Marvel’s ‘Blade’ Film Delayed Again—Why The Project Has Stalled For Years

22 Oct 2024 by Conor Murray · Forbes

Topline

The upcoming Marvel Studios film, “Blade,” was pulled from its planned November 2025 release date with no replacement date announced, marking yet another delay the project has suffered after cycling through two directors and at least six writers since the studio first announced it five years ago.

Mahershala Ali will star as Blade in the long-delayed Marvel Studios "Blade" film. (Photo by JC ... [+] Olivera/FilmMagic)FilmMagic

Key Facts

“Blade” was slated to open in theaters on Nov. 7, 2025, but the film was removed from Marvel’s upcoming release calendar.

“Predator: Badlands,” an upcoming film in the “Predator” franchise, will take the theatrical release date previously held by “Blade,” marking a return to theaters for the series after “Prey” (2022) was a success on Hulu.

“Blade” still does not have a director attached after two filmmakers previously stepped down from the position, and it has not begun filming.

Oscar winner Mahershala Ali was cast as Blade, the titular vampire hunter, in 2019, and remains attached to the project.

Why Does “blade” Keep Getting Delayed?

Marvel reportedly obtained the rights to a “Blade” film in 2012 from New Line Cinema, which had released three “Blade” movies between 1998 and 2004. A working script for the new “Blade” was ready by 2013, according to The Hollywood Reporter, though Marvel would not officially announce a “Blade” film until July 2019, when it confirmed Ali would star in an upcoming adaptation. Marvel hired Stacy Osei-Kuffour to write the project in 2021 and hired Bassam Tariq to direct the film months later. “Blade” was scheduled to start filming in November 2022 with a planned release date of Nov. 3, 2023, but production was delayed when Tariq left the project. Marvel cited “continued shifts in our production schedule” as the reason for his departure, but The Hollywood Reporter said Tariq left due to creative differences. Beau DeMayo was reportedly briefly attached as a screenwriter in fall 2022. Yann Demange joined as director weeks after Tariq’s departure with writer Michael Starrbury reworking the script, and Nic Pizzolatto was hired as a second writer in April 2023. In a November 2023 story detailing turmoil behind multiple Marvel projects, Variety reported Michael Green had been hired to rewrite “Blade” from scratch, claiming Ali was “ready to exit over script issues.” The Variety report says the story had morphed into “a narrative led by women and filled with life lessons” with the titular character “relegated to the fourth lead.” In June 2024, Marvel reportedly hired Eric Pearson to write the film, after he had finished scripts for multiple upcoming films including “Thunderbolts” and “Fantastic Four.”

Surprising Fact

The Variety report also said Marvel is looking to produce “Blade” for $100 million, a relatively low production budget for a Marvel film.

Tangent

Marvel fired DeMayo, who created and was working on the series “X-Men ’97,” in March without publicly disclosing a reason, though it said in August DeMayo had been fired after an “internal investigation” yielded “egregious” findings. Last month, DeMayo accused Marvel of “egregious prejudicial misconduct” while he worked on “Blade” and “X-Men ’97.” He said he complained about conditions on the “Blade” set shortly after arriving, alleging: “In return, I was removed from the project in the middle of moving to Atlanta for production, and then had my role on Season 2 of ‘X Men ’97’ aggressively marginalized.”

Key Background

Blade has appeared in Marvel comics since 1973 and was portrayed by Wesley Snipes in a trilogy of films by New Line Cinema. Though all three received mixed reviews, they were a box office success, collectively grossing more than $400 million worldwide. Ali made a brief voiceover cameo appearance as Blade in a post-credits scene in Marvels’ “Eternals” (2021).

What To Watch For

Marvel now has three films hitting theaters in 2025: “Captain America: Brave New World” on Feb. 14, “Thunderbolts” on May 2 and “The Fantastic 4: First Steps” on July 25.