Summary

  • Marvel Studios' Blade reboot has faced significant delays, with the MCU struggling to bring the iconic hero to life.
  • Multiple writer and director changes indicate ongoing creative challenges with the Blade project.
  • Despite setbacks, Marvel Studios remains determined to bring Blade into the MCU through a solo film in late 2025.

With Marvel Studios still developing the the MCU movie timeline over the last few years, Marvel Studios is currently in a rare situation where they are struggling with bringing to life one of their announced characters. The Blade reboot, which will star Ali as the titular hero, has already taken almost half a decade to get to the filming stage since it was announced five years ago.

In a new feature piece on entertainment lawyers by The Hollywood Reporter, Ali's attorney, Shelby Weiser, briefly mentioned the Blade movie with her client. While keeping it brief, Weiser opened up about how the situation with the Blade reboot is "the craziest thing" she has experienced in her career. She said the following:

That deal was in 2019, and they still haven’t shot it, which is pretty much the craziest thing in my professional experience.

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All The Blade Movie Delays Explained

After being announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 during Marvel Studios' Hall H presentation, no one was prepared for just how many roadblocks they would run into with the Blade film. Since the COVID-19 pandemic struck the whole world in 2020, a definitive release date was never given, as the industry was put on pause. It wouldn't be until February 2021, when Watchmen's Stacy Osei-Kuffour was tapped to write the Blade reboot, that a significant progression was announced.

While Bassam Tariq was attached to direct Blade in September 2021, he departed the reboot due to the many production changes and internal creative differences at Marvel Studios about Ali's MCU project. With Marvel Studios also not happy with the drafts, the project got retooled when they tapped a new Blade writer and director in November 2022 with Michael Starrbury and Yann Demange, respectively. However, the Blade script seemingly didn't get anywhere closer to being finalized as Nic Pizzolatto and Michael Green were hired in April and November 2023, respectively, to craft new drafts.

Even though it was said to be amicable, Demange exited Blade in June 2024, followed by the report that MCU scribe Eric Pearson (The Fantastic Four, Thunderbolts*, Black Widow, and Thor: Ragnarok) is now the latest writer to tackle the script. It's unclear exactly what it was about the previous Blade scripts that Marvel Studios weren't happy about, but it's becoming evident that despite all of these delays, they really want to get the iconic Marvel hero into the MCU through his own solo film. For now, time will tell who will end up directing Blade and whether the film is still arriving in November 2025.

Blade MCU Poster
Blade (2025)
Director
Bassam Tariq
Writers
Stacy Osei-Kuffour

Marvel Studios' Blade sees the return of the iconic vampire hunter more than two decades after Wesley Snipes first played the character in live-action. Starring Mahershala Ali as Eric Brooks, the Blade reboot officially introduces vampires to the Marvel Cinematic Universe after Eternals' second post-credits scene teased the Daywalker's MCU debut.

Studio(s)
Disney
Distributor(s)
Disney

Marvel Movies

Release Date

Deadpool & Wolverine

July 26, 2024

Captain America: Brave New World

February 14, 2025

Thunderbolts*

May 2, 2025

The Fantastic Four

July 25, 2025

Blade

November 7, 2025

Avengers: The Kang Dynasty

May 1, 2026

Avengers: Secret Wars

May 7, 2027

Source: THR