Six years ago, Kevin Feige stunned Hall H with the announcement that Marvel Studios was developing a Mahershala Ali-led Blade film. Six years later, fans are still waiting for the Daywalker to see the light of day.
You can start and have a good script and make it a great script through production, but we didn’t feel confident we could do that on Blade. We didn’t want to do that to Mahershala and didn’t want to do that to us.
-Kevin Feige on Blade
Production on Blade has been delayed multiple times beginning with the decision of original director Bassam Tariq to leave the film in 2022. At least five different writers have taken a turn on the script after original scribe Stacey Osei-Koffour parted ways with the project with Marvel Studios’ vet Eric Pearson (Black Widow, Thunderbolts*) having most recently penned a draft. Without a director since Tariq’s replacement, Yann Demange, bailed in June 2024, there was simply no way Blade was making it in front of cameras and was ultimately removed from the studio’s 2025 theatrical slate. Fans have begun to believe that they may never see the film but according to Feige, that’s simply not the case as the studio and Ali remain committed to the project.
We didn’t want to put a leather outfit on [Ali] and have him start killing vampires.
-Kevin Feige on why Blade has been so difficult to get underway
In January 2024, rumors of the latest version of the film’s script, written by Michael Green, surfaced and it sounded pretty badass. At that time, the film was said to be a period piece in which Mia Goth‘s villainous character was hunting for Blade’s daughter to use her blood to create an army of Daywalkers. Goth’s character was also rumored to be sporting the Ebony Blade, seen in the post-credit scene of Eternals to be in the home of Kit Harrington‘s Dane Whitman. Feige recently confirmed that the studio had considered a couple of different versions of the film that would have been period piece before the studio “landed on modern day and that’s what we’re focusing on.” Without further comment from Feige, fans remained skeptical that cameras would ever roll on Blade; however, a new report indicates the studio may be closer to starting up production than believed.
According to insider Daniel Richtman, Marvel Studios is currently looking to begin principal photography on Blade in 2026.
Should production actually get underway in 2026, Blade could find itself in theaters in July 2027, though it seems much more likely to end up as part of the studio’s 2028 theatrical slate at this point. With Ali also expected to play a major role in the supernatural event film Midnight Sons, it looks as though the future is suddenly much brighter for the MCU’s Daywalker.
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