Wesley Snipes Reveals Untold Story Behind His 'Black Panther' Film

808s & Villainy · Feb 17, 2018

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/h...-reveals-untold-story-behind-90s-film-1078868

In the mid 1990s, while riding a wave of box-office hits that propelled him to superstardom, Wesley Snipes undertook a bold initiative: make a film about the Marvel Comics character Black Panther.

Snipes' uphill battle was plagued with script re-writes, director uncertainty, storytelling clashes and inadequate CG capabilities needed to truly bring the marvelous fictional African nation of Wakanda to life.

It's a fairly long article, so it's hard to isolate specific parts for quotes since the whole thing is worth a read, but one particularly interesting part was when he tried describing the character to John Singleton (director of Boyz N' the Hood)

"I laid on him my vision of the film being closer to what you see now: the whole world of Africa being a hidden, highly technically advanced society, cloaked by a force field, Vibranium," Snipes begins. "John was like, 'Nah! Hah! Hah! See, he's got the spirit of the Black Panther, but he is trying to get his son to join the [civil rights activist] organization. And he and his son have a problem, and they have some strife because he is trying to be politically correct and his son wants to be a knucklehead.' "

Laughing, Snipes continued, "I am loosely paraphrasing our conversation. But ultimately, John wanted to take the character and put him in the civil rights movement. And I'm like, 'Dude! Where's the toys?! They are highly technically advanced, and it will be fantastic to see Africa in this light opposed to how Africa is typically portrayed.' I wanted to see the glory and the beautiful Africa. The jewel Africa."

Snipes, somewhat intimidated by Singleton's interpretation, says he was unsuccessful in fully laying out his vision. But that wasn't a bad thing.

What's interesting is how his lack of success in getting this project going led to another black superhero movie of his being made

But the action star didn't dwell on the missed opportunity. Rather, he took what he learned from the experience and applied it to his next superhero project: Blade.

"It was a natural progression and a readjustment," Snipes says. "They both [Black Panther and Blade] had nobility. They both were fighters. So I thought, hey, we can't do the King of Wakanda and the Vibranium and the hidden kingdom in Africa, let's do a black vampire," he says, laughing.

Slayven · Feb 17, 2018

Seems like he learned to get a black superhero movie made back then was strip the character down to an elevator pitch. Which was the 90s in general. A black English vampire could have been something interesting.

Salty Rice · Feb 17, 2018

Dont worry Wesley that your version of Black Panther didnt pan out because you gave us instead with Blade the best Marvel movie to this date.

Bandage · Feb 17, 2018

In a way, I'm glad it was Blade that got made, because it kind of helped set a tone for future super hero movies and I don't think the world was ready for Black Panther yet. Sadly.

HP_Wuvcraft · Feb 17, 2018

John Singleton on Black Panther would have been really quite amazing.

But if Blade is Snipes version of nobility, I'm glad he never did Panther.

But it is very much hard to overlook Blade's impact on future comic book films.

Ombra · Feb 17, 2018

HP_Wuvcraft said:
John Singleton on Black Panther would have been really quite amazing.

But if Blade is Snipes version of nobility, I'm glad he never did Panther.

But it is very much hard to overlook Blade's impact on future comic book films.

Personally, I think singletons version sounds stupid as fuck like he's shooting low so he wouldn't have to worry about pesky things like special effects and costume design. glad we got blade instead.

808s & Villainy · Feb 17, 2018

HP_Wuvcraft said:
John Singleton on Black Panther would have been really quite amazing.

But if Blade is Snipes version of nobility, I'm glad he never did Panther.

But it is very much hard to overlook Blade's impact on future comic book films.

Did you read what he wanted to do with it? The dude's an amazing director, but he didn't really seem to understand what it was about or why Wesley was excited

Slayven · Feb 17, 2018

808s & Villainy said:
Did you read what he wanted to do with it? The dude's an amazing director, but he didn't really seem to understand what it was about or why Wesley was excited

Shows the value of getting a director that really understands the property. Like he read "Black Panther" and thought it was the group.

THE GUY · Feb 17, 2018

Blade is still one of the top movies in the genre for me. There is no superhero yet that was as cool as that nigga. It was hype as fuck back in the day. No superhero since has had that kind of charisma on-screen. Even RDJ's Iron Man ain't got shit on Wesley Snipes as Blade.

WHAT HAPPENED WITH BLADE TRINITY?! WHO SABOTAGED THAT SHIT?!

Deleted member 1248 · Feb 17, 2018

That paraphrasing makes Singleton sound like a black reverse Tim Burton.

Thank fuck that movie never happened.

riotous · Feb 17, 2018

Love Wesley Snipes, gonna make my wife watch a bunch of his films. He was my favorite actor when i was a teen in the 90s. Love all the interviews coming out, he seems primed to be in the spotlight again.

Madao · Feb 17, 2018

i watched the Blade trilogy this past week and they were fun. the first 2 were pretty entertaining and the last one was decent even with the drop in quality.

i do miss seeing Wesley Snipes starring in movies.

BlueTsunami · Feb 17, 2018

The original Blade is a classic. Dude has made his contribution and I appreciate that. 90s and the 2ks were a dark time though in this regard though.

Dreams-Visions · Feb 17, 2018

I'm more interested in why Hollywood isn't giving this man work today. All I see on his IMDB is a bunch of shit that looks like straight-to-DVD projects.

This is still Wesley fuckin Snipes, right? Does Hollywood think people won't show up to a good movie staring Wesley Snipes?

shintoki · Feb 17, 2018

THE GUY said:
Blade is still one of the top movies in the genre for me. There is no superhero yet that was as cool as that nigga. It was hype as fuck back in the day. No superhero since has had that kind of charisma on-screen. Even RDJ's Iron Man ain't got shit on Wesley Snipes as Blade.

WHAT HAPPENED WITH BLADE TRINITY?! WHO SABOTAGED THAT SHIT?!

Snipes got way too full of himself and Goyer to do with anything outside the writing room is trash.

Sanjuro · Feb 17, 2018

Snipes is a crazy person.

Igniz12 · Feb 17, 2018

Laughing, Snipes continued, "I am loosely paraphrasing our conversation. But ultimately, John wanted to take the character and put him in the civil rights movement. And I'm like, 'Dude! Where's the toys?! They are highly technically advanced, and it will be fantastic to see Africa in this light opposed to how Africa is typically portrayed.' I wanted to see the glory and the beautiful Africa. The jewel Africa."

Reminds me of that Black Panther thread where someone came in and said why they weren't showing Africa in the same way. Even back then....

RationalGinger · Feb 17, 2018

Dreams-Visions said:
I'm more interested in why Hollywood isn't giving this man work today. All I see on his IMDB is a bunch of shit that looks like straight-to-DVD projects.

This is still Wesley fuckin Snipes, right? Does Hollywood think people won't show up to a good movie staring Wesley Snipes?

If there's any justice in this world, he'll be back as Blade in the MCU one day and we'll pretend Blade Trinity never happened.

HP_Wuvcraft · Feb 17, 2018

Dreams-Visions said:
I'm more interested in why Hollywood isn't giving this man work today. All I see on his IMDB is a bunch of shit that looks like straight-to-DVD projects.

This is still Wesley fuckin Snipes, right? Does Hollywood think people won't show up to a good movie staring Wesley Snipes?

The tax evasion and general craziness has something to do with it.

astro · Feb 17, 2018

Blade is still an amazing comic book film, and Blade 2 is one of the best Aliens rip-offs ever.

Ombra · Feb 17, 2018

HP_Wuvcraft said:
The tax evasion and general craziness has something to do with it.

Craziness?

HP_Wuvcraft · Feb 17, 2018

Rumors of how hard he was to work with on Blade 3. Only responding to the name of Blade. Only talking to the director through a cell phone. Stuff like that.

nded · Feb 17, 2018

HP_Wuvcraft said:
Rumors of how hard he was to work with on Blade 3. Only responding to the name of Blade. Only talking to the director through a cell phone. Stuff like that.

T'Chakku · Feb 17, 2018

HP_Wuvcraft said:
Rumors of how hard he was to work with on Blade 3. Only responding to the name of Blade. Only talking to the director through a cell phone. Stuff like that.

Dont forget him refusing to open his eyes in one scene, forcing them to cgi eyes on his face. That shit is hilarious.

BlueTsunami · Feb 17, 2018

Litan said:
Dont forget him refusing to open his eyes in one scene, forcing them to cgi eyes on his face. That shit is hilarious.

Best gif of all time given the context

wenis · Feb 17, 2018

Ombra said:
Craziness?

he has been reported as being a lot to work with and not creative group friendly.

Rackham · Feb 17, 2018

Blade 1 and 2 are great movies. My favorite vampire movies followed by Interview w/a Vampire.

Blade Trinity is trash and not because of Snipes. He's the best part of the movie. The writing is garbage and Jessica Biel and Ryan Reynolds ruin the movie.

Disco · Feb 17, 2018

Still love blade, the sequel was a step down imo but quite fun too

Not a big loss really since blade was so dope. BP came out at the right time. I don't think it would have had the impact it has now if it released in the 90s

Deleted member 3345 · Feb 17, 2018

HP_Wuvcraft said:
John Singleton on Black Panther would have been really quite amazing.

But if Blade is Snipes version of nobility, I'm glad he never did Panther.

But it is very much hard to overlook Blade's impact on future comic book films.

What a terrible response

nded said:

When jim carrey did this, it was considered artistic.

Ombra · Feb 18, 2018

wenis said:
he has been reported as being a lot to work with and not creative group friendly.

Oh wow. I see.

toastyToast · Feb 18, 2018

nded said:

You know, if I headlined and made a huge success about an obscure comic book character I'd be pretty pissed getting sidelined in my own movie.

Not sure I'd go that far but him being so difficult makes sense and is downright hilarious.

Ploid 6.0 · Feb 18, 2018

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:
What a terrible response

When jim carrey did this, it was considered artistic.

Jared's Joker, rats, dead hogs, and boxes oh my!

Method actors, also Shia Labeouf during Fury annoyed his co-stars with his methods too.

toastyToast said:
You know, if I headlined and made a huge success about an obscure comic book character I'd be pretty pissed getting sidelined in my own movie.

Not sure I'd go that far but him being so difficult makes sense and is downright hilarious.

Wow didn't know about that. That sucks, may have made too many enemies doing that though. I would have played ball and hope another project I get blows up.

El Goom · Feb 18, 2018

Am I the only one who'd want to see Wesley in BP2? Just to see what the hell they would do with him

Ploid 6.0 · Feb 18, 2018

El Goom said:
Am I the only one who'd want to see Wesley in BP2? Just to see what the hell they would do with him

I would like it, but who's hiring him these days? Maybe the director would give him a favor, or would like to see him in it personally. There's so many other people out there that would like a shot though. Winston Duke for example, awesome guy, awesome M'Baku!

Leithkorias · Feb 18, 2018

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:
When jim carrey did this, it was considered artistic.

I watched the Netflix doc too.....seemed like most of his costars hated him during shooting...

ItRhymesWithDoom · Feb 18, 2018

To be fair, if the MCU didn't exist, pitching BP would be like pitching Aquaman to someone who's never read a comic book. You'd hear the pitch and go: "why?" to the whole thing. Or: "a comic book movie? That would never work". Remember that there were basically no comicbook movies before Burton's Batman started the modern blockbuster in 1989, and even then nobody thought they would seriously be any good.
Darkman, despite being an alright movie, was not that promising a start (did get Raimi Spider-Man in 2002 though), and Spawn... yeah (a cult movie in its truest form. Clown is great though).

So ironically Blade might as well be the first 'legit' comicbook movie in 1998 after Batman (89) and Batman Returns (92), in terms of both quality and box office.

Which is still no small achievement considering there wasn't a big push for it at the time.

And 90s Hollywood is all kinds of weird (of the wrong kind) in hindsight. A hair dresser failing upwards as a producer for DC Comics? Booyah baby, it's the 90s! *shudder*

Enzom21 · Feb 18, 2018

shintoki said:
Snipes got way too full of himself and Goyer to do with anything outside the writing room is trash.

Weren't they trying to use the Blade franchise to launch that shit with Biel and Reynolds?

IDreamOfHime · Feb 18, 2018

Sucks they didn't have Snipes at least make a cameo in the new movie. Panther was his passion for such a block of the 90s.

Mr. Pointy · Feb 18, 2018

I hope we get Snipes' Blade in the MCU, even if it's a Netflix/Hulu TV series. I don't think it'll happen but I want it.

Blade did lay the foundation for Raimi's Spiderman, X-Men, Nolan's Batman, etc. and eventually the MCU to happen.

TP-DK · Feb 18, 2018

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:
When jim carrey did this, it was considered artistic.

No, he was considered crazy, which is why the studio forbid the release of the behind the scenes doc of Man on the moon.

Spine Crawler · Feb 18, 2018

Salty Rice said:
Dont worry Wesley that your version of Black Panther didnt pan out because you gave us instead with Blade the best Marvel movie to this date.

oh yes. too bad the sequels were not as good.

Deleted member 3345 · Feb 18, 2018

TP-DK said:
No, he was considered crazy, which is why the studio forbid the release of the behind the scenes doc of Man on the moon.

at the time vs retroactive

Openrob · Feb 18, 2018

Whoa, I honestly did not know Blade was a Marvel property.

Officer Big Mac · Feb 18, 2018

El Goom said:
Am I the only one who'd want to see Wesley in BP2? Just to see what the hell they would do with him

All of these old actors who are stuck playing parents or the wise experienced character would love to be in a marvel movie. How many older black actors are there? Idris Elba is taken already and he's 10 years younger than Snipes.

RoninRay · Feb 18, 2018

I just want an old man blade movie set in the future that's over ran by vampires. Also please fit in a Wesley Snipes vs. Michael Jai White fight.

Zeldaflavoredzebra · Feb 18, 2018

Blade was such a dope movie.

Ploid 6.0 · Feb 18, 2018

I was going to say he should show up in a Deadpool movie, and have DP go off about how bad of an idea Jessica and Ryan was for Blade 3. That would surely kill any chance of a serious shot at another Blade movie though.

tino · Feb 18, 2018

Blade is still a better film. Black Panther gets the black struggle part right and all, but the story telling is lacking. There is no stake for the protagonist and his harem the whole time.

Darkwing-Buck · Feb 18, 2018

The Best.

Cordy · Feb 18, 2018

Glad it didn't work out because Blade just works for Wesley and that fits him better I'd say. He's got it on lock.

Wesley Snipes Reveals Untold Story Behind His 'Black Panther' Film

Never read a comic in his life

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