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).
Early development and announcement 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.
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 film would not be "boxed in" by adapting comic book elements since the character has an evolving canon. Ali made an uncredited voice-only cameo as Blade in the post-credits scene of the Phase Four film Eternals, which was released in November 2021. In the scene, he contacts Kit Harington's Dane Whitman about the Ebony Blade.
Delroy Lindo was cast in late November 2021, as the head of a Black community whose philosophy and ethos are similar to those of political activist Marcus Garvey. Lindo was excited about the inclusivity of the project from early conversations with the creative team. He was previously cast as the Marvel Comics character Dominic Fortune for Marvel Television's Marvel's Most Wanted (2016), an unaired television pilot. Blade producers wanted to cast Lindo in his film role from the start of the casting process, but they took their time casting a different major role which became "one of the more highly coveted parts in Hollywood". Feige, Tariq, and other executives met with "dozens of up-and-coming actors" for that role, and Aaron Pierre became the frontrunner in February 2022. Pierre joined the cast by the end of the month. In May, Beau DeMayo—a writer for the MCU miniseries Moon Knight (2022) and the head writer for the first season of the Marvel Studios Animation series X-Men '97 (2024)—was hired to rewrite the script and asked Marvel to hire Ben Sokolowski to assist him. The version of the film that they were working on was said to be a period piece.
Pre-production started in Atlanta between mid-June and mid-July 2022, using the working title Perfect Imprints. Principal photography was slated to last from October 2022 to January 2023, at Trilith and Tyler Perry Studios, with location shooting in Cleveland during November 2022. Ali was training for over a year to perform his own stunts, including learning to wield a sword. Several crew members from previous MCU projects were attached to the film, including Mårten Larsson as visual effects supervisor, Stefania Cella as production designer, and Ruth E. Carter as costume designer, while Damián García was hired as cinematographer. A major train set was built. Larsson was provided the Ebony Blade design by Eternals visual effects supervisor Stephane Ceretti to use in Blade. By the end of June, Milan Ray was reportedly cast as Blade's daughter. At SDCC the next month, a release date of November 3, 2023, was announced, making the film part of Phase Five.
After he was fired from X-Men '97, DeMayo alleged that he had been removed from Blade by September 2022 after raising concerns about the production's workplace culture, such as some Marvel executives comparing his appearance to Snipes's and other racially motivated comments. At the end of that month, Tariq stepped down as director due to further production delays, and creative differences with Marvel Studios; the studio reportedly no longer believed Tariq to be the best fit for the film. In separate statements, Marvel Studios and Tariq said they both appreciated their work together and added that Tariq would remain an executive producer. The studio was searching for a new director and filming was set to begin in November. Journalist Jeff Sneider reported that Ali was frustrated with the film's development, including the state of the script and the fact that Feige was said to be "spread too thin" with his commitments to the wider MCU. In October, Marvel Studios temporarily suspended production work that was happening in Atlanta while they continued to search for a new director. Production was expected to resume in early 2023. This resulted in the film's release date being delayed to September 6, 2024, making it the last film in Phase Five at that point.
Work under director Yann Demange and strike delays Ali was reported in October 2022 to have a major involvement in the film's direction moving forward, with the potential for further rewrites to occur at his request. Marvel Studios met with filmmakers for several weeks, and presented Ali with a list of director candidates. The actor chose to search for a new director himself after being concerned that the studio's choices were largely "untested" at the major studio level. Yann Demange was handpicked by Ali for the position, and his pitch for the film excited executives. Demange was hired to direct in November, while Ali was also involved in hiring Michael Starrbury to perform a page-one rewrite. Demange was working on pre-production in Atlanta by February 2023, and filming was set to begin that May, with Matthew Libatique now hired as cinematographer. In March, Sneider reported that the new script was "leaner" and dropped elements that were deemed extraneous, such as a planned Eternals tie-in with Harington's Dane Whitman. Harington later said a misunderstanding led to rumors about his involvement in the film and this had never been planned. Sneider also reported that some roles were potentially being recast, including Blade's daughter. Starrbury's script was reported to be darker than most MCU films.