Marvel‘s Blade movie reboot won’t be released late next year after Disney decided to delay the beleaguered superhero movie indefinitely.
According to Deadline, Disney has not only removed Blade‘s November 7, 2025 release date from its schedule, but reportedly shelved it altogether. Ordinarily, the entertainment behemoth bestows a new launch date on a film that needs to be pushed back. As Deadline notes in its report, however, Blade hasn’t received a revised release date, which is usually a coded way for a studio to say development on a movie has been temporarily halted. Per industry insider Alex P, Blade‘s indefinite delay is down to Marvel’s desire to focus on wrapping up its Multiverse Saga first, with plans to finally introduce the iconic Daywalker to fans once its latest multi-phase story ends.
Blade‘s removal from Disney’s line-up of new movies is the latest in a long line of issues that have plagued the Marvel Phase 6 film. Indeed, it’s been over five years since the Mahershala Ali-fronted superhero flick was first announced, with Marvel confirming a Blade film reboot was on the way at San Diego Comic-Con 2019. Ali’s vampiric antihero made his debut, albeit as just an off-screen voice cameo, in one of Eternals‘ end credits scenes two years later.
With today’s news, there is in fact only one Blade 🙌 💉 pic.twitter.com/zAX5C7VlnlOctober 22, 2024
Things have slowly turned sour, though, with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) flick beset by numerous problems. Some, such as that global health crisis – we don’t mention its name around these parts – and the 2023 Hollywood strikes have unavoidably impacted its production.
Marvel isn’t innocent in how it’s handled development of one of its most anticipated movies, mind you. Bassam Tariq, who was hired as Blade‘s first director in July 2021, left the MCU project in September 2022 due to apparent creative differences. At the time, reports suggested that Blade‘s 90-page script was also not up to scratch and that it only contained two lackluster action set-pieces.
That was only the tip of the iceberg for the troubled flick. Multiple writers, including Stacey Osei-Kuffour, Michael Starburry, Nico Pizzolatto, Michael Green, and Beau DeMayo – DeMayo’s own relationship with Marvel has turned toxic in recent months – have all attempted to write a compelling screenplay to no avail. Meanwhile, Yann DeMange, who replaced Tariq in the director’s chair, also departed in mid-2024. You can read more about these headache-inducing issues in my article rounded up everything that’s gone wrong for Blade‘s standalone MCU debut.
It’s unclear if Ali and Mia Goth, who are currently set to play the titular character and its primary villain, are still tied to the project. I’ve reached out to Marvel and Disney for an official comment on whether the pair are still contractually attached to Blade and I’ll report back if I receive a response.
Swinging to the rescue
It’s not all bad news on the MCU front, though. After months and months of speculation, there’s finally some official movement on Spider-Man 4. Tom Holland, who’s played the titular webslinger since 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, has not only confirmed he’s set to play Peter Parker/Spider-Man once more, but that principal photography will begin sooner than we think.
Speaking on the October 22, 2024 edition of The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon, Holland revealed he’ll start shooting his fourth solo Spider-Man movie in mid-2025. “It’s happening,” Holland said to the delight of the assembled audience. “Next summer we start shooting. Everything’s good to go.”
Of course, this isn’t the first we’re hearing of Spidey’s next big-screen adventure in the MCU. In March, I reported on rumors suggesting Spider-Man 4 would enter full production earlier than anticipated due to delays surrounding Euphoria season 3‘s own production start date. However, the latter, which Holland’s fellow Spider-Man star Zendaya plays the lead role in, is now set to start shooting in January 2025. Zendaya is set to reprise her role as MJ in Spider-Man 4 – Holland recently confirmed as much on the Rich Roll podcast – so she’ll need to complete work on Euphoria‘s next season before joining Holland for another MCU outing. Regardless, Spider-Man 4 is happening and, as a big webhead, I couldn’t be happier.
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tom.power@futurenet.com (Tom Power)
