Marvel Comics has a rich history of combining usually contradictory worlds and pulling them together to build a grand cosmos. In the same universe as the Guardians of the Galaxy in far-flung regions of space is the vampire-slayer Blade, set in the murky underworld of New York City.
The character made his way onto celluloid with the Wesley Snipes-led Blade trilogy of the late 1990s and early 2000s, but has since languished in development hell. Two decades since the beautifully doomed Blade: Trinity, the character is finally making his debut in the massive Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Who’s in the cast?
Blade will be played in the MCU by Mahershala Ali, who previously played Cottonmouth back in the Luke Cage series for Netflix. Ali will take on the role which has for so long been associated with Snipes, while he’ll also be joined in the cast by horror scream queen Mia Goth. Nothing has been confirmed yet regarding who Goth will portray in the film, but given her track record for tragic and tortured types, she’s likely to be a more villainous character.
Aaron Pierre is also part of the cast, making him yet another actor to cross the divide from DC to Marvel following his 20-episode stint on the Krypton series. Frequent Spike Lee collaborator Delroy Lindo is the veteran of the cast so far, with him likely to be playing Abraham Whistler — Blade’s mentor.
What will it be about?
As of right now, there is no plot synopsis or any concrete ideas other than the Ebony Blade will likely feature, following a tease in the Eternals post-credits sequence with Kit Harington’s Dane Whitman. Harington is yet to be confirmed to return for the film, with it possible the rewrites have led him to be cut.
Who is behind the camera?
Blade is now set to be directed by Yann Demange, who has previously directed the much-loved thriller flick ’71. Demange has spent most of his career in television to date, with him helming zombie series Dead Set and crime drama Top Boy. The French director replaced Bassam Tariq on the project, following reports of an underwhelming first draft and production stalls.
The writing team for Blade includes Stacy Osei-Kuffour for the original draft, and Michael Starrbury who took over for the rewrites. Starrbury has specialized in crime dramas so far in his burgeoning writing career, while Osei-Kuffour was part of the writing team for the seminal Watchmen television series.
When will Blade come out?
When it’s ready to do so. Although it was set to release in September 2024, Variety revealed on Tuesday that Marvel Studios pushed the film back to February 14, 2025. So, assuming all goes to plan, it’ll release 26 years and six months after Snipes’ Blade hit cinemas in 1998.