Summary

• Wesley Snipes' bad behavior on the set of Blade: Trinity, including his on-set tension with director David S. Goyer, led to a decrease in production quality, including the use of unnecessary CGI.
• The strained relationship between Snipes and Goyer, along with last-minute script changes and a rushed production, ultimately led to the downfall of Blade: Trinity and prevented the creation of a Blade 4.
• The Blade CGI eyes in Blade: Trinity are widely regarded as one of the worst superhero movie effects ever, but they are not the only example of poorly executed CGI in the superhero genre, with other films like Spawn, Catwoman, and Fantastic Four also facing criticism for their digital effects.

Wesley Snipes had CGI eyes for one brief shot in Blade: Trinity, and there's an interesting story behind the Blade CGI eyes. Released in 2004, the action-horror movie Blade: Trinity was the third and final film that starred Wesley Snipes as the titular vampire hunter. The film was a modest success at the box office, making $131 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo), but was slammed by critics for failing to live up to the standards set by the first two movies. Blade: Trinity brought the Blade franchise to a halt and became Wesley Snipes' final outing as the Marvel Comics superhero.

The 2004 movie suffered from several problems, including its story, the pacing, and, of course, the CGI. This was all reportedly a result of the on-set issues between Snipes and director David S. Goyer. Goyer had written the previous two Blade movies, and Blade: Trinity was his first time directing a Blade movie. There have long been rumors and stories of Wesley Snipes' bad behavior on the set of Blade: Trinity, and after the movie's release, Snipes sued New Line Cinema and Goyer over complaints about his salary and reduced screen time. The seemingly unnecessary CGI effect demonstrates just how serious this bad behavior was for the movie's production.

On-Set Tension To Blame For Blade's CGI Eyes

There have been multiple accounts about the outrageous behind-the-scenes Blade: Trinity production troubles, and much of it comes from actor Patton Oswalt, who plays Hedges. Oswalt has claimed that Snipes would spend most of his time in his trailer, and he would only come out when it was time for his close-ups, as many of his scenes were shot with his stand-in. It's been said many times that Snipes and Goyer did not get along, which began with Snipes not even wanting Goyer to direct. Oswalt says Snipes even accused Goyer of racism.

It reached a point where Snipes stopped interacting with Goyer and would only communicate with him by leaving Post-It notes signed by Snipes "From Blade". Snipes has denied most rumors about his on-set behavior, but he admitted to this one, albeit only to an extent. However, he hasn't commented on the Blade CGI eyes in Blade: Trinity (via HuffPost), which is the most bizarre story ever to come out of the Blade films. The now-infamous morgue scene at the end of the movie demonstrates just how bad it was.

Viewers have noted that it's obvious in one scene that Blade's eyes are momentarily created with CGI. This happens when Blade is thought to be dead, and he suddenly opens his eyes in the morgue. Except, according to Goyer, Snipes didn't open his eyes (via A.V. Club). Supposedly, Snipes didn't want to open his eyes because he was angry with Goyer and didn't want to cooperate. So instead of pushing the matter, it was solved by just putting the Blade CGI eyes over his eyelids. As a result, it's no surprise that Blade 4 never happened.

How Blade: Trinity's Troubled Production Ruined The Movie

The strenuous relationship between Goyer and Snipes was far from Blade: Trinity's only problem. The script and premise of the entire movie were changed last minute. Goyer's original idea was for a much darker Blade 3 wherein Blade questions his allegiance to humanity. It would have seen a world overrun by vampires and a much better villain than the campy Dracula performance Blade eventually faced. Sadly, the studio felt this script was too morbid. Vampires harvesting humans seems like the kind of bleak premise 2020s audiences would lap up, but in 2004, New Line Cinema felt it veered too much into outright horror territory for popular taste.

The studio is a big-budget action flick, and in the time before movies like Logan and The Dark Knight proved that blockbuster box-office smashes can be gritty too, Goyer's original vision didn't fit the early '00s brief. This script change was requested so far into Blade: Trinity's production journey that the lighter replacement was rushed out, and it was clear from the cheesy one-liners and cookie-cutter plot that Goyer clearly didn't care about it. When this is combined with the animosity between him and Snipes, whose threats once reportedly led Goyer to spend 24 hours in his trailer, the entire movie was doomed long before the Blade CGI eyes.

The fact there was never a Blade 4 really isn't surprising. Blade now has a future with Marvel and Disney, and the titular character is being portrayed by Mahershala Ali. The movie keeps facing delays and struggles, as the original director dropped out and the movie has been affected by the Hollywood strikes. Nevertheless, as neither Goyer nor Snipes is involved and CGI has advanced so much since 2004, it's a pretty sure bet that the Blade reboot won't make the same mistakes as Blade: Trinity. The Daywalker himself is at least getting a new lease on life in the MCU.

The Blade CGI Eyes Are Among The Worst Superhero Movie Effects Ever

The Blade CGI eyes have gone down in movie history as one of the worst digital effects ever, and easily one of the worst superhero movie effects. However, the digital effect still has some major competition, whether it's an old 1990s movie or a 2023 movie with a $200 million budget. 1997's Spawn is notorious for its shockingly bad CGI. Though the comparison is a little unfair as the movie's budget was just $40 million and the CGI, the digital effects are still distracting and often hilariously bad.

Other movies from Blade: Trinity's era are just as bad as the Blade CGI eyes too. Though Halle Berry defended 2004's Catwoman, the CGI is famously bad, most notably the one shot of Laurel (Sharon Stone) falling to her death, which sees the character spinning like a boomerang until she hits the ground. 2005's Fantastic Four has awful CGI, and its sequel is somehow even worse, as the all-CGI Silver Surfer struggles to look believable. These are all early examples of CGI, so the effects were never going to be perfect, but when the stunning-looking Batman Begins was released at the same time, there's no excuse.

There are even some 2023 competitors for CGI worse than the Blade: Trinity eyes. In today's movies, digital makeup is applied to almost every movie with audiences being none the wiser, but The Flash was called out for its obvious CGI. Director Andy Muschietti called The Flash's CGI a creative choice, but it still stands out among other modern superhero movies.