Wesley Snipes defends Mahershala Ali over Blade delays

Wesley Snipes doesn't hold Mahershala Ali responsible for the delays to 'Blade'.

Marvel's rebooted superhero film has been subject to numerous issues during production but Wesley insists that his successor as the vampire-slaying hero is not to blame for the creative differences on the flick.

The 61-year-old actor told Entertainment Weekly: "I shouted him out, told him he's got all my blessings and support. I even referenced the fact that some of the challenges they're facing now with the project, it shouldn't be accredited to him.

"It's not the actor's fault. There's a lot more that goes on with pulling this 'Blade' stuff off. You need a lot of secret sauce to do the 'Blade' thing, man. Good luck. You're my man, though."

Snipes has returned as Blade for a cameo appearance in 'Deadpool and Wolverine' and admits that he never expected to play the character again until he got the call to make an appearance in the blockbuster.

He said: "I did not think it was possible. I didn't think we would be able to pull it off. I didn't think Marvel was into it, Disney was into it – also because they had Mahershala cast for the next upcoming version of it."

Wesley revealed that he had held discussions about returning for more 'Blade' films after appearing in the previous trilogy but nothing ever materialised.

He said: "Over the years, we've had very interesting conversations, some of them very substantive and some of them not.

"So I kind of resided that I was moving on from them, which is okay. I did three of them, and I thought they turned out pretty good. Not so bad... So we move on to other things, and bigger and better things, as well."