Marvel Studios have certainly taken their time developing the Mahershala Ali-led Blade reboot. First announced at SDCC ’19, the project came as a shockingly wonderful surprise…and then the world went to hell. Nearly four and a half years, one global pandemic and two major Hollywood work stoppages later, production on the film still hasn’t gotten underway and, in fact, has been delayed multiple times. However, all signs point to principal photography finally getting underway sometime late in 2024 and now a new rumor about the film is sure to provide some much-needed hope about the state of the project.
According to insider Daniel RPK, after having multiple writers work on the script (current writer Michael Green is the sixth scribe to work on the screenplay) it sounds as though they’ve found their story and it sounds fairly badass!
In November 2023, director Yann Demange told Deadline that Marvel Studios had given him the green light to make Blade an R-rated film. “They gave me the R, which is so important,” said Demange, adding that “we are going to have fun because Mahershala is such a deep actor.” “I’m excited to show a kind of ruthlessness, a roughness he has, that allows him to walk the earth in a particular way. I love him for that. He’s got a dignity and integrity, but there is a ferocity there that he usually keeps under the surface. I want to unleash that and put it on the screen.” he explained. The new rumor from Daniel RPK lines up with Demange’s R-rated comment and gives some insight into exactly what Ali’s Daywalker will be up against.
The rumor states that Blade will be a period piece and will have ties to one of the MCU’s most confusing post-credit scenes. Apparently the film’s plot will revolve around an attempt by the villain Lilith–played by horror queen Mia Goth–to gather up the blood of Blade’s daughter in an effort to create an army of Daywalkers. To make things more interesting, Goth’s baddie will reportedly weild the mysterious Ebony Blade, first seen in the MCU in The Eternals. In the mid-credit scene, Kit Harrington‘s Dane Whitman was revealed to be in possession of the sword, which was shown to have some fascinating properties. Just as Whitman was about to pick it up, he was stopped by Ali’s Blade, who was not seen, only heard.
Following the release of The Eternals, Marvel Studios executive producer Nate Moore explained how the studio came to connect Blade to the sword. “Cause the Ebony Blade, the characteristics of the Ebony Blade are not dissimilar to some degree to vampirism and we think that’s an interesting kind of thing to play with,” explained Moore. Now it sounds as though Blade will establish a MUCH clearer connection to the stinger scene though it’s not believed that Harrington will play a role in the film.
Blade is currently slated for a November 7, 2025 release.
