Marvel Executive Takes Responsibility for Mahershala Ali’s Blade Delays

A new trailer for Avengers Doomsday has fans buzzing about the MCU and its sprawling roster of characters. However, one notable absence from the Doomsday trailer is Blade, whose standalone film has been stuck in development limbo for over seven years. Marvel’s president and creative head, Kevin Feige, recently hinted at his embarrassment regarding the project’s status during an interview.

In a chat with Josh Horowitz on Happy Sad Confused, Feige was asked a rather open-ended question about the “poor, poor project” of Blade. He humorously suggested they could have a “therapy session” before sharing two thoughts: he expressed excitement about having Wesley Snipes return as Blade in Deadpool & Wolverine, while also feeling like a “gigantic loser and failure” for not getting Mahershala Ali’s version off the ground.

The first part of this is straightforward. Wesley Snipes, who first brought Blade to life in 1998, made a comeback in Deadpool & Wolverine in 2023. However, this comes amid a complicated backdrop regarding the new Blade film. In 2019, Marvel announced a project featuring Mahershala Ali, who briefly voiced Blade in Eternals. Since then, the film has faced numerous director changes and script rewrites, ultimately being removed from Disney’s release calendar in October 2024.

The latest update came from Mia Goth, who mentioned in an interview last October that she was still attached to the role of Lilith. However, troubling rumors surfaced earlier this year suggesting that the film might have been effectively canceled in favor of a Midnight Sons movie that would include Blade. This raises questions about Feige’s comment. When he mentioned “didn’t get off the ground,” is he indicating that the film is a lost cause, or is he referring to the many false starts it has faced?

It remains uncertain if Horowitz will delve deeper into this topic in the full podcast, leaving fans to wonder if there will be more clarity or if this is just another vague hint about a film that may never materialize.