Last night, we got the disappointing (though not entirely unexpected) news that Marvel Studios had once again removed the Blade reboot from its slate, with the movie now delayed indefinitely.
Blade has been plagued by production woes ever since it was first announced over four years ago, going through a number of directors and writers. When the latest filmmaker enlisted to helm the project, Yann Demange, stepped away, it was widely speculated that the movie would ultimately be shelved, but we were assured that it was still moving forward with Mahershala Ali attached to star as the Daywalker.
Despite this latest setback, The Cosmic Circus’ Alex Perez believes Blade has not been scrapped, and was pushed back again because Marvel is prioritizing Multiversal stories in the build-up to Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars.
The real reason why #Blade isn’t getting done is because the story is disconnected from the rest of the Multiverse Saga. Same goes for Armor Wars, Nova, etc. It’s not that they’re not getting made, they’re getting pushed to make room for Multiversal stories.
— Alex P. (@AlexFromCC) October 22, 2024
He has a whole arc set up with Midnight Sons and the Supernatural side of the MCU. DS2, WBN, Moon Knight, Agatha and Ironheart only have scratched the surface of what’s coming. That is the only thing that’s kept him attached. https://t.co/XT7L1sBStY
— Alex P. (@AlexFromCC) October 22, 2024
Perez is also standing by his report that Knull will appear in Spider-Man 4, despite more recent rumors contradicting this.
I’m not deferring from my statements and am sticking to my guns on it. If it doesn’t happen, so be it and I’ll admit I’m wrong. But I trust my sources, and I’m sticking with my reporting. https://t.co/NjAzvolcDP
— Alex P. (@AlexFromCC) October 22, 2024
So, it may not be a case of the studio struggling to “get Blade right,” and simply bad timing for Ali’s Daywalker to make his MCU debut. We’ve heard that the latest script draft by Eric Pearson – who is the sixth writer to have been assigned to the project after Michael Green, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Michael Starrbury, Beau DeMayo and Nic Pizzolatto – had “finally satisfied everyone involved.”
Ali’s last update during an interview with EW was a positive one.
“We’re working on it. That’s the best I could tell you. I’m really encouraged with the direction of the project. I think we’ll be back at it relatively soon.”
“I’m sincerely encouraged in terms of where things are at and who’s on board and who’s leading the way as far as the writing of the script and the directing and all that,” he added. “So that’s the extent of what I can tell you.”
Demange (who stepped in to replace Bassam Tariq) previously confirmed that the movie will indeed be rated R.
“I’m excited to show a kind of ruthlessness, a roughness he has, that allows him to walk the earth in a particular way. I love him for that,” said the filmmaker. “He’s got a dignity and integrity, but there is a ferocity there that he usually keeps under the surface. I want to unleash that and put it on the screen.”
