Today, actor Mahershala Ali officially revealed he has moved on from starring in a Blade film with Marvel Studios. The project had been in development hell since it was officially announced back at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019. It had gone through multiple script rewrites, and multiple directors have come and gone on the project. While speaking to GQ, the Oscar-winning actor revealed he is done with the character: “For whatever reason, that project is not for me. If they wanted to do it, we would’ve done it. So I have to move on, and I have moved on.” He added that it was director Bassam Tariq and his original Blade script that drew him to the character and had him re-team with him on Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother. “I didn’t feel great about the fact that things finished the way that they did [with Blade]; I like seeing things through. [I] couldn’t say no.” Kevin Feige, at this past SDCC, admitted he feels “dumb” not being able to get Blade going after all these years, but the studio has already pivoted to Ghost Rider starring Ryan Gosling. This essentially killed Blade’s development completely. His only non-appearance was his voice used in The Eternals; if they ever resurrect the character for a Midnight Sons crossover, it’ll most likely be a recast.
Blade has no set release date
- Mahershala Ali has officially departed from starring as Blade for Marvel Studios after years of development delays.
- The troubled project suffered from multiple script rewrites and several directors leaving before Ali ultimately moved on.
- Marvel Studios has pivoted to a Ghost Rider film starring Ryan Gosling, completely halting Blade.
