Mahershala Ali’s Attorney Addresses Blade’s Major Delays

Marvel Studios committed to a Blade reboot for the Marvel Cinematic Universe a few years ago, yet the film is yet to start development. Now, even lead actor Mahershala Ali’s attorney addressed the several delays.

In a piece focusing on entertainment lawyers, Ali’s attorney Shelby Weiser also briefly told The Hollywood Reporter about Ali’s upcoming plans, which don’t currently involve Blade. Ali joined the film in 2019, which has been experiencing several set-backs. The latest one happened just a few days ago, as Yann Demange stepped back as director, and he isn’t the first one. Originally, the first director attached to the project was Bassim Tariq, who left Blade in 2022.

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Talking about Ali’s projects, Weiser explained that Ali is about to enter a famous park as he has recently joined the upcoming Jurassic World. As for the MCU film, “That deal was in 2019, and they still haven’t shot it, which is pretty much the craziest thing in my professional experience,” Weiser says.

“We’re working on it,” Ali had previously shared with Entertainment Weekly in December 2023. “That’s the best I could tell you. I’m really encouraged with the direction of the project. I think we’ll be back at it relatively soon… I’m sincerely encouraged in terms of where things are at and who’s on board and who’s leading the way as far as the writing of the script and the directing and all that. So that’s the extent of what I can tell you.” Now, with a new director on board, things will surely be different.

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The Blade Reboot Encountered Several Delays

These past few years have been challenging for the film industry for different reasons. First, the pandemic hit in 2020, forcing every film, TV series, and other projects to temporarily come to a halt. Then, in 2023, the SAG-AFTRA strikes have stopped production for most projects from May to November, which resulted in huge delays.

The Blade reboot was officially announced at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, and it encountered many hardships along the way. As Weiser noted, the film was supposed to start filming years ago, but so far, the last update was that Marvel’s Blade would begin filming this year in the fall. However, that was before it lost its director again.

Watchmen‘s Stacy Osei-Kuffour was first tapped to write the Blade reboot. However, in November 2022, when Yann Demange was hired as director, Michael Starrbury was brought on board for rewrites. The next year, the film underwent more modifications, as Nic Pizzolatto and Michael Green were hired in April and November 2023, respectively, to pen the script. Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre, and Delroy Lindo were all attached to the project, but Pierre confirmed this year to Variety that he is no longer part of the upcoming film.

Blade is tentatively scheduled to be released in theaters on Nov. 7, 2025.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter, Entertainment Weekly, Variety

Created by

Marv Wolfman , Gene Colan

First Film

Blade (1998)

Latest Film

Blade Trinity

Upcoming Films

Blade 2024

Cast

Wesley Snipes , sticky fingaz , Kris Kristofferson , Stephen Dorff