Throughout the last 18 years, audiences have seen the Marvel Cinematic Universe grow, evolve, reach unprecedented heights, and suffer some missteps along the way. With so many moving pieces involved in this large, interconnected franchise, a lot of planning is constantly required to get projects off the ground. However, there's always a slight chance that things don't play out as originally intended (like when Kang the Conqueror was dropped in favor of Doctor Doom). For the most part, Marvel's announcements tend to materialize within a few years... but there are two big exceptions to this rule.
Back in 2014, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige announced that an Inhumans movie was in the works and would introduce "dozens of new characters" to the MCU. While an Inhumans project did come our way, it was in the form of a TV series that was quickly forgotten by the world and ignored by Marvel itself. Now, the Inhumans are nowhere to be found.
The second time a big-time superhero was supposed to join the MCU, only for those plans to go horribly wrong, was with Blade. Back during San Diego Comic-Con 2019, Kevin Feige took over the Hall H stage to announce that Mahershala Ali would bring the iconic vampire hunter to life in a standalone movie. Unfortunately, seven years have gone by since that day, and a Blade film still eludes us. So, what does Feige himself think about this misstep?
Kevin Feige says he feels like a 'failure' over Blade
During a new edition of the Happy Sad Confused podcast with Josh Horowitz, Kevin Feige revealed that he feels like a "gigantic loser and failure" for being unable to get the Blade movie off the ground. He later gave insight as to why the movie failed to materialize after all these years:
"We didn’t want to put a leather outfit on [Ali] and have him start killing vampires. You can start and have a good script and make it a great script through production, but we didn’t feel confident we could do that on Blade. We didn’t want to do that to Mahershala and didn’t want to do that to us."
What makes this statement all the more perplexing is that Feige didn't mention that Blade is still being worked on, or that the film will eventually see the light of day. Based on his words alone, it would be easy to assume that the project has been cancelled altogether. After all, fans have already started to fear the worst given how long it has been since any official news about Blade has come our way. However, there's also a chance that Feige simply wants to keep the character's debut under wraps.
It has been reported that the MCU will expand its supernatural characters and storylines after the Multiverse Saga is over. To double down on this idea, Moon Knight himself, Oscar Isaac, even confirmed that there have been talks about a Midnight Sons movie behind the scenes. But before these characters assemble in a big crossover event, audiences are rumored to see a follow-up to Moon Knight and Werewolf by Night, as well as the Blade solo movie.
To make things more interesting, reliable insider Alex Perez suggested that the vampire hunter will make his MCU debut during the events of Avengers: Secret Wars. With just a year left to go until Blade finally jumps into action on the big screen, it would make sense for Feige to try to keep the surprise a secret for the time being. Perhaps an official announcement could finally come our way during this week's SDCC or during the 2027 edition of the event.
Granted, it's best to take all rumors with a grain of salt and assume that the window to see Blade on the big screen is closed. But if Eric Brooks ever joins the MCU, let's hope that the wait will prove to be worth it.
Avengers: Secret Wars will be released on Dec. 17, 2027.
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