Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has opened up about one of the studio’s biggest disappointments in recent years. The executive admitted that he is disappointed that the planned Blade reboot starring Mahershala Ali never moved forward.
Marvel Studios announced the project to huge excitement from fans. Nevertheless, years of development, multiple creative changes, and production delays ultimately prevented the reboot from moving forward.
Kevin Feige Admits His Disappointment Over Blade
Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Kevin Feige openly discussed the failed attempt to bring Mahershala Ali’s version of Blade to the MCU.
The Marvel Studios president did not hold back when describing his feelings about the project.
“I am feeling like a gigantic loser and failure that we didn’t get off the ground with Mahershala.”
Feige also expressed his excitement about Wesley Snipes returning as Blade in Deadpool & Wolverine. Snipes previously played the iconic vampire hunter in the original Blade movie trilogy.
Kevin Feige Explains Why Marvel’s Blade Reboot Failed
Marvel Studios first announced the Blade reboot at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019. At the time, Bassam Tariq was attached to direct the movie.
However, Tariq exited the project in 2022. His departure came just months before production was scheduled to begin.
Yann Demange later joined the project as the new director. Unfortunately, he also departed the movie in 2024.
Meanwhile, Marvel Studios hired multiple writers to develop the project. The writers reportedly included Michael Starrbury and Stacy Osei-Kuffour. Despite these efforts, none of the scripts ultimately led to the movie entering production.
Feige explained that Marvel did not want to make a simple version of the character.
“We didn’t want to simply just put a leather outfit on him and have him start killing vampires. It had to be unique. It fell into the time when we started pulling back and saying, ‘Only accept insanely great.’ And it wasn’t ‘insanely great’ at the time.”
As a result, Marvel decided not to move forward with the project in its existing form.
Blade Had Multiple Problems Behind the Scenes
The Blade reboot reportedly went through several creative difficulties during development.
According to a 2023 Variety report, the movie had at least five writers attached during its development. Furthermore, production was reportedly halted just six weeks before filming was scheduled to begin.
The report also stated that one version of the script featured a female-led narrative. That version reportedly focused on life lessons and reduced Blade to a fourth-lead role.
Naturally, this direction created concerns about the movie’s story and its use of the iconic Marvel character.
Because of these ongoing problems, the project continued to face delays. Eventually, Marvel was unable to move the film into production.
Is Mahershala Ali’s Blade Reboot Still Happening?
As of now, the Blade reboot appears to have been shelved. Marvel Studios has not moved forward with the project, and its future remains uncertain.
Nevertheless, Mahershala Ali has already appeared in the MCU as Blade. The actor provided an uncredited voice cameo in Eternals, which was released in 2021.
For now, fans will have to wait and see whether Marvel Studios eventually revives the project. However, Kevin Feige’s comments make it clear that the studio remains disappointed that it could not bring Ali’s version of Blade to the big screen.
The project remains one of Marvel’s biggest unrealized MCU movies in recent years.
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