There's been very little in the way of good news, ever since Mahershala Ali walked on stage during Marvel Studios' 2019 San Diego Comic-Con panel to reveal to the world that he would be playing Blade in the MCU.
Since then, the project has undergone several script rewrites and seen several directors sign on and ultimately depart- along with a few of the film's cast.
However, in a new interview with BlackTreeTV, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige seemed confident that Blade would make its way to the big screen one day, confirming that like the Wesley Snipe films that preceded it, the MCU's Blade will also be rated R.
Responding to a question about the film's rating, Feige stated, "For the last few years, we've been trying to crack that movie."
"I think the most important think for us, is not rushing it and making sure that we're making the right 'Blade' movie because there were some great 'Blade' movies years ago and they were all R-rated. So I think that's inherent- like Deadpool, inherent with the character of Blade. "
You can check out the interview below.
Bassam Tariq was the original director set to helm the film before departing due to creative differences. Yann Demange then boarded as his replacement before leaving the project back in June due to scheduling and creative differences, as well.
Stacy Osei-Kuffour wrote the first draft of the film's script back in 2019 and since then, there have been three (known) rewrites, with Eric Pearson currently tasked with crafting a new version.
Along with Ali, Mia Goth is the only known actor attached to the project. During one of the earlier versions of the script, Delroy Lindo and Aaron Pierre were also set to appear but it's recently been confirmed that they've since departed.
Intriguingly, The Hollywood Reporter has shared that one of the earlier versions of the script had Blade taking place in the 1920s, with Goth set to play a powerful vampire named Lilith, who was out to capture Blade's daughter. THR stated that the current version of the film is now taking place in present day.
In other recent development, Ali has also signed on to appear in a new Jurassic World movie, opposite Scarlett Johansson. This has led many to speculate that Blade is unlikely to meet its current release date.
Blade was originally envisioned as a Phase 5 film but due to the aforementioned script issues and the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike, the film was pushed to November 7, 2025, making it a Phase 6 release.