New Unexpected Connection Between ‘Sinners’ and Marvel’s ‘Blade’ Suggests We Might Never See the MCU Reboot

The extras in the new movie Sinners wore costumes that were originally made for Marvel’s Blade reboot starring Mahershala Ali. Marvel Studios sold those costumes to the Sinners team because Blade was initially planned as a period piece set in the past, which made the costumes a perfect fit, as Sev Ohanian confirmed during a Screencrush interview.

This is not that unusual in the movie industry, but it’s certainly proof that Blade’s remake in the MCU is completely dropping the “period piece” direction.

This is not the first time that the connection between Blade and Sinners has been made via costumes.

Ruth E. Carter, the costume designer for Sinners, also confirmed in a recent interview that she had also worked on the Blade reboot before the project was canceled. She said the two films shared a similar setting, which explains why the costumes could be reused.

On the John Campea Show, Carter talked about her work on the Blade reboot. She revealed that Marvel’s version of Blade was going to take place in the 1920s. She had been preparing for the film but had to pause when the project was shut down due to the 2023 Hollywood strikes. During this “limbo,” she was contacted to work on Ryan Coogler’s vampire movie Sinners, which was also a period piece.

“Having done a lot of research for this period piece about a vampire — Blade is a vampire story,” Carter explained. “Ryan’s wife, Zinzi, who also was a producer on the picture [Sinners], she gave me a call and said, ‘I’m not gonna tell you the story, but Ryan has a story he’s going to tell you about … It is a period piece about vampires.’ And I thought, ‘Okay, I have already been living in that space for quite a long time prepping Blade, and Blade‘s not going to happen, so let me hear it.’”

Sinners is set in the 1930s Mississippi Delta and follows twin brothers Smoke and Stack, played by Michael B. Jordan, as they fight off vampires led by Jack O’Connell’s character, Remmick.

Carter said she was surprised to learn Coogler was working on a period vampire movie right after Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Her comments match earlier rumors that the Blade reboot would have been a period film mostly set in the 1920s, with scenes across different time periods.

For some background, Marvel Studios got the rights back to Blade in 2011 after New Line Cinema’s trilogy ended. By 2013, they were developing a new version. Mahershala Ali, known for his role in Marvel’s Luke Cage, approached Marvel in 2019 about playing Blade. The studio officially announced Ali as Blade at San Diego Comic-Con that year.

He even had a small voice cameo in Eternals (2021). The reboot saw several directors attached and went through delays. Eric Pearson was rewriting the script as of mid-2024, but by October 2024, Blade was taken off Marvel’s release schedule.

The original story of the movie, according to insider reports, was supposed to focus on Blade’s daughter and was set to be a period piece. Before Demange left the production, the story was described as being “just Blade killing vampires” – something that fans were, in all honesty, fine with.

Meanwhile, in early 2024, Ryan Coogler started working on Sinners, a period vampire film rumored to be set in the Jim Crow-era South. Michael B. Jordan stars, and the movie quickly attracted attention from major studios. Warner Bros. ended up securing the distribution rights with a budget of about $100 million. The movie ended up being a critical and box office hit.

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