Blade: Trinity Director Responds to Wesley Snipes' Strangulation Rumor

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is finally bringing Blade into the fold with Oscar-winning actor [...]

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is finally bringing Blade into the fold with Oscar-winning actor Mahershala Ali set to star in the titular role and Mogul Mowgli director, Bassam Tariq, signed on to direct the film. The new resurgence of Blade has people talking about the first set of Blade films that starred Wesley Snipes. There have been a lot of intense rumors surrounding the production of Blade: Trinity, including a story shared by comedian Patton Oswalt, who claimed Snipes tried to strangle director David S. Goyer. Snipes has since denied those claims, which Goyer was recently asked about during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. While the director did not confirm that the incident happened, he certainly alluded to some trouble on set.

"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 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.

You can check out Oswalt's original accusation and Snipes' denial below:

"And he tried to strangle the director, David Goyer," Oswalt explained to The AV Club. "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.'"

"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 Blade movies are currently streaming on HBO Max. Marvel Studios' new Blade does not yet have a release date.

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