Marvel Studios' Blade recently lost a second director in Yann Demange, prompting a fresh round of speculation about why Kevin Feige and company simply can't get this long-awaited movie - first announced in 2019 - into theaters.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, both sides are to have grown frustrated with Blade's prolonged development process, with the Daywalker himself, Mahershala Ali, said to be "increasingly frustrated" with the situation.
The trade explains that he handpicked Demange after Bassam Tariq walked away from Blade in September 2022. At the time, the movie had been in pre-production and was gearing up to start shooting two months later.
Marvel Studios decided Tariq wasn't a good fit and, after presenting Ali with a list of possible directors, executives were surprised when the Oscar-winner "conducted his own search after having concerns that the list largely featured filmmakers who were untested at the big studio level."
That may sound strange and, to put it bluntly, it is; Ali is said to have "exercised an inordinate amount of influence over the project, in a way few other actors have on Marvel movies." He was the one who got the wheels turning on Blade after reaching out to Marvel Studios and supposedly "envisioned Blade as his Black Panther."
Ali also turned to True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto to pen the screenplay, only for the writer's strike to bring work to a halt...again.
Actors Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods) and Aaron Pierre (Mufasa: The Lion King) were let go from the project, with Michael Green next up to take a crack at the screenplay before Demange's exit led to The Fantastic Four and Thunderbolts*'s Eric Pearson getting involved.
"There wasn’t enough attention paid to it," one insider says. "It really was a casualty of the 'too much' era."
To recap, Watchmen writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour was the first writer tasked with writing Blade before X-Men '97 Head Writer Beau DeMayo was brought on board. Nic Pizzolatto was up next, with Michael Starrbury following after Tariq's departure.
Green followed and then Pearson signed up. He's an MCU vet expected to finally get Blade over the finish line.
Blade is undeniably troubled and it's beginning to feel like the news will break any week now that Ali has left the movie over "scheduling issues." The only other time Marvel Studios has announced a movie in such a high-profile way before scrapping it is Inhumans (which Marvel Television eventually turned into a TV series).
For now, Blade is eyeing a November 2025 release. Stay tuned for updates.