Blade is turning out to be a big misnomer for this most unfortunate of Marvel movies. Maybe we should start calling it Blunt Butter Knife instead as it’s become abundantly clear that the MCU’s long-awaited reboot of the Daywalker’s vampire-slaying exploits is struggling to stay sharp enough to make it to the big screen.
Just recently, Blade earned fresh woe as it waved goodbye to its second director, Yann Demange, with the Lovecraft Country filmmaker following in Bassam Tariq’s footsteps in parting ways with Marvel over this project. Thanks to The Hollywood Reporter, we now have an eye-opening peek into what’s really going on behind the scenes. And somehow it’s even more dire than we thought.
Unsurprisingly, leading man Mahershala Ali is said to be growing “increasingly frustrated” by all the problems with getting this one off the ground — as he has a right to be, given he was announced to be playing Blade all the way back in summer 2019. Two directors, six screenwriters, and five years later, all he’s got to show for it is three confirmed cast members. Wait, no, make that two.
Blade has just lost one out of its three confirmed cast members
As per THR, Marvel has been dragging its heels so long with Blade that one of the very few actors announced to have signed up to star in it has walked away from the production. Da 5 Bloods veteran Delroy Lindo was supposed to feature alongside Ali in the film, but he’s now reportedly no longer involved.
This leaves just Ali himself and Mia Goth. The MaXXXine actress and all-around Scream Queen is still believed to be attached as the film’s villain, demon goddess Lilith. Clearly, its horror leanings are appealing to the star as she’s sticking around despite a total overhaul of her character’s context and arc. THR reveals that the original plan was for the movie to be set in the 1920s with Lilith hunting for “the blood of Blade’s daughter.”
So, just as a friendly reminder, Blade officially remains scheduled for release on Nov. 7, 2025, less than 18 months away… And it has no director and just two people set to appear in it. If Marvel manages to pull off the miracle of releasing this one on time then clearly Quantumania is destined to become a fan-favorite, as apparently impossible things can happen after all.
