The past few years have been a pretty interesting time for Marvel fans. You've undoubtedly seen that "it's so over"/ "we're so back" meme describing the highs and lows of being a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe fandom throughout the Multiverse Saga, and honestly it fits. Since launching the new chapter, Marvel Studios has had plenty of ups and downs - and while the highs have taken the studio to its familiar territory of box-office dominance (Deadpool and Wolverine, Spider-Man: No Way Home), the lows have taken it a little lower than it's used to going (the box office struggles of The Marvels, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Eternals).
It's all forced Marvel to rethink much of its strategy, pulling back in riskier areas and doubling down on the more successful ones. Some projects in development were reportedly scrapped while others were shelved for now. And through it all, there have been some projects that have had question marks hanging over their heads.
According to a new report, Marvel has made a decision about at least one of them... and it doesn't appear to be good news.
Blade reportedly cancelled for now (but could resume in the future)
According to one insider, user YrOnlyHope on X (formerly Twitter), Blade has been scrapped by Marvel Studios for now. The scooper responded to the recent reports that John Wick director Chad Stahelski was potentially boarding the project as director, calling them "incorrect" before going on to reveal that they heard from a source that they trust that the project has "essentially been nixed for now".
They add that there is still hope for the project in the future, likening the project's apparent shelving to what recently happened to the planned Nova series for Disney Plus (which was shelved due to Marvel Television's recent pivot towards making longer-running multi-season television shows instead of expensive miniseries, with the potential of the project being revisited someday).
They even go as far as to say that Mahershala Ali is still likely to portray the Daywalker in the MCU, but that the creative direction for the project has shifted for now. As for when or how he could appear, the scooper suggests that it could happen in a project such as Avengers: Secret Wars or the long-rumored Midnight Sons project, whereby he would be introduced as a major character and potentially have the stage set for his own standalone movie at some point in the future.
Blade was first announced in the summer of 2019 at San Diego Comic-Con, when Kevin Feige revealed that Ali would be portraying the title role in the movie that was set to bring vampires to the MCU. It was a major moment that unleashed a ton of excitement around the world as audiences eagerly awaited Blade's arrival in the beloved franchise. But the film has yet to come to fruition.
Having been stuck in development hell for the six years since, the project has gone through multiple directors and multiple rewrites, with fans wondering if it would ever get made. It was then reportedly put on hold for sometime while Marvel made a decision on its future. It seemed as if the studio was beginning to set the wheels in motion again when this new rumor has revealed that this might not be the case after all.
Was that "decision" that Marvel was making to not go ahead with it after all? We'll have to wait and see, but it goes without saying that fans were looking forward to seeing what a Blade movie set in the MCU would have looked like. The franchise has been experimenting a lot more since the Multiverse Saga began, introducing elements of comedy (WandaVision, She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, Agatha All Along), horror (Werewolf by Night), and maturity and violence (Deadpool and Wolverine, Echo, Daredevil: Born Again). Blade would have been the next step. Here's hoping that it - and fellow stalled project Armor Wars - eventually gets the traction it needs to move forward.