Even before the MCU, there were already a few films from the Marvel universe. This also includes the vampire hunter Blade, who was donated an entire trilogy. But the third part of the series is considered one of the worst Marvel films of all time and the production itself was a disaster.
At the end of the 90s, Wesley Snipes was a big name in action cinema. His stern demeanor and emotionless but menacing look were a perfect fit for the role of Marvel’s vampire hunter. The first part of the series was published in 1998 and the finale of the trilogy was scheduled to appear in 2005.
Blade Trinity was directed by David S. Goyer, who later worked as a writer on Batman v Superman and Man of Steel in the superhero field. He also wrote the screenplay for the entire Blade trilogy. But the production didn’t go as smoothly as expected and this was mainly due to a dispute between Goyer and Snipes.
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Blade Trinity – trailer for the finale of the vampire hero
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Problems between Goyer and Snipes
The biggest problem was probably the relationship between Goyer and Snipes. Goyer knew the series as a screenwriter, but had little experience as a director. This time, in addition to the direction, which Snipes probably found to be bad, the script and the direction of the finale were also a problem for the Blade actor.
There were two new characters in Blade Trinity that got a lot of focus. Abigail, played by Jessica Biel and Hannibal King, played by Ryan Reynolds. The finale of the saga was also intended to open up possibilities for spin-offs, and this pushed Blade itself into the background. And Snipes didn’t like that at all.
In an interview, actor Patton Oswalt revealed that the situation got so bad that Snipes no longer wanted to talk to Goyer and tried to strangle him. However, Snipes denied this in another interview with The Guardian.
This was a big issue at the time, however, and Snipes had a reputation as a difficult personality. In addition to such riots, Snipes also didn’t show up for certain filmings that had to be done without him.
An unpleasant atmosphere not only developed between Goyer and Snipes, but also between the entire team and Snipes. Threats came and Goyer even had to worry about his safety on set.
Before the film’s release, Snipes sued the production company New Line Cinema because he was allegedly not paid his full salary. In addition, he is said to have had no say in the director’s role as producer. This was the peak of hostility and disastrous production.
The poor production was also evident in the film, and the critics condemned the film. The film has a disastrous critic score of 24% on Rotten Tomatoes. Financially, the film wasn’t a flop and at least managed to gross a lot more than its budget.
A few years after Blade, the MCU also began with the first Iron Man and the Blade trilogy and the old Spider-Man trilogy have had a big influence.
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