agree that Channing Tatum should get a Gambit movie, but it’s becoming more apparent that there is only man who should play the titular part human/part vampire anti-hero.

A team-up film with Ali would be fine, the same way decent yet not great breakfast pleases the stomach but doesn’t come close to taking the sting off your mind’s hunger. If we’re allowed to be greedy here after the billion dollar and counting success of Deadpool and Wolverine, the Marvel brass should do what they did with Hugh Jackman: don’t mess with a great thing by trying a mindless recast. Give Snipes’ character a fitting end.

Snipes was never the problem with a Blade movie. Sometimes, the scripts stink and you do what you can in order to make the whole thing work. Most of the time, the result doesn’t turn out but the blame can be spread a mile thin. He was fun to watch in all three original movies, and slipped right back into it this spring like a comfy weather at the onset of fall.

Just make it right. Don’t over-budget the Blade movie; an old school paint job will do just fine. Placing abnormal demands on a nostalgic item isn’t wise; think of it like sleeping on a classic piano. Give it $80-100 million, and find a writer-filmmaker who could create something fresh with the material-or you could just play the hits and still make a fine addition.

Thanks to Reynolds, who knows how to turn any uncomfortable set drama rumor (him and Snipes had different styles of interpreting the material back then) seem funny, for bringing Snipes back into the MCU’s gaze. He’s a lot like Wade Wilson in the D&W movie: trying to get into the Avengers juggernaut so he can finally belong. Only there’s a twist: It was indeed Blade who helped build what Marvel is today. Without those early bloodthirsty box office returns, Feige’s superhero operation never gets off the ground.

Pay it back and make it right at the same time by reinstating Wesley Snipes as Blade, giving him that Logan type sendoff.

The Sarasota Dispatch complete, time for the beach.