Despite how excited everyone is for Marvel’s upcoming reboot of Blade, it looks like fans are going to have to wait at least a few more years for the movie to actually hit theaters. According to a new leak over on Reddit, the Mahershala Ali-led flick won’t be released until 2023. Though the exact date has yet to be confirmed, an opening around this time would make sense given all of the work that still has to be done for the movie.
We already know that Blade won’t be a part of Phase 4 of the MCU and now, it sounds more than likely that the titular vampire slayer will appear in Phase 5 and potentially even team up with the Avengers. There’s a lot of hype headed into this highly-anticipated remake, too, so the studio should take all the time it needs to make sure that it’s perfect. The wait’s going to be agonizing for longtime Blade fans who are eager to see the hero back in action, but thankfully, Marvel has plenty more projects on the horizon to keep everyone entertained in the meantime.
Executives still have to round out the cast as well as select a director, too, but Kevin Feige has reportedly heard the demands of fans and has thus been searching for a black filmmaker to helm the movie. Spike Lee, Steve McQueen, Lee Daniels and Nia DaCosta are all being eyed to possibly take on the ambitious endeavor, while Jordan Peele seems to have already removed his name from consideration.
All things considered, this reboot has the potential to put up box office numbers similar to Black Panther, especially considering all of the money that the original trilogy made. Then again, studios have recently seen hugely anticipated reboots fail to meet lofty expectations. Just ask the executives at Sony how they feel about Men in Black: International.
In any case, there’s still a lot of work to be done before Blade can hit the big screen, and while we’re all impatient to see Ali knock the role out of the park, the best thing we can do is trust in Marvel and wait until 2023.
