According to a new article from ComicBook, the upcoming “Blade” film from Marvel may have been completely scrapped.
‘Blade’ Scrapped by Marvel Rumor
“Blade” was first announced by Marvel at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019 by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige. As a part of the announcement, Feige revealed actor Mahershala Ali would be taking on the titular role. The new film would not be a direct continuation of the original “Blade” trilogy of films starring Wesley Snipes, and the new movie was expected to help usher the character into the modern Marvel Cinematic Universe. Blade, also known as Eric Brooks, is able to wield vampire-style powers without succumbing to their weakness towards sunlight, earning him the name “Daywalker.” The original premiere date was expected to be sometime in late 2023.
The 2021 Marvel film “Eternals” included a post-credits scene that featured Ali’s voice as Blade, but the character was not actually seen. Strangely, however, Snipes reprised his role as Blade for a cameo in “Deadpool & Wolverine.”
Following the original 2019 announcement, however, “Blade” has been plagued with production issues. Bassim Tariq was originally tapped as the movie’s director, but he departed the project in September 2022 with no explanation. This caused filming to be put on hold, and the premiere was pushed back for the first time. Following Tariq’s departure, Yann Demange was chosen as the film’s second director. Shortly after this, however, the 2023 Writers Guild of America strikes caused production to be delayed even further.
The story of “Blade” did not end with Demange, as he also stepped down from the director position in 2024 and caused the premiere date to be pushed back yet again. The production struggles prompted a comment from original “Blade” actor Wesley Snipes, who posted on X, “Blade, lordylordylordy folks still lookin for the secret sauce, ridin snowmobiles in traffic, kinda rough. Daywalkers make it look easy, don’t they?”
The films updated premiere date continued to be pushed back further, sliding from February 2025 to November 2025. Finally, Disney completely removed “Blade” from the Marvel release calendar.
ComicBook.com has reported that new rumors have emerged from sources close to Marvel, suggesting that the future of the upcoming film “Blade” is looking bleak. Their sources indicated that the film has yet to find a new director, despite rumors of “John Wick” director Chad Stahelski being interested. The article goes on to say that the “Blade” project, “has been put on ice.”
Despite all the production issues, Mahershala Ali has remained attached to the project and is still rumored to appear somewhere in the MCU. Marvel may choose to try and introduce Ali’s version of Blade in another project rather than continuing to attempt a revival of his titular film.
How do you feel about the news that “Blade” might not be produced? Let us know in the comments.
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