His surprise appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine not only drew cheers from fans, it also made Wesley Snipes a multiple Guinness World Records holder.
Snipes first played the half-vampire vampire hunter in the 1998 hit Blade, and reprising as the character in Deadpool & Wolverine officially gave him the record of Longest Career as a Live-Action Marvel Character. The feat beat out his co-star Hugh Jackman, who has played Wolverine/Logan in nine movies starting with 2000’s X-Men.
Guinness also points out that the 61-year-old bested Alfred Molina‘s record of the longest gap between character appearances in Marvel films: Snipes last played Blade in 2004’s Blade Trinity, which came 19 years and 231 days before D&W‘s debut.
Molina had a 17-year gap between playing Dr. Otto Octavius/Doc Ock in 2004’s Spider-Man 2 and reprising in 2021’s blockbuster Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Marvel Studios has had a rough road trying to reboot Blade, following its announcement way back in 2019 that it snagged two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali to succeed Snipes.
The behind-the-scenes drama, including multiple script and creative changes, was winked at in Deadpool & Wolverine. Snipes says in the film, “There’s only been one Blade. There’s only ever gonna be one Blade,” prompting Deadpool to break the fourth wall and raise his eyebrows to the audience.
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