The MCU is changing up its R-rated Blade reboot once more, with Marvel fans suggesting the vampire movie is “never coming” after a major departure from the production.
It hasn’t been the smoothest ride for the superhero movie, which is an MCU reboot of the 1998 Wesley Snipes-starring flick about a half-human-half-vampire who hunts creatures of the night.
Since it was announced in 2019, with Mahershala Ali to take on the eponymous role, there have been a number of setbacks, the latest being the departure of its second director.
As exclusively confirmed by The Wrap, Top Boy director Yann Demange is no longer helming the MCU’s Blade, making him the second filmmaker to drop out of the project after Bassam Tariq.
What’s more, Black Widow writer Eric Pearson is now working on the script, following a long list of writers who have been attached to the new Blade over the years, including Stacy Osei-Kuffour; Beau DeMayo; Michael Starrbury; Nic Pizzolatto; and Michael Green.
It’s safe to say that yet another setback has left fans apprehensive, with one writing in response to the news: “This film is never coming out, just pull the plug.”
“Nah… I think they are just waiting until they can cast actual vampires,” quipped another, while a third added, “How hard is it to make a movie about a vampire slayer? Just such a bad fumble.”
A fourth said, “I’m usually one to be more optimistic when it comes to the MCU, but every piece of Blade news has screamed disaster for the past several years, and people continued to believe in this project happening. I don’t know that it will.
“I could easily see them transitioning into a Midnight Suns movie with Blade as a lead, and maybe a Disney+ project that introduces Blade/vampires into the world beforehand. But a theatrical release for a solo Blade film? It’s not looking good. I wish I could be optimistic this time around, but c’mon now.”
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An insider told The Wrap that one of the reasons there have been so many changes is the MCU just wants to get the reboot right, especially amid its new focus on quality rather than quantity.
During Disney’s Q2 2024 earnings call, CEO Bob Iger said: “I’ve been working hard with the studio to reduce output and focus more on quality, that’s particularly true with Marvel.
“We’re slowly going to decrease volume and go to probably about two TV series a year instead of what had become four, and reduce our film output from maybe four a year to two or at the maximum three.
“And we’re working hard on what that path is, we’ve got a couple of good films in ’25 and then we’re heading to [Avengers 5 and Avengers: Secret Wars], which we’re extremely excited about.”
The switch-up arrived after 2023 proved to be a low point for the MCU, with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Secret Invasion, and The Marvels all flopping in their own respective ways.
Despite the pessimistic outlook about Blade, the Marvel horror movie is still slated to be released on November 7, 2025.
Until then, check out our round of the best superhero TV shows, our ranking of every MCU movie, and the greatest supervillains. You can also read about what’s going on with Deadpool & Wolverine, the MCU’s Fantastic Four, and Spider-Man 4.
