Blade was a planned American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Blade, in development at Marvel Studios from 2019 to 2026. It was intended to be distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures as an installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and a reboot of the Blade film series. Mahershala Ali was attached to star as the title character.
Blade was a planned American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Blade, in development at Marvel Studios from 2019 to 2026. It was intended to be distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures as an installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and a reboot of the Blade film series. Mahershala Ali was attached to star as the title character.
Marvel Studios regained the film rights for Blade by July 2011, following the earlier film series from New Line Cinema. Ali approached Marvel Studios about the character in February 2019, and the film and his casting were announced at San Diego Comic-Con that July; Ali first made a voice-only cameo as Blade in the MCU film Eternals (2021). Active development began in 2020, but the film soon entered development hell. Bassam Tariq and Yann Demange were attached as directors at different times over the years, while Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Beau DeMayo, Ben Sokolowski, Michael Starrbury, Nic Pizzolatto, Michael Green, and Eric Pearson all worked on different versions of the script. The film's release date was pushed back numerous times before Disney removed Blade from its release calendar in October 2024. The delays were attributed to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, creative differences between the studio and Ali, and shifting priorities at Disney and Marvel. By July 2026, Ali had moved on from the role and the film was believed to have been canceled.
During the course of the film's development, two alternate versions of Blade appeared in the MCU via the multiverse: Wesley Snipes reprised his role from the New Line series in the film Deadpool & Wolverine (2024); and Blade Knight, combining the character with Moon Knight, was voiced by Todd Williams and animated with the likeness of Ali in the first season of the animated series Marvel Zombies (2025).
Work under director Bassam Tariq and production delays
From March to June 2021, Marvel Studios met with a shortlist of possible directors, focusing their search on Black filmmakers such as Steven Caple Jr., J. D. Dillard, Regina King, and Shaka King. Albert Hughes discussed directing the film with Marvel Studios but disagreed with their approach. Several directors were chosen to give final presentations, and Bassam Tariq "won all parties over" with his vision for the film. Tariq was in final talks to direct by the end of July, and had been hired by the start of September. Tariq said the
At San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) in July 2011, Marvel Entertainment's chief creative officer (CCO) Joe Quesada confirmed that Marvel Studios had re-acquired the film rights to the Marvel Comics character Blade from New Line Cinema, which produced a film trilogy starring Wesley Snipes as the character from 1998 to 2004. Marvel had a working script for a new Blade film from its in-house writing program by May 2013.
In July 2015, Snipes said he hoped to reprise the role in any future film and had discussed this with Marvel. After hearing of a potential Blade reboot, actor Mahershala Ali had discussions about it with Marvel starting at the end of September 2016, on the same day that the first season of Marvel's Netflix series Luke Cage (2016) was released; Ali portrayed Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes in that season. Marvel Television wanted to develop a new series featuring Blade, but Ali was interested in moving from Marvel's television side to a film. He was drawn to Blade because of Snipes's portrayal and was interested in exploring the role's darker side, in contrast to the lighter tone of more recent superhero films. The following month, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said there were opportunities for Blade to appear in a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film or television series, similar to the character Ghost Rider being added to the Marvel Television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013–2020). In June 2017, he described Blade as a "legacy character" and said "it would be fun to do something with him one day". In August 2018, Snipes said he had continued to have discussions with Marvel for over two years, and there were two potential projects in development for the character.
Shortly after Ali won Best Supporting Actor at the 91st Academy Awards in February 2019 for the film Green Book (2018), he contacted Marvel Studios and pitched a new Blade film that he would star in. Ali envisioned it as his version of the MCU film Black Panther (2018). Feige announced Blade, with Ali attached to star, at Marvel Studios' SDCC panel that July. Feige said the project was moving forward because of Ali's interest and would be part of a future "phase" of the MCU, rather than the just announced Phase Four. Snipes was surprised by the announcement but said, "Such is the 'business' of 'entertainment!'" He congratulated Ali and said he would always be a fan of Marvel Studios and the MCU.
Active development began in mid-2020, and the studio began searching for a writer-director to lead the project. Marvel Studios executive Eric Carroll was producing the film alongside Feige. At the end of September, Ali confirmed that it would have a darker tone than previous MCU films. By October, Marvel Studios was looking to hire a separate writer and director, and began looking for a writer first. The studio hoped to assemble a primarily Black cast and crew. Stacy Osei-Kuffour was hired to write the screenplay in February 2021 after a six-month "meticulous search" that Ali was directly involved in. Only Black writers were seriously considered. Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter felt this reflected Marvel Studios' commitment to diversity, especially for projects featuring non-white characters. Later that month, Feige said the studio did not plan for any of its future films to be R-rated other than Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), concerning some Blade fans who hoped this film could be R-rated instead of PG-13. Filming was set to begin in September 2021, to occur at Trilith Studios in Atlanta, but by May 2021 the start of filming was pushed back to July 2022 while work continued on the script.