Could Wesley Snipes be making a comeback after his ugly past?

He was one of the most sought-after action actors of the 90s and early 2000s, mainly thanks to his role as a vampire hunter (paradoxically enough) in the 'Blade' saga, but also for his work in other films such as 'Demolition Man' (1993) and 'Jungle Fever' (1991). However, the last few years have had more shadows than lights in the career and life of Wesley Snipes. Will the time come for his redemption?

The great change in Wesley Snipes was evident on the red carpet of the 2022 edition of the Oscars, a ceremony in which he also presented one of the awards of the night with Rosie Perez and Woody Harrelson - his former co-stars in 'White Men Can't Jump'. There we could see the actor visibly changed, very different from the image of the muscular 'action hero' that we were used to before.

His appearance, now much thinner, caught the attention of the media and fans, who filled social networks with messages even debating his state of health. However, there is no news that he has any problems, quite the contrary: he is in perfect health and immersed in new projects.

Wesley Snipes' film career began in 1986 with the film 'Wildcats' alongside Goldie Hawn and, from then on, he continued to climb the rungs of the Hollywood industry ladder until 1991, when he made his great leap to stardom in 'New Jack City', in which he played the role of Nino Brown.

That same year - 1991 - and the following year, Wesley Snipes would consolidate himself with two massive movies in his filmography: 'Jungle Fever', which was directed by Spike Lee, and, of course, 'White Men Can't Jump', sharing the leading role with Woody Harrelson.

Gradually he built up his reputation as a film tough guy, and from there came titles such as 'Passenger 57' (1992), 'Boiling Point', 'Rising Sun' and the spectacular 'Demolition Man' (1993), alongside Sylvester Stallone; 'Drop Zone' (1994); 'Money Train' (1995), again alongside Woody Harrelson; 'Murder at 1600' (1997); and 'U.S. Marshalls' (1998).

And in the midst of all that, he also appered in other films, such as 'To Wong Foo, thanks for everything Julie Newmar' or 'Waiting for Exhale', together with Whitney Houston, both from 1995. In those titles, we could appreciate his talent for exploring comic or dramatic performances beyond the fights.

But the role of his life (as far as celebrity is concerned) is undoubtedly that of Blade, the Marvel vampire hunter who triumphed before the advent of the Marvel fever that exploded the big screen in recent years. The first instalment of the comic book adaptation was made in 1998 with Wesley Snipes in the lead role.

It was followed by two more instalments: 'Blade II' (2002) and 'Blade: Trinity' (2004), for which he was paid no less than 13 million dollars. However, these were two films that were not as successful as the original and also marked the beginning of the end of the successful career that Wesley Snipes had built up over the years.

In the mid-2000s, and especially after the filming of 'Blade: Trinity', many voices complained how difficult it was to work with Wesley Snipes. This was the case for actor Patton Oswalt, who accused him in a 2012 interview of being crazy, of smoking (not tobacco) all day or of communicating only with post-it notes with the film's director, David S. Goyer, whom he allegedly tried to strangle.

Another critical voice was that of his co-star in the third instalment of 'Blade', Jessica Biel, who told Comic Book Movie in an interview that she didn't know how to talk to Snipes during the filming period if there wasn't a script involved. "It's weird to see him in the morning and not really know what to say. I get a little response - does he hate me, is he mad at me? There's a lot of questions that go through your head at first. So I think it was a little disconcerting for me," she said.

The actress also confirmed the bad relationship between Wesley Snipes and David S. Goyer. In that same interview she said, "I think Wes and David had a lot of conflict with the story ideas and the look of the movie, so there was definitely tension. But, (David) so relaxed, he handled it so smoothly, so classy in the way he handled it. He didn't let anything get to him."

Another member of the cast, Ryan Reynolds, who was just starting to take his first steps on the big screen at the time, did not have fond memories of the filming. He said, "I never met Wesley Snipes in this movie, not even for a second. I only saw Blade. We spoke very little and I remember one of the few things he said to me was: 'Keep your mouth shut, you'll live longer'".

But this attitude was not new, as another actor, the Spaniard Santiago Segura, said in an interview about the second part of the saga that "he treated me terribly" and, "when we premiered in Spain and they applauded me twice as much as him, he came up to me and said: 'Hey, are you famous here? How come you didn't say anything to me?'".

'Blade Trinity' ended badly. Not only in the cinemas, but also in the courts. Wesley Snipes sued the production company New Line Cinema demanding 5 million dollars accusing them of not fulfilling his contract and not paying him his full salary. That would be just the beginning of his problems...

On 9 December 2010, Snipes entered a federal prison in Pennsylvania after two years earlier, in 2008, he was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay a $5 million fine for failing to file a $15 million tax return. That would be his home for two and a half years, until being released on 2 April 2013 and completing his sentence under house arrest until 19 July 2013.

In an interview with The Guardian, he spoke of his time in the "camp", the name by which he called the prison, noting that "I hope I came out a better person. I came out a clearer person, with clearer values and a clearer purpose. Clearer about my relationship with my ancestors and the great god or great goddess above. Clearer about what I was going to do once I regained my freedom".

His release from prison did not leave behind his problems with the US Treasury, who then accused him of having a debt with them of 20 million dollars in taxes, so he began a new legal battle that would last until November 2018, when a sentence was handed down against the actor who was forced to meet his tax obligations.

Wesley Snipes' recovery as an actor after this stumble, has several big names and and a couple of projects in the pipeline. The first of them was a return to the tough guy image, in this case with Sylvester Stallone and his band of 'action heroes' in 'The Mercenaries 3' (2014).

He was also given a new opportunity by his old friend Spike Lee, who cast him as Cyclops in the film 'Chi-Raq' (2015).

But undoubtedly, the one who bet on him the most was Eddie Murphy, a fundamental character for Wesley Snipes to recover from his dark years. He has worked with him in two films, the first of them 'Dolemite is My Name' (2019), which has earned the actor several award nominations for his role as D'Urville Martin; and the sequel to 'Coming 2 America' (2021), where he transforms into the evil African general Izzi.

We have also been able to see him lately on the small screen in two shows released in 2021: the seven-episode Netflix miniseries 'True Story' (2021) alongside Kevin Hart; and 'Paper Empire': starring Denise Richards, Robert Davi and Robert Knepper, among others.

In the midst of this period of resurrection in the world of cinema, Wesley Snipes has also entered the world of publishing by becoming a writer. In 2017 he published the novel 'Talon of God'.

He also has another project he is currently immersed in, which is writing his first comic book 'The Exiled'. It tells the story of detective Niles 'Roach' Washington -physically inspired by Snipes himself- who pursues a serial killer after a deadly gas attack in his city. The comic definitely has hints of the best scenes from Blade.

For this work and the adaptation of his story to graphic novel format in a 140-page volume, he will have the help of Adam Lawson from Gifted Rebels to complete the script. It will be illustrated by the illustrator Gabriel 'Eskivo' Santos. They will also seek funding through a Kickstarter campaign that will start on 21st June.

This is not the first time that Wesley Snipes has been involved in the world of comics, as years ago he also did his bit for other titles such as 'After Dark' or the graphic novel 'Ascend'. The actor has said about this new facet: "Comics let you explore big worlds. Since Blade, I have been attracted to origin stories and developing characters. Now, I get to build Roach as a character from the ground up and I dig that," Snipes shared in a statement about the project.

On his way back to what he once was, Wesley Snipes doesn't want to stop and, for the moment, things are looking good. He is currently working on, 'Back on the Strip', where he joins the cast again with Kevin Hart in this comedy that will be directed by Chris Spencer. It was planned to be released this year.

On a personal level, Wesley Snipes has been married twice and has five children. And, although his latest images might suggest otherwise, he is living a second youth. A second chance in film and also as a writer. Let's hope he doesn't blow it this time...