Marvel Studios announces disappointing Blade update

It’s been a while since Marvel Studios has provided an update on its upcoming Blade film, but the newest update is far from promising.

During its 2019 San Diego Comic-Con Hall H panel, Marvel Studios announced a wave of exciting projects including a Blade film starring Mahershala Ali. In the years that have followed, many of the films announced at the event have made serious progress with several even hitting theaters already; however, it’s been a rocky road for Blade — one that just got even rockier.

Just when it looked as though the film might be moving in the right direction with Nic Pizzolatto being tapped to pen the script for the project, the movie hit a major setback.

In wake of the writers’ strike, Marvel Studios has announced it has shut down preproduction on its Blade film which was originally slated to begin filming in June. According to The Hollywood Reporter, who was the first to break the news, the script was not able to be completed in time resulting in Marvel having to press pause on production making it the first major movie to be delayed by the WGA strike.

Is Blade still happening?

Although Marvel Studios had to shut down production on Blade due to the WGA strike, Marvel has not canceled the film and is still planning on proceeding with the film. While an exact timeline for when the movie will resume production will depend on the outcome of the writers’ strike, it has been reported Marvel Studios will resume production on the movie once the strike ends.

Blade release date updates

Originally, Blade was slated to release on Nov. 3, 2023; however, it was later pushed back to Sept. 6, 2024. Given production has been delayed by the writers’ strike, there is a high possibility the movie’s release date could be delayed in order to give the creative team the time needed to create the film.

The film’s release date will likely be contingent upon how long the WGA strike lasts due to the fact that production will not be able to begin until after the strike. If the strike goes on for an extended period of time, it’s quite possible Marvel will have no choice but to shift the Blade release date back possibly by a few months which could result in the movie being delayed to 2025.