Rumors: ‘Blade’ Development in Trouble Again, the Project To Be Rewritten & Might Not Begin Filming This Year

Marvel has plenty of projects bound to be released in the next few years, and we know that most of these projects have been stuck in a sort of limbo due to the historic SAG-AFTRA strike that paralyzed the whole industry as a whole, causing plenty of projects to be both delayed or altogether canceled. 

One extremely anticipated Marvel Studios project that had problems way before the strikes began is ‘Blade.’ It is an MCU-based movie following Eric Brooks, the most notable vampire hunter in comics, and a reboot of the already highly popular ‘Blade’ trilogy that contributed to paving the way for the MCU that we know today. 

Next to nothing is known about the ‘Blade’ movie besides the fact that Mahershala Ali proposed the project and will be playing the titular vampire hunter. The movie was originally supposed to come out in 2023, but the release date was pushed all the way to 2025 (so far) due to Ali not exactly being happy with the script.  

Recently, rumors circulated that the project has been canceled altogether, which fans took as a shocking turn of events for the movie that has been in development hell for quite some time now. 

A couple of months ago Yann Demange, ‘Blade’ director, confirmed that the movie will be R-rated, the second movie in the MCU to hold that rating behind Deadpool 3. Honestly, there’s really no way around it the movie had to have that rating. We still have no clue what the plot is about except the rumors that it will feature Blade’s daughter, but at least we know they are working on it! 

Now recently, a somewhat reliable scooper Caleb Williams posted a series of worrying posts on X implying that ‘Blade’ production might be in trouble once again. Then, other scoopers chimed in with theories that ‘Blade’ is getting canceled (not the first time we heard that) and that Mahershala Ali is supposedly walking away from the project. Williams once again posted a tweet of clarification stating that the project is in trouble currently due to several other projects being filmed at the same time and it may not begin filming this year like it was announced but Ali is still on board and not walking away from the project.

Williams also correctly pointed out that Ali already *almost* walked away due to delays because the idea for the ‘Blade’ movie was his and he came with the script to the studio. However many fans pointed out that Ali is 50 years old at this point meaning there are limited years left during which he can portray action characters convincingly. The rumors that the ‘Midnight Sons’ movie is replacing ‘Blade’ are absolutely not true according to the same source.

As the scooper correctly pointed out 2024 will be a busy year for Marvel Studios despite only ‘Deadpool 3’ releasing. Due to the delays ‘Fantastic Four,’ ‘Thunderbolts’ are only beginning production, and ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ is undergoing extensive reshoots and rewrites. Even if the rumor that Ali is leaving the project is overblown, the chances for ‘Blade’ to begin filming this year are minimal at best, especially if the movie will undergo rewrites as several movies at this point to better accommodate Disney’s new vision and the new mixed-up schedule due to SAG-AFTRA strike.

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