Marvel's Blade Called Out by Spawn Actor Over Potential Use of Likeness
It can be hard to find good inspiration when creating art, and for the vampire hunter Blade, one particular cultural figure, Michael Jai White, seems to have had enough of Marvel’s copycat adulation. Taking to Twitter, White, known for his action and comedy roles including the popular Black Dynamite franchise and his notable hero-turn in 1997’s Spawn, sent out a clear condemnation of what a reasonable person might conclude could be a clear use of White’s likeness for one of Marvel's superheroes. The particular hero in question being Nightstalker and Daywalker, Blade.
Blade, a character conceived in the pages of Tomb of Dracula in 1973 and perhaps best known for his portrayal by Wesley Snipes in the popular Blade trilogy, is currently scheduled to be a rebooted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, played by Mahershala Ali. White, a seasoned actor with roles in such films and television series as The Dark Knight and Arrow, has long been the subject of fan art casting him as the vampire hunter. After tweeting an image of himself as Blade on March 23, 2021, a fan (“@boss_htown”) made a particularly on-the-nose comparison to a then-recent page from the 2019 comic Wolverine vs. Blade Special #1, drawn by Dave Wilkins.
Related: Michael Jai White Interview: The Commando
Posting a year later on April 3, White tweeted out the most glaringly similar image from the comic to his famously chiseled face, writing: “Really?! So this character’s image is “not me?” If anyone finds the actual guy they used please connect us so I can hire him to do stunts, Comicons and jury duty?” Though it is not unheard of for an artist to model their characters' faces on icons or particularly archetypical features prevalent in the culture at the time, it is
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