This Marvel movie could end up coming out next year after all

Let's turn back time to half a decade ago. Kevin Feige took over Hall H stage at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019 and dropped one of the most shocking pieces of news from the whole event. Blade would finally join the Marvel Cinematic Universe in his own stand-alone movie with Oscar-winning actor Mahershala Ali set to play the lead. It was an exciting moment for Marvel fans, and we couldn't wait to learn more about the highly anticipated project.

However, fast-forward five years later and we still have to see the vampire hunter save the day alongside other Marvel heroes. Yes, we did get that one exciting cameo in the post-credits scene of Eternals. But aside from that, it's been nothing but pure silence on Marvel's part regarding the vampire hunter.

Blade was originally set to be released on November 3, 2023, but it got pushed back to November 7, 2025. Additionally, Bassam Tariq - who was originally set to direct the movie - parted ways with Marvel due to "shifts in production schedule". As if it wasn't enough, Stacy Osei-Kuffour's script got re-written by Beau DeMayo (who worked on Moon Knight and X-Men '97). Needless to say, it's been a troublesome production so far. However, it appears the streak of bad news regarding Blade has finally come to an end. And contrary to rumors of another delay, it might be able to make its 2025 release date after all.

Blade could start filming soon

According to a new report from Marvel Updates on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), filming for Blade will finally begin later this year, which means we're still on track for a 2025 release date. Additionally, it seems audiences could get a glimpse behind the curtain and see Eric Brooks' past being explored. Finally, it's also reported that the movie will have a gritty tone - which makes sense considering it is R-rated.

Interestingly enough, it was also recently reported that the script - which went through a lot of different phases - will now focus on simply "Blade killing vampires". That would fall in line with the idea of a "gritty" and "mature" project.

What's also interesting is that a recent rumor from Marvel scoopers claimed that the film could end up having its release date pushed back to 2026. Of course that's yet to be confirmed by Marvel Studios, but these new rumors of the filming starting production in November 2024 suggest that it could still be on track for its 2025 release date. And that's most definitely a good thing!

All of these things combined paint a really good picture for the vampire hunter's standalone project. And if that wasn't enough, there's still one little detail to break down.

Eric Brooks could have a comic-accurate suit

When the MCU first started, a few liberties were taken when adapting the design of comic book suits to the big screen. However, that all has changed in recent projects as we've seen costumes more faithful to their source material in a lot of different projects. Blade could look to be the next one on that list, as this report does suggest that Eric Brooks will have a comic-accurate suit.

Blade's outfit is not too complicated on comic book pages. All Marvel needs to do is give Mahershala Ali a pair of shades, a black leather coat, a little bit of armor, and a pair of swords. Yes, that's it. However, sometimes it's easy to fall into the trap of "modernizing" the character too much resulting in a costume that's far away from what audiences expect. So let's just hope that these recent rumors are true and the MCU is looking to do justice to Blade on the big screen.

Blade is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated movies from the MCU's upcoming slate and even though fans still don't know a lot about the film, a comic-accurate suit could go a long way in exciting them for what it has in store.