The Exiled: Wesley Snipes Returns to Comic Books With Crowdfunding Campaign
Around these parts, you likely know Wesley Snipes as the Daywalker. The actor brought Eric Brooks to life through the Blade trilogy, the films that many believe launched the era of modern superhero cinema. At one point, the actor was even in the running to play Black Panther long before the days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Now, he's returning to the land of comic books through The Exiled, a post-apocalyptic graphic novel that's heading to Kickstarter.
Snipes is listed as one of the creators of the project alongside Keith Arem and Adam Lawson, with Lawson serving as the writer. Together, the trio worked with artist Gabriel "Eskivo" Santos and colorist Valentina Bianconi on the project.
The lead character — Detective Niles "Roach" Washington — is based on Snipes, and the actor tells us the character might be his "Blade killer."
"He better be [a Blade killer]," Snipes tells us with a chuckle. "I don't know if he'll take Blade completely out but at least but at least they'll be good buddies."
The Exiled follows Washington as he navigates a conspiracy-laden world on the tail of a serial killer that's busy ripping the spines out of countless victims. Ignoring the warning signs around him, Roach powers on and discovers one of the world's darkest secrets.
Lawson points out the vibe of The Exiled is tonally set to be somewhere between Se7en and Blade Runner.
"There's a serious to that crime investigation, versus someone like Shang-Chi who's battling a CG character," Lawson adds. "There's some grit and texture to our story and it's hard to tell where the line of PG-13 and R really is, but the cool thing is our story has bite to it."
The crowdfunding campaign for the massive 140-page story launched on Tuesday with a funding goal of $20,000. Within the first forty minutes the campaign was live, it reached that funding goal. As of this writing some 12 hours after launch, the campaign has almost tripled its funding goal with nearly $60,000 funding. One stretch goal has already been unlocked for the campaign, a trading card featuring the title's spine-ripping antagonist.
The Exiled world doesn't end with the 140-page graphic novel either. As part of the Kickstarter, a 48-page prequel called Exiled: The Forgotten Wars is also available, and the creators tell us that's only the beginning and more sequels and spinoffs could potentially be in the works.
The OGN's campaign is expected to run through the end of July.