Marvel Studios is just a few days away from releasing its first R-rated superhero movie within the MCU, but for even longer, we expected the first R-rated Marvel movie to hit theaters would be its reboot of “Blade” starring Mahershala Ali.
Marvel chief Kevin Feige first announced a “Blade” reboot back in 2019 with Ali attached to star, and the character was even teased in the post-credits of 2021’s “Eternals,” a would-be franchise that now seems forgotten.
“Blade” has been through many starts and stops, with several writers and directors filtering through and with delays because of the writers strike and more. Through it all, the franchise’s original stars Wesley Snipes and Stephen Dorff haven’t refrained from talking about it.
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But Feige in an interview over the weekend ahead of “Deadpool & Wolverine” gave a short update about the status of “Blade.”
“For the last few years, we’ve been trying to crack that movie,” the producer told BlackTree TV. “The most important thing for us is not rushing it and making the right Blade movie. Because there were some great Blade movies years ago, they were all rated R. That’s inherent, like Deadpool, that’s inherent with the character of Blade.”
We’ll let you decide if that’s a promising update or not. Marvel has been through it recently and is hoping for a mega hit with “Deadpool & Wolverine.” In an alternate timeline, “Blade” would’ve already been released and been a huge success, but this is the one we have.
2021: After first being announced in 2019 at Comic-Con, a Hall H presentation that also revealed Simu Liu, the Eternals cast, and the return of Natalie Portman to the “Thor” franchise, “Blade” doesn’t find a writer until February 2021 (admittedly there was a global pandemic somewhere in between), with “Watchmen” writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour taking the first crack at the script. In July 2021, Bassim Tariq, the director of “Mogul Mowgli,” comes on board to direct.
Late 2021-Early 2022: Things move along smoothly after that. Delroy Lindo and “The Underground Railroad” breakout Aaron Pierre each join the project, in November 2021 and February 2022 respectively. At Comic-Con in July 2022, “Blade” lands its first release date, set for just over a year later on November 3, 2023.
September 2022: Just two months before it is meant to begin production, Tariq is out, now only involved as an executive producer. THR would later report Marvel feared Tariq was not right for the project, and it presented a new list of directors to Ali. THR also said Ali has had a surprising amount of influence on the project and conducted his own search to find a more tested director. Production is put on hold, and the film is forced to be delayed, this time to September 6, 2024, along with a shuffle of other Phase 5 and Phase 6 Marvel titles. Foreshadowing: it won’t be released this September either.
Fall 2022: Marvel cycles through more screenwriters. First is “X-Men ’97” creator Beau DeMayo, who conceives of a period piece potentially setting the story in the 1920s. Tariq’s version even reportedly had a massive train set piece built that now, like most vampires, may never see the light of day. Up next is “When They See Us” writer Michael Starrbury, who was working on a take that was “darker than most MCU movies.” He’s paired with Yann Demange, director of “White Boy Rick” and “Lovecraft Country.”
April 2023: The project picks up steam again when “MaXXXine” star Mia Goth is added to the cast, expected to star alongside Ali as a vampire villain. Shortly after that, “True Detective” creator Nic Pizzolatto is brought in just as the writers strike is looming in April 2023, marking a “True Detective” reunion of sorts between Ali and Pizzolatto. At some point in this span, the movie reportedly shifts to being set in the present day, though with Goth still attached.
May 2023: The writers strike happens, and “Blade” is one of the first major casualties. Marvel movies notoriously rewrite the third acts of scripts during production, so even though it was hoping to kick off production in June, the project was shut down indefinitely and was not expected to resume even after the strike came to an end.
Fall 2023: Marvel is in the midst of its worst stretch in its history, stumbling through one of its biggest critical and commercial bombs with “The Marvels,” and franchise villain Jonathan Majors in the midst of an assault trial before eventually being dismissed. Variety in a look at the turmoil at Marvel reveals the “Blade” script was especially dire, with Ali’s Blade character becoming essentially a fourth lead to the film behind three female stars who all learn “life lessons.” Variety additionally reported the movie would now shoot with a budget under $100 million, something almost unheard of for an MCU title.
December 2023: The movie is again bumped to a November 7, 2025 release date, and post-strike, a fifth writer is brought on board, Michael Green, who wrote “Logan” and “Alien: Covenant.” Ali gives the film a vote of confidence to Entertainment Weekly, saying he is “encouraged” by the film’s direction and expects to be back at it “relatively soon.”
Spring and Summer 2024: The good vibes don’t last. Pierre reveals in March he is no longer attached to star after the film had gone through numerous iterations. Demange in June becomes the second director to depart the project. He reportedly leaves amicably, but with his exit comes the arrival of a sixth writer, Eric Pearson. Pearson co-wrote “The Fantastic Four” for Marvel and is something of a mainstay at the studio typically tasked with getting stuff over the goal line.
As of now, “Blade” is still set for November 2025, but with no director attached, that date is becoming increasingly unlikely. Marvel this year has only the release of “Deadpool & Wolverine,” and giving more breathing room between films appears to have been an edict from Disney CEO Bob Iger. It doesn’t help that Ali in the meantime has joined the cast of the fourth “Jurassic World” film, meaning a “Blade” reboot will likely wait until he’s done with at least that.
