Blade is finally being folded into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and will be headlined by Oscar-winning actor Mahershala Ali. The news of the resurgence stirs up rumors that arose from the first Blade films that starred Wesley Snipes. Intense accusations surrounding the production include a claim by comedian Patton Oswald, saying that Snipes attempted to strangle director David S. Goyer.
Oswald shared his account of the altercation with The AV Club and recalled the events during an interview with the publication. "...[Snipes] tried to strangle the director, David Goyer," Oswalt explained. "We went out that night to some strip club, and we were all drinking. And there were a bunch of bikers there, so David says to them, 'I’ll pay for all your drinks if you show up to set tomorrow and pretend to be my security.' Wesley freaked out and went back to his trailer. And the next day, Wesley sat down with David and was like, 'I think you need to quit. You’re detrimental to this movie.' And David was like, 'Why don’t you quit? We’ve got all your close-ups, and we could shoot the rest with your stand-in.' And that freaked Wesley out so much that, for the rest of the production, he would only communicate with the director through Post-it notes. And he would sign each Post-it note ‘From Blade.'"
Goyer was recently asked bout the situation during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, and while there was no confirmation of the incident, the director was not shy to allude to on-set troubles. "Let’s just say I have tremendous respect for Wesley as an actor. He used to be a friend. We’re not friends anymore. I am friends with Patton, and I [have] worked with Patton since, so … I don’t think anyone involved in that film had a good experience on that film. Certainly, I didn’t. I don’t think anybody involved with that film is happy with the results. It was a very tortured production," Goyer explained.
Snipes denied the strangulation claimes and spoke on the alleged attack on Goyer while sitting down with The Guardian. "Let me tell you one thing. If I had tried to strangle David Goyer, you probably wouldn't be talking to me now. A Black guy with muscles strangling the director of a movie is going to jail, I guarantee you," Snipes told The Guardian. "This is part of the challenges that we as African Americans face here in America — these microaggressions. The presumption that one white guy can make a statement and that statement stands as true! Why would people believe his version is true? Because they are predisposed to believing the Black guy is always the problem. And all it takes is one person, Mr. Oswalt, who I really don't know. I can barely remember him on the set, but it's fascinating that his statement alone was enough to make people go: 'Yeah, you know Snipes has got a problem.'"
All three of Snipes' Blade movies are now available to stream through HBO Max. Marvel Studios has not issued a release date for its upcoming Blade remake.