Marvel’s ‘Blade’ is on Hold Again After Director Drops Out
Fans are going to have to wait another year to see the Daywalker on the big screen. Production of Marvel’s Blade is on pause again.
Blade was announced at SDCC in 2019. Mahershala Ali will be taking on Eric Brooks in the new movie. The actor approached the execs at Marvel with the idea, which was already on their wishlist. According to Feige:
[It] came about, frankly, quite a while ago, and I’m very happy that they never leaked so that we could unveil it today at Hall H. It came about from the passion that we had for Blade, and had for years. Mahershala, coming off his second Academy Award this year, said he wants to come and meet. And I was like, “I hope he talks about what I think he’s going to talk about.” And he brought up Blade, and we were like, “We’re in. We’re doing it.”
And fans of the character, myself included, got super hyped.
Pumping the Brakes
The movie has seen its production delayed several times since then. First the pandemic, then script rewrites, and now it’s lost a director. After the departure of director Bassam Tariq two weeks ago, the project is on hold. Star Mahershala Ali and the crew were set to start filming next month. Production in Atalanta is shutting down. They’re hoping to reboot the effort in early 2023.
There was an assumption that a new director was in the wings, but Marvel is doing a more involved search for a director and is doing more work on the script. The iteration they’ve been working with isn’t quite right, apparently. The movie is undergoing another round of rewrites while production is on hold. This time from Beau DeMayo, who has worked on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, The Witcher, and Moon Knight.
Along with the production delay comes another date shift that will have us waiting nearly another year. It’s moved from Nov. 3, 2023 to Sept 6, 2024. Boo! On a serious note: if that time makes for a better movie I’m all for it. The last thing I want is a repeat of that other Marvel vampire movie.
