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John Boyega could be joining the Marvel Universe, but who as?

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John Boyega could be joining the Marvel Universe, but who as?
03 April 2018

Star Wars’ John Boyega has teased that he’s in talks to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but hasn’t revealed the character or movie he’s talking about.

Making an appearance at Washington DC’s Awesome Con to promote Pacific Rim: Uprising, the actor was specifically asked whether he was in line to play Blade, the half-human vampire hunter previously portrayed amazingly by Wesley Snipes in three movies (the third of which is better than history remembers it, honest). 

Boyega told the crowd that playing Blade would be “a spit in the face of Wesley” and that he was “all up for Wesley playing Blade”. Wesley Snipes is 55, only three years older than Robert Downey Jr., and he’s still kicking seven shades of shit out of baddies in the straight-to-DVD market. He was really, really good as Blade. Could the Blade films suddenly be made part of Marvel Cinematic Universe canon? Maybe? They’re a lot darker, bloodier and more f- and c-bomb laden than the technicolour adventures of Iron Man and chums, but stranger things have happened. He could just show up in a film one day and it’d be fine. “Here’s this new guy, Blade.” “Oh hi Blade. Is this your first adventure?” “No, I have had violent adventures previously.” Easy as pie. 

Boyega went on to reveal, though, that he was in talks with Marvel to play a superhero, but it was early days and wouldn’t be for a while.

If he’s not playing Blade - which, if Wesley Snipes didn’t want to do it, he would be great at, as evidenced by this piece of fan art:

- then who? 

Doctor Voodoo, maybe? Previously known as Brother Voodoo, Jericho Drumm is a Haitian psychologist who becomes drawn into voodoo following his brother’s death. He becomes a zombie-killing, fireproof superhero, able to control flame, entrance people and animals and instantaneously transport himself. In the comics, he ended up taking over from Doctor Strange as Sorcerer Supreme, hence Doctor Voodoo.

His brother was seen (played by Mark Anthony Brighton), and killed, in Doctor Strange, so that film’s writer at least thinks it could be possible…

(Kaecilius was the name of Mads Mikkelsen’s wacky-eyed baddie.)

Will John Boyega soon be seen wrangling magic next to Benedict Cumberbatch and his silly goatee? Perhaps. There are currently no plans for a Doctor Strange sequel, but the character is in Avengers: Infinity War and (supposedly) the as-yet-untitled followup to that - could that set him up for a double-act with Boyega? Or a mantle-passing, setting up a Doctor Voodoo movie? That would work with Boyega’s hints: a heroic character a few years away. Could be a thing, could be a thing…

One thing we can all agree on: Wesley Snipes was really good as Blade.

(Image: Getty)