So apparently Blade still exists.
Not in theaters, not in production, not even in concept art limbo—but in some strange Marvelian purgatory where half-baked ideas go to haunt executives. Kevin Feige says it's alive. Mahershala Ali says “Call Marvel.” Everyone else? Mostly wondering if this thing's going to drop before the sun burns out.
Let's rewind: it's been five years since Ali took the Hall H stage at Comic-Con 2019, donned a Blade cap, and gave us all chills. Since then? Nada. Okay—not nada exactly. There's been script drafts. Six of them. A revolving door of directors. COVID delays. Union strikes. A genre identity crisis. And apparently, a vampire costume yard sale?
Yep. Earlier this month, Oscar-winner Ruth E. Carter's Blade wardrobe got repurposed for Ryan Coogler's Sinners. Feige says it's fine, they're friends, “Take 'em, man.” Which is cool and casual and also deeply unsettling if you were hoping to see Mahershala slashing through nightclubs in period leather sometime this decade.
“Leave me out of it.”
Ali, for what it's worth, seems… fatigued. During press for Jurassic World: Rebirth, he ducked a Marvel trivia question with a laugh and a side-step: “Leave me out of it.” Later he told Variety, “I'm ready. Let them know I'm ready.” Which, I don't know, feels less like confidence and more like hostage negotiation energy.
Feige, meanwhile, tried to explain the delay with the ol' quality over quantity narrative. “We spent 12 years building the Infinity Saga and said, ‘That's never going to happen to us.' Then we got the mandate to make more. And we said, ‘Sure, we've got more!'”
Translation? They ran the car into the ground and now can't figure out how to restart the engine.
The Vampire Movie That Refused to Start
Look, it's not that Blade doesn't deserve care. If anything, it demands it. Wesley Snipes practically carried late-‘90s comic book movies on his back. The first Blade walked so Iron Man could fly. But this reboot? It's spent more time in therapy than development.
Feige admitted the early scripts just weren't “insanely great.” That's being generous. Reportedly, the latest version (from Thor: Ragnarok co-writer Eric Pearson) scraps the 1920s setting for something modern. Great. Another present-day Marvel project. At least the R-rating is still on the table… for now.
The budget? Allegedly hovering around $80 million. Which is either restrained brilliance or a sign that no one's fully committed anymore. Aaron Pierre and Delroy Lindo have exited. Mia Goth, bless her, is apparently still around as Lilith—a vampire villainess with eyes on Blade's daughter. If that subplot survives the next rewrite, I'll eat my keyboard.
What Even Is This Movie Now?
It's not nostalgia. It's not a clean reboot. It's not really part of the MCU either, except when it needs to be. Blade has become the Schrödinger's Cat of superhero cinema: simultaneously alive and dead, depending on the headline.
And sure, some fans will say, “Be patient, Marvel knows what they're doing.” Do they? Because the last few years have been one long reminder that “the plan” is mostly vibes and VFX slots.
At some point, you have to wonder if this version of Blade even should happen. Not because Ali isn't perfect for the role—he is—but because maybe some stories deserve a little less tinkering, a little more boldness. Or at the very least, a director who doesn't ghost mid-negotiation.
The Bottom Line
So yeah. Blade still exists. Kind of. Mahershala's still attached. Supposedly. It's still R-rated. Until it's not. And the costumes? Off making cameos in someone else's movie.
Will this thing ever actually get made? Maybe. Will it live up to the five-year hype spiral? Highly unlikely.
But who knows. Maybe one day we'll wake up and there'll be a teaser trailer—Ali in the shadows, katana in hand, synths blaring. And for one brief moment, we'll forget the chaos.
Then again… probably not.
