‘Blade' update: Kevin Feige explains delays, says Mahershala Ali's role needs to be 'insanely great'

Time of India

6 days ago

Marvel's 'Blade' movie has faced many delays since it was first announced in 2019, but Mahershala Ali is still set to play the lead role. Marvel Studios head
recently explained why the film hasn't moved forward, the team wants to make sure it's truly special and not rushed.
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Kevin Feige talks about 'Blade' delays
Marvel boss Kevin Feige has finally shared what's going on with the long-delayed 'Blade' movie. Despite multiple setbacks, he confirmed that two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali is still committed to playing the lead role, the vampire hunter made famous by Wesley Snipes in the late '90s and early 2000s.
Reason behind the delay
Feige said the delays happened because Marvel didn't want to rush into production just to release another movie.
'We didn't want to just throw a leather jacket on Mahershala and have him start killing vampires. It needed to feel special,' Feige explained. 'At that point, we started taking a step back and saying, 'We'll only move forward with something if it feels truly great.' And at that time, it didn't.'
He also mentioned a funny side note that costumes made for an earlier version of 'Blade' were given to filmmaker Ryan Coogler for his own vampire-themed project called 'Sinners'.
'Ryan asked if he could use the costumes and we said, 'Sure, go ahead,'' Feige joked. 'He's a good friend.'
But the real issue, Feige admitted, was Marvel's attempt to produce more content when
launched its streaming platform. This led to Marvel stretching itself too thin. 'We were told to make more stuff. And we tried. But that meant we sometimes picked quantity over quality, and we always said we'd never let that happen.'
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'Blade' was first announced in 2019 and was supposed to release in November 2023. However, it ran into multiple problems. Its first director, Bassam Tariq, left the project in 2022, just two months before filming was to start. A new director, Yann Demange, later joined but also exited in June 2024. Now, there's no director attached to the film, but Ali has made it clear, he's still ready. At a recent red-carpet event, he told Variety, 'Call Marvel.
Let them know I'm ready.'
Over the years, several writers have worked on 'Blade'. Feige said there were at least three or four versions of the story including two that were set in the past. But now, they've decided the movie will take place in the modern day, which is also why they gave away the old costumes.
As for 'Sinners', many fans hoped Coogler would direct Blade, but Feige shut down those rumours. Coogler is busy working on Black Panther 3, which is currently in development, though no release date has been shared yet.
Looking back, Feige admitted he has mixed feelings about announcing 'Blade' back in 2019 at San Diego Comic-Con. 'In hindsight, maybe we shouldn't have announced it so early. But that's how we used to do things, announce it and then make it happen.'
He added that the last few years have brought many unexpected challenges: the pandemic, Hollywood strikes, the loss of key actors, changing fan reactions, and problems like losing their main Kang actor, Jonathan Majors. 'We've had a lot of curveballs,' Feige said.
Still, he made it clear that Marvel wants to get 'Blade' right and they won't move forward until they do.