The iconic music that many fans listen to decades later, and the controversies in his personal life, are two major aspects many people associate with Michael Jackson. Loved for his musical genius and criticized for some personal events, Jackson could have also been remembered as a Marvel superhero movie star if things had gone his way. The late singer wanted a role in a Marvel movie that became a cult classic, Wesley Snipes’ “Blade” (1998). This was at a time when the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) that later made “Avengers” crossovers major multi‑billion‑dollar events didn’t exist, and Marvel was hardly the household name it is today.
Before Robert Downey Jr. took on the Tony Stark role, which turned Iron Man into one of Marvel’s most important superheroes and kickstarted the MCU reign, studios may have been more reluctant to give lesser-known comic book superheroes their own movies. In a world of Superman and Batman remakes, the “Blade” trilogy stood out in the late ’90s and early 2000s for introducing a hero that, like Iron Man, wasn’t as popular.
“Blade” screenwriter David Goyer recalled a few years ago to Entertainment Weekly that, “…New Line wanted to make a lower-budget black superhero film” at a time when “Marvel was in bankruptcy, and they’d already sold the rights to X-Men and Spider-Man and a few other things…” That’s how the “Blade” trilogy came to be, with Wesley Snipes ending up as the film’s star and co-producer. It’s actually Snipes who got Michael Jackson’s pitch for a role in the “Blade II” (2002) sequel. The pop star wanted to play a “tough guy” character in the Marvel universe.
What character did Michael Jackson want to play?
Wesley Snipes was cast in Michael Jackson’s “Bad” music video in the ’80s. A few years ago, he told Billboard that he had made an impression on young Michael Jackson at the time. He recalled that Michael Jackson told him: “‘Hey, you’re really good, you should really pursue this. Have you thought about acting?'” Snipes continued, “I was like, ‘Mike… well… yeah. What do you mean?’ He was like, ‘Coz you’re really good, you should really consider doing this. You could be good.’ ‘Mike, what are you talking about? You know… I’m an actor!'”
In the same interview, Snipes added that Jackson pitched his idea for a role in the sequel: “Michael actually asked me if he could be in ‘Blade II.’ The great Michael wanted to be in one of the ‘Blade’ movies, to be a tough guy. I was like, ‘Mike, which one you gonna do? You wanna play one of the vampires?’ He was like, ‘No! I wanna be like Blade’s friend — I wanna fight with you!’ I said, ‘Oh Mike, you got jokes.’ He was like, ‘No, I’m serious!’ It’s very hard to imagine how people would have managed seeing Michael Jackson in the ‘Blade’ movie. I don’t know.”
Ultimately, Michael Jackson did not get his co-star role in “Blade II.” The sequel made the most money at the box office ($155 million vs. $131 million for each of the other two), receiving comparable reviews from critics. As of this writing, “Blade II” has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 57%, and a 68% average on the Popcornmeter. That’s in line with the first movie (59%/78%) and significantly better than “Blade: Trinity” (24%/58%). However, the pop star should have still had a cameo in the sequel.
Missed cameo chance and Spider-Man dreams
Michael Jackson would have played a “tall, dark, and gaunt vampire,” as Collider explains. The character would have appeared in a scene in the House of Pain handing out bags of blood and guts. Jackson’s vampire wouldn’t have had any lines, but the cameo would have certainly been memorable. However, the crew was not able to bring Jackson in for the role, so the scene was cut from the movie.
Before Disney purchased Marvel Studios, Michael Jackson was also interested in buying Marvel. Stan Lee, a key creative figure at Marvel who appeared in various cameos in the MCU in the years before his death, said that Michael Jackson was very interested in Spider-Man, a character he wanted to play. Lee said that Jackson wanted to acquire Marvel, as, “He felt that would be the only way that he could play Spider-Man,” (via Comics Alliance). Supposedly, Jackson also wanted to play Professor X in Fox’s “X-Men” movies.
Michael Jackson died in 2009. By then, the “Blade” trilogy was already over, “Iron Man” had already made waves, and Patrick Stewart was playing Professor X in the “X-Men” movies, with James McAvoy about to take over. Tobey Maguire was the world’s only Spider-Man in modern superhero movies, with “Spider-Man 3” having premiered in 2007.
