Ever since the inception of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2008, its most devoted fans have been on-edge waiting to see what the next major announcements, movies, and now TV shows are. It's the price we pay for fandom and it's something that we love doing again and again. It's what makes passionate nerds, well, passionate nerds. However, in recent years, that excitement has come with a sense of uneasiness for the future of the franchise.
Marvel Studios' overhaul of its creative strategy and content choices has led to the apparent cancellation of a number of projects, resulting in a lot of upset from the fandom. With reports that planned sequels to Eternals, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and The Marvels have all been scrapped, and the studio opting against second seasons of She-Hulk: Attorney At Law and Ms. Marvel, the MCU is a very different place compared to where it was even three years ago.
Now, after numerous reports have placed question marks over the fate of another high-profile MCU movie, fans are officially convinced that a recent casting announcement for another movie has confirmed the film is no longer happening at Marvel Studios.
Mia Goth's Star Wars casting has fans convinced that Marvel's Blade has been cancelled
Mia Goth has officially joined that galaxy so far, far away as it has been revealed that the star has been cast in Star Wars: Starfighter. She's set to play the villain of the piece, starring alongside Ryan Gosling in the Shawn Levy film in what is set to be a major moment for the Star Wars franchise. A horror icon in her own right, audiences are excited to see what she will bring to the legendary film series. That said, her casting has raised some questions about another major horror franchise project she was attached to.
Goth was cast in Marvel Studios' Blade back in 2023 in what was then a mystery role. It has since been revealed that she is expected to play Lilith, the daughter of Dracula. A pretty apt role for a vampire movie, right?
But again, Goth was cast in the movie in 2023. It's 2025 now and she has just joined another big-budget film - one that is already ramping up pre-production as it heads towards kicking off filming this fall. Where does that leave Blade? Well, as much as we hate to say it, those shelved / cancelled rumors are looking more and more likely as the months roll by - especially after Marvel Studios took it off the 2025 release calendar. I mean, we knew it wasn't coming out this fall (it hasn't even started production yet), but to remove it completely without delaying it to another date is pretty telling.
According to multiple insiders, Marvel has been undecided about whether to proceed with Blade for the foreseeable. The film was first announced back in 2019 at San Diego Comic-Con, with Mahershala Ali already attached to star as the titular Daywalker, but is since gained and lost two directors while also undergoing some rewrites. And it's also worth noting that a lot of this "development hell" took place before the studio's new creative strategy took hold in 2023. But that may have presented more issues.
According to reliable insider Daniel Richtman, both Blade and Armor Wars were placed on hold while the studio made a decision on them. He then revealed that the former was still on track last year while production was set to begin this year. But Goth's casting in Star Wars: Starfighter would suggest that plans have changed.
This might have something to do with a newer report from earlier this year which claimed that Marvel had officially decided to shelve Blade while still retaining Ali to play the character in a different project. There is the hope that they could revisit the project in the future, but with Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, as well as that long-rumored Midnight Sons project, on the horizon, there are potential places for Ali to make his official on-screen debut as the Daywalker. Where that leaves Goth's Lilith, however, remains to be seen.
Of course, we won't have any official information about Blade's future until Marvel Studios themselves officially announce anything, but even if the film is still going ahead, it's going to be an even longer wait with Goth now attached to Star Wars: Starfighter.