Blade might be on its way!
The franchise launched in 2008, Marvel Studios has been able to release a variety of heroes due to the brand’s popularity. Despite years of Marvel movies preceded the MCU, their appearances marked the big-screen debuts of numerous comic characters.
With a new Spider-Man and MCU reboots of the X-Men and Fantastic Four on the way, Blade the Vampire Slayer is another character destined for an MCU makeover.
Marvel Studios, on the other hand, has never shown any interest in rebooting Blade as part of the MCU. That all changed at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, when Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said that a solo feature was in the works. This was announced alongside the news that Mahershala Ali would play Marvel’s daywalker.
Blade has been in development since then, with Stacy Osei-Kuffour of Watchmen writing the script and Bassam Tariq of Mogul Mowgli directing.
Blade is one of a handful of films coming in the next few years, according to the MCU’s ever-expanding nature. Blade’s popularity is only expected to grow as the project progresses and Marvel tries out new genres and ratings.
Release Date
The movie is yet to receive an official release date from Marvel Studios. The studio has announced its whole slate of films through 2022, as well as a few 2023 movies, although there are still a number of 2023 release dates available. Blade is reportedly planning to begin production in the summer of 2022. Marvel Studios films generally release a year to a year and a half after filming begins, though the pandemic has pushed that timeframe forward. The movie will almost certainly be released in 2023, alongside Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, regardless of how long it takes for development to begin. Marvel currently has three 2023 spots available for unnamed films, so Blade is likely to be one of them.
Casting the Blade
Only Mahershala Ali is presently part of the cast of the film. Ali approached Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige after his Oscar-winning appearances in Moonlight and Green Book to express his interest in playing Eric Brooks in the MCU. At the moment, Marvel had no intentions to develop the movie, but Ali’s talent and interest made it simple for Feige to change that. Ali will not be alone in the film, as Marvel has assembled another stellar cast, which might include MCU characters like Moon Knight (Oscar Isaac) and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch).
Backstory
The plot is yet to be revealed or even hinted upon. It will most likely include some of Blade’s origin story and how he became a vampire slayer, but the core of the film will most likely focus on Eric as a seasoned hunter. This would allow the film to explain Blade’s whereabouts throughout the MCU’s history. Blade’s true plot will most likely be determined by which of Marvel’s many supernatural villains he faces in his debut feature.