Few Marvel projects have been met with the enthusiasm that greeted the studio’s 2019 announcement of a Blade movie starring a two-time Academy Award winner in the title role. But in the five years since that announcement, the movie has been through countless delays and recastings, firing and hirings. And then there were the silent periods with no updates at all, leading us to wonder whether the MCU’s Blade reboot is still happening.
To help you keep track of all the goings-on with Marvel’s tortured Blade movie, we’ve put together a full timeline of everything that’s happened, from the moment it was announced until now. We’ve also included notes on the movies and shows that likely led Marvel to hire each person who’s passed through the project, and explained the reasoning behind them joining in the first place.
July 2019: Blade is announced
Marvel announced Mahershala Ali’s casting in a revamped Blade movie at 2019’s San Diego Comic-Con, mere months after Avengers: Endgame was released. At that point, the MCU was at its apex in terms of popularity and profit, and Marvel was confidently greenlighting a lot of ambitious future projects. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige had met with Ali a few months earlier, and when Ali said he wanted to do a new movie about Marvel Comics’ vampire-hunter Blade, the studio got to work trying to figure out how to make that happen.
Movie that explains it: Green Book. Ali won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for that movie in February 2019 — his second, after winning the same award for his role in 2017’s Moonlight.
February 2021: A writer is hired
In 2021, Marvel announced that Stacy Osei-Kuffour had been hired to write the movie. At the time, The Hollywood Reporter reported that the studio spent more than six months meeting with writers and consulting with Ali before choosing Osei-Kuffour, a veteran playwright, for the project.
Series that explains it: HBO’s Watchmen. Osei-Kuffour was a writer and story editor on that 2019 series.
July 2021: A director joins
Bassam Tariq was the first director signed on to direct Blade. According to Deadline, Marvel initially considered finding a writer-director for the job, but eventually decided to split the responsibilities between Osei-Kuffour and Tariq.
Movie that explains it: Mogul Mowgli, Tariq’s highly regarded 2020 drama.
September 2022: A director departs
Tariq left the project shortly ahead of its scheduled shoot in November 2022, delaying production. Marvel issued a statement saying that his departure was due to “continued shifts in our production schedule,” though rumors suggested that creative differences over the movie’s storyline were the real reason.
At about the same time, future X-Men ’97 creator Beau DeMayo may have gotten involved with the project as a writer, though Disney never confirmed whether he was officially assigned to it, or in what capacity.
Series that explains it: 2022’s Moon Knight, DeMayo’s first Marvel project, where he served as a writer.
November 2022: Blade gets a new director
Yann Demange signed on as director shortly after Tariq departed, while Michael Starrbury was brought on to write a new script. At this point, Marvel was still mostly working with lesser-known directors and writers who hadn’t previously headed up any massive projects.
The shows that explain it: Demange directed episodes of HBO’s Lovecraft Country shortly before taking the Blade job, while Starrbury wrote for Ava DuVernay’s show When They See Us in 2019.
April 2023: Blade gets another new writer
Nic Pizzolatto joined the movie in 2023 as a new writer, though it was unclear whether he was meant to punch up Starrbury’s script or start over. Mia Goth also joined the cast at the same time.
The series that explains it: Pizzolatto’s previous project was season 3 of True Detective, which starred Ali.
November 2023: Things really start to fall apart
A Variety article published in November 2023 detailed a variety of problems Marvel Studios was facing — among them, issues with the Blade production, including serious disagreements between Marvel and Ali on the direction of the movie. One of the most interesting of these anecdotes suggested a particularly surprising direction the movie almost took:
“One person familiar with the script permutations says the story at one point morphed into a narrative led by women and filled with life lessons. Blade was relegated to the fourth lead.”
That article also mentioned that Michael Green had been hired to start from scratch on a new script for the film. Unlike previous picks for the project, Green had plenty of superhero and blockbuster experience. At the same time, the movie’s planned release date was pushed back from 2024 to February 2025, then later November 2025.
The movie that explains it: Logan. Green co-wrote the script, and if you’re talking about mature superhero movies, it’s hard to have a more impressive credit than this one.
June 2024: Blade gets yet another new writer
Demange exited the movie this year, along with actor Delroy Lindo, who initially joined the project in November 2021. Marvel veteran Eric Pearson joined as a new writer. While Pearson is the fifth writer attached to the project so far, it seems he’s once again starting from scratch on the script.
Movies that explain it: Pearson is Marvel’s steady hand of the moment, and exactly the man they send all their hardest projects to. Pearson was one of the writers for Black Widow, and even more recently wrote the scripts for the upcoming Fantastic Four movie and the MCU Phase 5 finale Thunderbolts*.
July 2024: So… what now?
Ahead of the release of Deadpool and Wolverine, Disney’s first R-rated Marvel movie, Feige confirmed that Blade will be rated R as well, and said the studio is working hard to crack the movie and not rush it.
As of now, it’s unclear where Pearson is in the scripting process, or who will direct Blade once he finishes writing it. In spite of all the reportedly serious disagreements along the way, Ali is still set to star in the movie, which is slated for release on Nov. 7, 2025 — for now. Polygon will continue to update this timeline as new reports emerge about the status of Marvel’s Blade movie.
The post The tortured production timeline of Marvel’s Blade reboot, explained appeared first on Polygon.
