Roughly a year has passed since two-time Academy Award-winning actor Mahershala Ali was announced to be headlining the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Blade reboot, but ever since the news was first revealed there’s been very little official word on the movie.
Marvel’s focus is clearly elsewhere for the time being after the entirety of their Phase Four output was delayed as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, and with the studio having staked out their release dates up until July 2022, Ali’s version of the Daywalker is still a couple of years away at the very earliest.
That being said, it might be even further away given that the leading man remains the only talent attached to the project, and while there have been numerous directors linked to Blade over the last twelve months, there are still a lot of pieces required to be put into place before the movie can even think about gearing up for production.
Ali has been no stranger himself to teasing his look as the title hero, and now some new fan art from Barrett Digital imagines Blade eschewing his signature trench-coat in favor of a more practical and combat-ready look, and you can check it out below.
Marvel has plenty of history adapting the classic comic book costumes of their heroes in order to give them a more realistic and tactical interpretation as the likes of Captain America, Hawkeye and Ant-Man have previously shown, but when you’re talking about introducing vampires into a mythology that already features gods, monsters and aliens, then a little creative license can be forgiven.
Of course, Sony’s Morbius will be first out of the gate to gauge audience’s reactions to a superhero blockbuster with a heavy vampiric element, but it wouldn’t be unfair to say that excitement and anticipation is already higher for the MCU’s new take on Blade.
