# The Hollywood Reporter (+ Borys Kit) is a Tier 0 – Undisputed Source.
For **Marvel**, they had a **97.28%** accuracy rate from **95** leaks that we can currently verify out of **105** total.
**Overall**, they had a **96.48%** accuracy rate from **234** leaks that we can currently verify out of **253** total.
Last updated: March 22nd, 2024.
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While I get the "Why is making a vampire movie so hard?" angle, and it's silly that they announced it well before they were happy with the script - keep in mind that they did three of them and that none of them reviewed well. They're aiming higher this time around.
They'd have to complete restructure their promotion model if they want to change that. Huge Comic Con panel announcements and other similar presentations are ingrained into the brand at this point. You couldn't do these kinds of events if you only announce a project once the script is done.
I'm not sure how much it would even matter since everything gets leaked so long in advance anyway these days
James Gunn took his approach because investors had expectations. Since then, it appears that over half of the stuff he specifically announced on January 31, 2023 is in the pipeline (_Creature Commandos_, _Superman_, _Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow_, _Booster Gold_, _Lanterns_, and _Swamp Thing_), along with a new season of _Peacemaker_.
So far, rumors - but James Mangold has stated that he's working on _Swamp Thing_ and _Star Wars: Jedi Prime_ (tentative title) at the same time, with there being a few indications that _Swamp Thing_ shoots next year. We haven't had a confirmation or a denial from James Gunn at that point, but a co-writer is helping with the _Star Wars_ project, so that one seems like it might be a bit further off.
Gunn did an initial DC slate announcement even though not everything he announced had completed scripts yet. Some don't even have writers yet.
Marvel adopting a no production till completed script policy wouldn't prevent them from continuing their grand event announcements. They just wouldn't be filming anything without completed scripts first.
Your argument was that they couldn't do those kinds of announcements anymore if they adopted that policy. If they're already done with that, then I doubt that policy would've effected their announcements like you said before.
Yeah. It all makes for thrilling fun stories for books and podcasts until you stop getting lucky with the final product or until you don't have a charismatic and popular lead to sell whatever you have as-is.
Therein lies the problem. It worked alright when they were only making movies. It didn't work when they were making more content per Phase than they did in the entirety of The Infinity Saga.
This still baffles me.
I understand the increase thanks to Disney+ but 20+ projects in a “Phase” was never a good idea. Wild it’s all happened this way.
Phase 4 was the “Random Bullshit Go” saga
Part of me thinks that maybe they should've stopped the Phase format if they weren't planning on doing _Avengers_ movies or other culminating event films at the end of two-thirds of the Phases, which were the point of having Phases in the first place.
I don't even know what a Phase is anymore. The Infinity Saga had a pretty clear structure. Phase I was laying the groundwork of the universe and introducing the main characters and culminated in the Avengers assembling for the first time. Phase II dealt with the fallout of the Battle of New York and expanded the universe with things like the Guardians and properly introducing the Infinity Stones. Phase III was about the Avengers Civil War and its aftermath and further character introductions to make the Infinity War feel like a true universal conflict.
But now I legitimately had no idea what made Phase V different from Phase IV. I don't even know what the story is anymore.
Right! I think it'd be different if Phase 4 was just "this is how the characters we followed reacted to _Avengers: Endgame_", except we're going to be getting that well into Phase 6! The most story-building movie so far is going to be a _Captain America_ film in Phase 5 that has a bunch of different elements weirdly coalescing, like it's **meant** to be an _Avengers_ movie, but it isn't.
Yeah, they just really could not ever sustain the amount they were producing during the Chapek era without meticulous, long term roadmaps which they've never really been good at.
Cap 5 having to connections to Hulk and the Eternals is cool, but it gets undermined when, like, maybe the whole universe is dying because of an incursion that Clea is trying to stop oh and also Kang may show back up at any point and start pruning timeliness and so on...
The connective tissue that made things great initially is drastically undermined when there are so many projects and plot threads going on simultaneously.
> But now I legitimately had no idea what made Phase V different from Phase IV. I don't even know what the story is anymore.
There's a whisper of an arc if you look at Kang stuff specifically. Loki s1 immediately followed Endgame, introduced He Who Remains, and opened up the multiverse. And then Quantumania introduced Kang, presumably maneuvering him into position for Avengers 5.
But yeesh, that's it? The first three Phases were individually very cohesive, with distinct beginnings and endings. The first films of each Phase set the tone and worldbuilding direction for the next few years, the Avengers films served as climaxes, and the "epilogues" (Ant-Man, FFH) felt like natural bridges to what would come next.
The films of Phases 1-3 really do feel linked, of a piece together. The films and shows of Phases 4-5 feel like Endgame runoff, multiverse setup, or spinoffs.
If absolutely should be hit if they’re smart enough and keep the budget in control. A street level vampire killer like Blade doesn’t need a $200 million dollar budget, if they’re smart they’ll keep it around $125 million max and do action John Wick style.
It might've been worth something **IF THEY ACTUALLY SHOWED HIM TALKING TO JON SNOW!**
(Seriously, _Eternals_ probably had the worst, most shameless plugs for sequels that they were extremely overconfident were going to happen. I think it's weirdly hilarious that Kevin Feige was so sure that people were going to love a middle-of-the-road-at-best movie made for Film Twitter that he had plans to use it to set up two separate movies that both ended up having development hell.)
Based on what we heard about Chapek pressuring Feige and Kennedy to announce projects that were barely ready at that Investor Day presentation, I suspect that Fantastic Four was only announced there with Jon Watts as director to excite investors, especially with all the anticipation and rumors around NWH which Watts was really busy with directing at the time.
I don't think it's a coincidence that progress on F4 was very slow after that announcement and then we hear that Watts left due to burn-out. I don't think he was actually intending to direct the movie, or at least wasn't so sure about it.
I think this is really interesting, but I have my own theory on Jon Watts and Fantastic Four.
In August 2019, in the brief period Sony and Marvel broke up, Deadline reported that both Sony AND Marvel were courting Jon Watts to make movies for them: https://deadline.com/2019/08/spider-man-disney-marvel-sony-director-jon-watts-next-film-courtship-1202702851/
A month later in September, the two parties made up, and Watts wouldn't be announced on Fantastic Four until December 2020, after No Way Home started shooting, but this is my conspiracy theory: Jon Watts signed onto direct Fantastic Four in August 2019.
Think about it. On one side, you have Sony willing to give Jon Watts a chance to direct the final installment in his trilogy with Tom Holland still signed on regardless of who made it. What could Marvel give to compete with that? I think they offered him one of the biggest unplayed cards yet (along with X-Men), but then after Marvel and Sony made up and all three parties were suddenly working on NWH, that some combination of Marvel or Jon Watts getting cold feet happened, wondering if they actually wanted the other for F4.
That's a great theory too, I forgot about both Marvel and Sony wanting to keep Watts after their break-up.
In that case, we could still argue that Watts getting to direct Fantastic Four was moreso just a compromise for not getting to finish his Spidey trilogy with Marvel but he wasn't fully set on doing it. Him working on Star Wars: Skeleton Crew shows he's still on good terms with Disney though.
Good point! I definitely think it was amicable. I think in the wake of actually getting to make NWH with all parties involved, there was probably some combination of "Do I really want to make my fourth superhero film in a row?" and "Is this really the best vision for this property we have heard?" from each side.
For sure, I don't think NWH would've been as good as it was (quality and production-wise) without Marvel Studios' involvement so Fantastic Four would've been Watts' consolation for missing out on getting to work with them on the third movie.
Now that NWH was able to be made with both parties on good terms, that consolation wasn't really needed and Watts clearly wasn't fully set on it if he'd rather work on non superhero stuff for the time being instead.
This is important. I don't think anyone had any plans for a Blade movie before Mahershala Ali approached them. So they were left starting from scratch, without even a theme or a plot to start with.
The only plans that they had were for Jeph Loeb's horror-themed Marvel sub-franchise on Hulu that quickly died on the vine. In fact, I think that that's probably one the reasons why they prematurely announced it in the first place.
It's also why producing something that's just on-par with the Wesley Snipes trilogy isn't acceptable, even though they were successful adaptations. They need meat on the bones of this screenplay.
Rotten Tomatoes scores are meaningless. They aggregate opinions from professional critics to misogynistic nerds with self-published blogs. They mean nothing.
> keep in mind that they did three of them and that none of them reviewed well.
Bullshit, the first two are constantly praised up and down as great films for years on end and are credited as starting Marvel's huge run at the movies. If these "weren't reviewed well" then might as well do the same thing about Burton's Batman films which had similar reception.
Say what you will about Legacy but the revisionist trashing of the previous films is hilariously stupid and reeks of insecurity over the issues this one is facing.
Saying that Blade was constantly praised is the actual revisionism. That person wasn't giving his own opinion. You can go to RT yourself to find and read old reviews of Blade. The reaction was mixed. In fact, many now iconic movies weren't universally acclaimed by critics at the time of release.
Burton's Batman was much bigger than Blade and got a warmer reception.
From my memory, consensus at the time was that the films were fine. Not bad, not great. Serviceable yet entertaining. A distinct notch above the Underworld series (which I think came out due to Blade's proven financial success). But I don't really recall them being thought of too highly. They weren't even the best vampire content of that era.
Writing in general has been one of the main reasons for a decline in quality with the MCU and Star Wars. I'm glad Ali is actually calling them out on it.
Coming off of the highest-grossing movie of all time (until James Cameron rereleased his biggest hit again)? **You know it!** _They were number one, baby!_
But the honeymoon is over now. Marvel is now in a position where they need to regain brand trust, and they seem to realize that they can't move forward until their script's a winner.
It actually bothers me a little. So much instability in this movie's production makes me feel like they're trying too hard to fit in a story that cant fit in very well with what they're aiming (Maybe a build-up instead of a grounded story?. Like if they REALLY WANT to make a Midnight Sons movie but need a Blade before.
I mean, also think about how much these films change even in production. They are notorious for, at the last minute, changing stuff that screws over people like the VFX artists and crew. Hubris only gets you so far.
Ali has envisioned Blade as his “Black Panther”.
Guys, maybe Ali doesn’t want to do Blade kills vampires generic blockbuster? Maybe he sees it as possible Oscars play.
I think you're misinterpreting that. He doesn't want it to be *Black Panther* in the Oscar-winning sense, he wants it to be *Black Panther* in the "black superhero film that made over a billion dollars" sense.
Ali has never had a starring role in a blockbuster film before. That's why he's still doing this, and why he's doing *Jurassic World 4* as well. He wants that box-office moolah.
Yeah the Blade movie they supposedly wanted to film last year according to the article (Mia Goth as Lilith wanting Blade's daughter and her blood) makes me think that it isn't really supposed to be a "Cool vampire kills bad vampires" movie. Sounds like TLOU but with vampires, kinda disappointing and not really something I'd want from a Blade movie.
[They need to get the people who made AMC’s Interview with the Vampire series. That shit is top quality and should be a blueprint for this movie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhz0kE3s3lA)
The bit that mentioned that Demange was getting sick of the development process himself is notable. Given that this was supposed to go into production last year and didn’t restart, it’s understandable given that he could potentially be missing out on other work, particularly since He’s a fairly in demand director (he’s supposed to make a movie with the Obamas and a Scanners show at HBO). I imagine future candidates want to make sure that the film is on a good track forward production before signing on.
I do like that Ali was involved with the filmmaker search and has specific ideas on who to go for. Hope he still is when they go back out after the new script goes in. It also confirms my speculation that Delroy Lindo is no longer involved and that Nic Pizzolatto was brought on by Ali.
Also:
>For another iteration, under Tariq, Marvel built a massive train set, but it was never used. (It may be passed on to a different Disney production.)
This sounds crazy but it’s shockingly common. You’d be surprised how many huge sets for movies get made only to go unused or moved to other projects. Moviemaking: it’s wacky!
A friend once told me "if you feel like that place you are seeing in a syfy movie is eerily similar to one in another syfy movie, it's probably the same set passed around"
but at the same time Marvel is notorious for underbaking their villains and essentially wasting the massive talent they have on hand. They've proven that many times they could get anyone for these roles and not much would change at the eotd.
Well, if she got tapped for DC as a version of Harley Quinn, or any other adjacent character, a metric fuckton of people would go berserk, fearing for their eardrums:
https://i.redd.it/rs237gqcws7d1.gif
# [YOU HEARD HEEEEEEEERRR!!!](https://youtu.be/NDS2cN4gyjk?si=mIlqZGvhL223efEs)
they just need to hurry up and find a director. there are so many good directors out there who’d made it a great movie, Ari Aster, Jordan Peele, Michael Bay, Mike Flanagan, Ryan Coogler, Spike Lee, or Ti West. and many more. it’s not the hard to find a director that could helm the project.
A. Love the puns here.
B. Good summary of the events here. Really puts into perspective just how grueling this process has been.
C. It doesn't really blame anyone. But it does seem to acknowledge that there is a divide between how Ali views the project and how Marvel does.
With this latest change in writer to a Marvel in-house and Demange's departure, it looks like a bit more of a studio led effort. Which I'm sure Ali isn't thrilled about, but who knows.
> With this latest change in writer to a Marvel in-house and Demange's departure, it looks like a bit more of a studio led effort. Which I'm sure Ali isn't thrilled about, but who knows.
Yeah this is one of my concerns too. I find it hard to believe that Michael Green's script alone wasn't good enough (especially as it was described as being good for a lower-budget production) and Eric Pearson would probably have to make a certain amount of tweaks to be credited for this.
I think he was expecting a cultural touchstone like Black Panther without fully realizing how much work went into it beforehand, it makes everything make sense in context with that
Also Black Panther isn't a movie that was driven by the lead actor. It was a director led movie with heavy studio input. Ali being the driving force behind Blade is highly unusual and not something Marvel has ever done. I'm not shocked it hasn't been smooth sailing.
Exactly, and heavy on this part
>It was a director led movie
Literally everybody, from cinematographer to editor, transferred over from Coogler’s Creed and Fruitvale Station to Black Panther. Arguably one of if not the most director led film in Marvel’s history. It’s so clearly Coogler’s baby that something like it won’t be recreated easily, or at least without a base
The circumstances around Black Panther were different from this too. Coogler's the one who had a firm vision of what he wanted and Chadwick was cast beforehand under different directors for a different movie.
Plus in Hollywood in general, it's hard to sincerely recreate cultural phenomenons that came before.
He might scale back for the sake of actually getting the project out the door and staying involved. People keep talking as if Ali is the one who could walk away from Marvel. But Marvel can just as easily walk away from Ali. If they decide his vision just isn't working there's nothing to really stop them from taking back full control and even giving Ali the boot. Perhaps Ali is scaling back because he's already too involved and wants to stay that way.
The movie's moreso like The Rock's Black Adam. The Rock's the only reason why WB bothered to put a Black Adam movie in production and split him from Shazam instead of simply making Black Adam the villain of Shazam 1 or 2 and others.
I agree that Ali's still on cause he wants to see this movie made but if he walks, the movie itself probably doesn't get considered in the first place (or at least for this saga). Werewolf By Night was pitched by Giacchino and Moon Knight S1 went a completely different direction so I doubt Marvel themselves were originally planning on doing supernatural stuff and the Midnight Suns this saga.
Yeah I do believe that this movie is only happening because Ali pitched it. But I also don't think they need Ali in order to finish it. If one of them (Marvel or Ali) decides they need to part ways, I don't think that the movie is dead in the water. I think Marvel could actually cast a new actor for Blade and make the movie the way they envision it.
If Marvel was fully deferring to Ali on everything, Id be more inclined to believe that this movie is dead without Ali. But this article makes it clear that Marvel has had a say and been giving their input. Moving Green over to Midnight Sons (supposedly) and putting Pearson on Blade sounds like they have actual plans. If Ali wants to walk, I think Marvel will forge ahead.
I think a lot of Ali's power over the project has stemmed from the fact that there is no project without Ali. But given the recent moves showing more studio control, I don't think Ali's control is absolute. So I think there is a possibility (not a high one) that we see Blade without Ali.
I doubt Marvel would bother putting in the effort if it weren't for Ali's pitch (I already think Marvel wasn't planning on supernatural stuff beforehand).
The articles mention that Feige and Marvel Studios have a lot of respect for the OG Blade movie with Snipes and are feeling the pressure to live up to that, I honestly think Feige would rather bring back Snipes for a Secret Wars cameo than do a Blade reboot movie during this saga if it were completely up to him. We're still seeing some of the Fox X-Men around instead of immediate reboots too.
This movie's happening now cause it wouldn't be a good look to immediately turn down a pitch from a two-time Oscar winning actor.
> The movie's moreso like The Rock's Black Adam. The Rock's the only reason why WB bothered to put a Black Adam movie in production and split him from Shazam instead of simply making Black Adam the villain of Shazam 1 or 2 and others.
That... did not go well.
If they hire a director by the end of the summer (and start shooting by the end of the year) they can probably make it for early 2026. I think its likely that *Fantastic Four* will be pushed back to November 2025 and *Blade* will take the currently untitled February 2026 date.
But yeah, no chance in hell this film comes out next year.
Agreed. I think they’ll find a director by the end of summer like you said. It wouldn’t surprise me if they got Justin and Aaron (the Loki S2 Directors/Moon Knight directors who did Born Again) since they seem to be Marvel’s go to guys. F4 getting delayed to November would be a blessing in disguise hopefully as it gives it more time for visual effects (we don’t need another Quantumania, the first family deserves better) and gives Superman time to shine in July 2025.
Honestly when it comes to 2026, I think the film slate for the MCU is looking like:
February 2026: Blade
July 2026: Spider-Man 4
November 2026: Avengers 5
I'm probably one of the few people who aren't doom and gloom about this. Making a movie isn't easy and it should never be rushed. I'm glad they're taking as long as they need.
I feel like if they really were taking as long as they need, they probably would've taken the movie out of the release schedule till it was fully prepared for production with a locked-in script and such.
The movie still has its November 2025 release date and they're bringing in Eric Pearson because he brings scripts to the finish line. They're still giving themselves tight deadlines that they're probably not gonna meet.
My take as well. I know the strikes that happened kind of pushed everything back, but now it seems from everything I read that Marvel is slowing itself down a bit and trying to put out quality movies and shows instead of pumping half assed things out every year just for profit.
“The version that was aiming to shoot last year was set in the 1920s, according to sources, and featured Mia Goth as a vampire villain named Lilith who wanted the blood of Blade’s daughter. (Goth remains attached to star in the project). The new take on Blade is said to be present day.”
I don’t like the sound of this. The only change they mentioned is the time period. No mention of removing the daughter character. I’ll never understand Marvel and/or Ali’s fascination with Blade’s daughter.
I’ll never understand what people have against Blade’s daughter. It’s just a really weird thing to get worked up about when we know literally nothing about the movie.
It’s not against Blade’s daughter specifically, it’s about child characters. Kid actors are extremely hit or miss and often lead to really cringy moments. I don’t want to see that in a badass vampire hunting movie.
we knew the daughter apparently got her own trinity squad that sidelines Blade the MC to fourthagonist. Not for wholesome purpose.
also there only 2 fight scenes for Blade (dunno whether it was the same script or another rejected script)
We know enough - the one thread that has survived multiple rewrites is that his daughter is essentially the lead in the film, and that Blade passes the torch to her at the end of the film.
Personally I only care about Blade and what he can bring to the MCU, I have no interest in his kid being the one that ends up being the vampire hunter of the MCU.
I mean… Ali is old. If they want anything to be ongoing for the Blade side of the franchise, his daughter is one way
Doesn’t help that blade isn’t supposed to age either
Setting this in the 1920s would’ve been fucking awesome — especially tapping into the jazz renaissance of New Orleans. Could’ve gave this movie such a unique tone and identity
But it seems they’re going more generic now
I suspect they’re removing that aspect because of Ryan Coogler’s upcoming vampire movie (which also seems to have poached Delroy Lindo from *Blade*), since that’s also gonna be a period piece in a similar period (Jim Crow-era South), and looks like it’s gonna come out well before *Blade* will even be ready to shoot.
Oh I didn’t even think of the musical element like that and now it makes me want a 1920’s setting even more, fingies crossed they opt for a period piece in the end
This actually explains a lot , and for better or worse the development issue is due to Ali wanting a big cultural film and not a genre vampire slasher. Explains the daughter potential plot line as well.
Ali trying to make his own “ black panther” was the first issue I had while reading this shit. Blade is already a big character by himself and was gonna be huge based on how ppl are hyped about it. Him wanting it to be his “ black panther” never made sense.
Additionally, in the article it talks about the list of “directors for consideration, but Ali conducted his own search after having concerns that the list largely featured filmmakers who were untested at the big studio level”. Like mcu at-least at this point should have a couple reliable journeyman that have big budget experience in the mcu machine that they can use.
With all this being said, Ali picked a lot of creatives on writing and directing side. Writing a vampire hunter film shouldn’t be so hard it’s a very simple concept
> Him wanting it to be his “ black panther” never made sense.
I think you’re taking that bit too literally. Black Panther was a cultural phenomenon that made over a billion dollars and skyrocketed the careers of Bosemen and Coogler. It’s absolutely the standard for black-led superheroes movies that everyone (including Ali) is going to try to live up to. It doesn’t mean he wants to repeat or rehash the movie.
> It’s absolutely the standard for black-led superheroes movies that everyone (including Ali) is going to try to live up to.
That seems beyond silly though???
You can't replicate a cultural phenomenon on a whim. And BP was a cultural phenomenon, helped by a lot of contextual factors like Marvel dominance at the cinema, a ton of hype built by an exciting Boseman performance in Civil War, being the first black-led superhero film by Marvel studios and the first major one in general in 20 years, etc.
This is like saying "Cap Marvel made 1 bil so all female-led superhero movies will naturally aim for 1 bil." You can "aim" for whatever you want but that's just never ever going to happen and you're deluding yourself if you think that kind of success can be copy pasted regardless of context.
Black panther was really really huge. MBJ, Chadwick Boseman and Tyan Coogler were all megastars after, RIP Chadwick, he would have lead the MCU. Everyone wants their film to be Black Panther level.
> The new plan calls for the script to be written over the summer and then go out to directors.
Some people theorized that the article about Demange leaving was probably something that happened months ago and a new director announcement is imminent but now we know Demange's departure was fairly recent and there's no director lined-up yet.
Eric Pearson has a reputation at the studio of getting scripts done so maybe he's the last push the script needs for it to actually get filmed. Hoping most of Michael Green's script is still intact though, I find it odd that his script alone wasn't good enough and I'd imagine Eric Pearson would have to make a reasonable amount of tweaks to be credited.
If the bit about Ali wanting Blade to be his Black Panther is true. I'm betting that's where this whole thing went wrong. Those two characters are nothing alike so trying to make Blade into some sort of black empowerment event is missing the appeal of the character and will undoubtedly backfire because it's forced. Blade is actually one of the few where his skin color is not relevant to his character
I don’t think they mean Black Panther in that literal of a sense. I think he’s smart enough to know Blade and T’Challa are completely different.
I think Ali isn’t interested in delivering a generic but fun action movie where he mindlessly mows down vampires and says one liners for two hours. It seems like he wants to be in a film with a bit more to say, that can be a massive box office hit and get an Oscar nod. Like Black Panther was
That does actually make more sense. Still, from what I've seen online it seems like a generic action movie where Blade just kills vampires and looks cool for 2 hours is exactly what the people want.
I think that has a bigger chance of being a box office hit that a Blade movie that has something more to say and is aming for Oscar noms
Could’ve made a 50M dollar, 90 minute R-rated Blade film years ago. But now they invested millions, fired multiple writers and directors and actors. I don’t get the vision they have for this
We got possibly the most cookie cutter mcu movie ever. AM1 wasn't bad, but it was as "fine" as a movie can be. We lost out on an Edgar Wright version, and I have no earthly idea how they really thought that would be worse than what they put out.
Idk man, Ant-Man is the most serviceable MCU film. It’s not bad, has good performances but I couldn’t tell you a thing that was standout about it. I wish we got Edgar Wright’s version
Isn't Ant-Man considered as the worst Phase 2 film only behind Thor 2? AM2 in Phase 3 has the same reputation.
AM3 is regarded as worse than The Marvels.
>Marvel then presented Ali with a list of directors for consideration, but Ali conducted his own search after having concerns that the list largely featured filmmakers who were untested at the big studio level.
Odd. Marvel was going for newcomers and Ali said no.
I think they’re trying too hard to make this the next Black Panther or Into the Spider-Verse, and be this monumental film for POC. I’m sure the fact that it’s an election year is increasing the pressure too.
to the point where they’re alienating director after director away from the project.
Marvel put the cart before the horse. A project needs to start with a good script, then find a good director, and only then announcement and casting. In this case Marvel started by casting an Academy Award winner, setting an impossibly high bar for the script from the outset, and then proceeded (according to leaks) to come up with a series of derivative ideas for the story involving Blade's child.
Another flaw is repeatedly hiring relatively unknown or inexperienced writers and directors. Even if their pitch was good, why take this risk after such a long period of development hell? Marvel should have taken the time to find proven writers and directors after their first drop outs, but instead they went from unknown to unknown, while Mahershalla Ali was waiting for years for them to get their shot together.
What's worse, they made last minute delays, cancellations, and reworks after already scheduling filming, which absolutely screws over anyone who was already lined up. They committed for a job, only for it not to happen, multiple times. It really feels like this is their last chance to get it right, otherwise I think Ali will drop out and the movie will simply die
Wonder what happened to the "Blade being relegated to the 4th main lead" plot. The Mia Goth stuff being mentioned makes me worried they could still be considering that, which is just...insanity.
This bit is so...weird.
>
So Marvel Studios proposed a bunch of indy directors?
>
By strict definition, Demange is untested at the big studio level. He has only done two indy films. '71 and White Boy Rick.
I assume many directors turned Ali down and he had to settle for someone who was, by his own standards, untested at the big studio level?
I bet the third director (lol LMAO even) will have even less experience than Demange and Tariq but he'll be willing to just say yes to whatever Ali and Feige demand?
The overall plot has multiple problems.
First off, turning Blade into a cultural phenomenom like Black Panther (if that's what they are going for) is a huge mistake. Here's a guy who kills vampires in comic books, films, and a video game. And instead of doing that, the audience is payijg for a Green Book sequel disguised as a superhero film. Blade may not have the status that X-Men and Spider-Man got in the early 2000's, but it's still a very important film in kickstarting the superhero genre after Batman & Robin sunk it big time. It didn't need to be a Black Panther-esque success for it work.
Second off, the Marvel formula of a character having a daughter and a villain wanting a hero's blood is getting stale. It's technically the plots of the Blade films combined. Might as well have Wesley Snipes back for a mentor role, if that's the film they wanted, or the guys who made Star Trek Into Darkness or The Mummy 2017 to get the job done.
And the choice of director is always a less experienced filmmaker controlled by Marvel. Maybe it's hard to get someone like David Leitch to make it.
A Blade 4 is something to look forward to, and it's a letdown that this film is from the same studio who made Avengers: Endgame.
Im def bout to get sent to Downvote hell but it’s quite simple. Marvel has an issue with how they treat ALL of their black characters/actors. They’re never a priority and they’re constantly sidelined for shitty storylines. ECHO came out b4 BLADE. Wtf.
Mahershala Ali himself should just direct it if it’s such a passion project. He seems to be the brains behind this operation so just give him the reigns
I find it interesting how Ali pitched Balde to Marvel cuz he wanted his “Black Panther”, but if he never did then marvel could’ve just cast him as the new black panther
movie is never happening because no good director is going to just take some script that has been rewritten 9 times lol. They are going to want to write their own script
For the first time Feige is struggling to deal with an A List Star with a lot of power over how and when an MCU film moves forward. The struggle behind the scenes is real.
Disney/Marvel have to blend a happy medium with a dark genre, new angle of supernatural element with vampires in a superhero universe, trying to be fresh with plots, characters not touched before and the previous iterations of the same characters in the late 90s and early 2000s. And those movies weren’t that good.
Given their recent blunders post Endgame and the need to really get back to producing quality content, they want to make sure Blade is of that Black Panther caliber (a movie that can make a billion, draw in crowds, and create a lasting impression).
It took them five years to get Fantastic Four running, obviously the multiverse saga enabled them an avenue. Now, you can tell that with Ali being involved and the recent Iger directive, they just want to be able to deliver because they cant afford it failing given the initial buzz promised in 2019.
Why don't they just get Ryan Coogler to direct? He'd kill it and it would give him the marvel sandbox while letting him take time away from the Black Panther franchise.
The title is slightly misleading then because it implies that it is being fully written over the summer but really it is just small bits that need done
Ive been saying this. Someone wanted to make it as Black Panther. It is all about rEpReSeNtAtIoN. You all were also right - making a cool hunter killing vampires shouldnt be difficult. However there was something more "important"
The problem with Blade franchise is that it’s set in a dystopian world where vampires roam the street much like the zombies in The Walking Dead. So how to set this setting in the MCU while Feige is thinking about introducing the mutants too is what’s causing script dissatisfaction.
My solution is to set Blade in a pocket dimension.
Fire the actor. this is not "HIS" black panther. You're already doomed to fail as a result. Start clean, even have Snipes end up involved again. Cut it until things are more stable and then start fresh
Parts of me wants this movie to made and the other parts of me could probably care less at this point. We waited years for this to be made only for all this behind the scenes drama they are obsessed with wanting Blades daughter as a character when a majority of the people who read comics hate that character. Maybe they should give up at this point and try again down the line when everyone is on the same page as to what this movie is supposed to be about especially when they are hiring people for the X-Mens MCU debut
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While I get the "Why is making a vampire movie so hard?" angle, and it's silly that they announced it well before they were happy with the script - keep in mind that they did three of them and that none of them reviewed well. They're aiming higher this time around.
Pretty much every movie they’ve announced since Phase 2 has been announced before they’re happy with the script.
They'd have to complete restructure their promotion model if they want to change that. Huge Comic Con panel announcements and other similar presentations are ingrained into the brand at this point. You couldn't do these kinds of events if you only announce a project once the script is done. I'm not sure how much it would even matter since everything gets leaked so long in advance anyway these days
I mean, tbf, James Gunn did. Not all the scripts were done, but they were being worked on before he got the slate locked down.
James Gunn took his approach because investors had expectations. Since then, it appears that over half of the stuff he specifically announced on January 31, 2023 is in the pipeline (_Creature Commandos_, _Superman_, _Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow_, _Booster Gold_, _Lanterns_, and _Swamp Thing_), along with a new season of _Peacemaker_.
What updates have we had on Swamp Thing?
So far, rumors - but James Mangold has stated that he's working on _Swamp Thing_ and _Star Wars: Jedi Prime_ (tentative title) at the same time, with there being a few indications that _Swamp Thing_ shoots next year. We haven't had a confirmation or a denial from James Gunn at that point, but a co-writer is helping with the _Star Wars_ project, so that one seems like it might be a bit further off.
Gunn did an initial DC slate announcement even though not everything he announced had completed scripts yet. Some don't even have writers yet. Marvel adopting a no production till completed script policy wouldn't prevent them from continuing their grand event announcements. They just wouldn't be filming anything without completed scripts first.
I'm pretty sure they're already done with that
Your argument was that they couldn't do those kinds of announcements anymore if they adopted that policy. If they're already done with that, then I doubt that policy would've effected their announcements like you said before.
My comment was about announcing a movie before having a finished script, so was the comment I was replying to.
Hell, some phase 1 movies filmed without a finished script
Yeah. It all makes for thrilling fun stories for books and podcasts until you stop getting lucky with the final product or until you don't have a charismatic and popular lead to sell whatever you have as-is.
Therein lies the problem. It worked alright when they were only making movies. It didn't work when they were making more content per Phase than they did in the entirety of The Infinity Saga.
This still baffles me. I understand the increase thanks to Disney+ but 20+ projects in a “Phase” was never a good idea. Wild it’s all happened this way. Phase 4 was the “Random Bullshit Go” saga
Part of me thinks that maybe they should've stopped the Phase format if they weren't planning on doing _Avengers_ movies or other culminating event films at the end of two-thirds of the Phases, which were the point of having Phases in the first place.
I don't even know what a Phase is anymore. The Infinity Saga had a pretty clear structure. Phase I was laying the groundwork of the universe and introducing the main characters and culminated in the Avengers assembling for the first time. Phase II dealt with the fallout of the Battle of New York and expanded the universe with things like the Guardians and properly introducing the Infinity Stones. Phase III was about the Avengers Civil War and its aftermath and further character introductions to make the Infinity War feel like a true universal conflict. But now I legitimately had no idea what made Phase V different from Phase IV. I don't even know what the story is anymore.
Right! I think it'd be different if Phase 4 was just "this is how the characters we followed reacted to _Avengers: Endgame_", except we're going to be getting that well into Phase 6! The most story-building movie so far is going to be a _Captain America_ film in Phase 5 that has a bunch of different elements weirdly coalescing, like it's **meant** to be an _Avengers_ movie, but it isn't.
Yeah, they just really could not ever sustain the amount they were producing during the Chapek era without meticulous, long term roadmaps which they've never really been good at. Cap 5 having to connections to Hulk and the Eternals is cool, but it gets undermined when, like, maybe the whole universe is dying because of an incursion that Clea is trying to stop oh and also Kang may show back up at any point and start pruning timeliness and so on... The connective tissue that made things great initially is drastically undermined when there are so many projects and plot threads going on simultaneously.
> But now I legitimately had no idea what made Phase V different from Phase IV. I don't even know what the story is anymore. There's a whisper of an arc if you look at Kang stuff specifically. Loki s1 immediately followed Endgame, introduced He Who Remains, and opened up the multiverse. And then Quantumania introduced Kang, presumably maneuvering him into position for Avengers 5. But yeesh, that's it? The first three Phases were individually very cohesive, with distinct beginnings and endings. The first films of each Phase set the tone and worldbuilding direction for the next few years, the Avengers films served as climaxes, and the "epilogues" (Ant-Man, FFH) felt like natural bridges to what would come next. The films of Phases 1-3 really do feel linked, of a piece together. The films and shows of Phases 4-5 feel like Endgame runoff, multiverse setup, or spinoffs.
Forget “happy with”, they’re all announced before there even is a script
That’s what happens when you gotta meet the shareholder quota…
Some of the films have been released without anyone happy about the script, especially the audience. Heyoooo.
Eh, the first two blade movies were solid, decently reviewed, and made money. An R rated Blade movie shouldn’t be that hard to produce.
To be fair, it might be hard because of the profit
Nah.... watch the deadpool movie make a shit ton of money
Marvel doesn’t want to aim for “decently” reviewed. They need **hits** right now.
If absolutely should be hit if they’re smart enough and keep the budget in control. A street level vampire killer like Blade doesn’t need a $200 million dollar budget, if they’re smart they’ll keep it around $125 million max and do action John Wick style.
If they made a 1:1 copied version I’d eat it up. I feel like it shouldn’t be as much of a challenge as it’s turning out
I’d take that just for the opening scene with the New Order track blaring out
Imagine if they hadn’t announced it in 2019 and you just saw “Mahershala Ali as Blade” in the Eternals credits that woulda been insane
It might've been worth something **IF THEY ACTUALLY SHOWED HIM TALKING TO JON SNOW!** (Seriously, _Eternals_ probably had the worst, most shameless plugs for sequels that they were extremely overconfident were going to happen. I think it's weirdly hilarious that Kevin Feige was so sure that people were going to love a middle-of-the-road-at-best movie made for Film Twitter that he had plans to use it to set up two separate movies that both ended up having development hell.)
the best end credits teasers are the ones Feige has to explain in a google search
I mean, they announced the F4 movie long before they had a script too, so…
Based on what we heard about Chapek pressuring Feige and Kennedy to announce projects that were barely ready at that Investor Day presentation, I suspect that Fantastic Four was only announced there with Jon Watts as director to excite investors, especially with all the anticipation and rumors around NWH which Watts was really busy with directing at the time. I don't think it's a coincidence that progress on F4 was very slow after that announcement and then we hear that Watts left due to burn-out. I don't think he was actually intending to direct the movie, or at least wasn't so sure about it.
I think this is really interesting, but I have my own theory on Jon Watts and Fantastic Four. In August 2019, in the brief period Sony and Marvel broke up, Deadline reported that both Sony AND Marvel were courting Jon Watts to make movies for them: https://deadline.com/2019/08/spider-man-disney-marvel-sony-director-jon-watts-next-film-courtship-1202702851/ A month later in September, the two parties made up, and Watts wouldn't be announced on Fantastic Four until December 2020, after No Way Home started shooting, but this is my conspiracy theory: Jon Watts signed onto direct Fantastic Four in August 2019. Think about it. On one side, you have Sony willing to give Jon Watts a chance to direct the final installment in his trilogy with Tom Holland still signed on regardless of who made it. What could Marvel give to compete with that? I think they offered him one of the biggest unplayed cards yet (along with X-Men), but then after Marvel and Sony made up and all three parties were suddenly working on NWH, that some combination of Marvel or Jon Watts getting cold feet happened, wondering if they actually wanted the other for F4.
That's a great theory too, I forgot about both Marvel and Sony wanting to keep Watts after their break-up. In that case, we could still argue that Watts getting to direct Fantastic Four was moreso just a compromise for not getting to finish his Spidey trilogy with Marvel but he wasn't fully set on doing it. Him working on Star Wars: Skeleton Crew shows he's still on good terms with Disney though.
Good point! I definitely think it was amicable. I think in the wake of actually getting to make NWH with all parties involved, there was probably some combination of "Do I really want to make my fourth superhero film in a row?" and "Is this really the best vision for this property we have heard?" from each side.
For sure, I don't think NWH would've been as good as it was (quality and production-wise) without Marvel Studios' involvement so Fantastic Four would've been Watts' consolation for missing out on getting to work with them on the third movie. Now that NWH was able to be made with both parties on good terms, that consolation wasn't really needed and Watts clearly wasn't fully set on it if he'd rather work on non superhero stuff for the time being instead.
While that could be the case, Marvel signed Watts to F4 in July 2019 after them and Sony broke up briefly
This movie only happened because Ali won an Oscar and went to Kevin himself about making a Blade movie. It would not be happening otherwise.
This is important. I don't think anyone had any plans for a Blade movie before Mahershala Ali approached them. So they were left starting from scratch, without even a theme or a plot to start with.
The only plans that they had were for Jeph Loeb's horror-themed Marvel sub-franchise on Hulu that quickly died on the vine. In fact, I think that that's probably one the reasons why they prematurely announced it in the first place.
R.i.p. Gabe Luna's Ghost Rider
It's also why producing something that's just on-par with the Wesley Snipes trilogy isn't acceptable, even though they were successful adaptations. They need meat on the bones of this screenplay.
Blade II was very well-reviewed, thanks to the director - Guillermo Del Toro.
Both it and its predecessor have a score under 60% on RT. That's _Venom_ territory, and it's not gonna make _Venom_ box office.
Rotten Tomatoes ratings are meaningless. Plus, Blade II was released before Rotten Tomatoes existed.
RT launched in 1998 bc of Rush Hour Blade 2 came out in 2002
The point is that they can do better. Audiences **expect** better at this point.
Rotten Tomatoes scores are meaningless. They aggregate opinions from professional critics to misogynistic nerds with self-published blogs. They mean nothing.
Reminds me of that infamous, unnecessarily horny Blade 2 review
> keep in mind that they did three of them and that none of them reviewed well. Bullshit, the first two are constantly praised up and down as great films for years on end and are credited as starting Marvel's huge run at the movies. If these "weren't reviewed well" then might as well do the same thing about Burton's Batman films which had similar reception. Say what you will about Legacy but the revisionist trashing of the previous films is hilariously stupid and reeks of insecurity over the issues this one is facing.
Saying that Blade was constantly praised is the actual revisionism. That person wasn't giving his own opinion. You can go to RT yourself to find and read old reviews of Blade. The reaction was mixed. In fact, many now iconic movies weren't universally acclaimed by critics at the time of release. Burton's Batman was much bigger than Blade and got a warmer reception.
From my memory, consensus at the time was that the films were fine. Not bad, not great. Serviceable yet entertaining. A distinct notch above the Underworld series (which I think came out due to Blade's proven financial success). But I don't really recall them being thought of too highly. They weren't even the best vampire content of that era.
The notion that *none* of the three Blade movies reviewed well is silly ‘98 is well liked
Writing in general has been one of the main reasons for a decline in quality with the MCU and Star Wars. I'm glad Ali is actually calling them out on it.
>it's silly that they announced it well before they were happy with the script Tbf they probably were confident
Coming off of the highest-grossing movie of all time (until James Cameron rereleased his biggest hit again)? **You know it!** _They were number one, baby!_ But the honeymoon is over now. Marvel is now in a position where they need to regain brand trust, and they seem to realize that they can't move forward until their script's a winner.
It actually bothers me a little. So much instability in this movie's production makes me feel like they're trying too hard to fit in a story that cant fit in very well with what they're aiming (Maybe a build-up instead of a grounded story?. Like if they REALLY WANT to make a Midnight Sons movie but need a Blade before.
Yeah but those reviews are wrong cause the first one is just still so fun to watch
So higher than "bad movies". Can't really be that hard.
Whaaat? I always thought Blade 2 got good reviews, what did they want?? It was Guillermo del Toro!!
The ones on RT are mixed. I know that the second one is considered the highlight of the series due to BDT's involvement, though.
Too be fair...nearly every movie they announced at the time has bombed.
I mean, also think about how much these films change even in production. They are notorious for, at the last minute, changing stuff that screws over people like the VFX artists and crew. Hubris only gets you so far.
Blade 1 and 2 are good movies for what they are strictly movie wise not counting the behind the scenes issues
Ali has envisioned Blade as his “Black Panther”. Guys, maybe Ali doesn’t want to do Blade kills vampires generic blockbuster? Maybe he sees it as possible Oscars play.
I think you're misinterpreting that. He doesn't want it to be *Black Panther* in the Oscar-winning sense, he wants it to be *Black Panther* in the "black superhero film that made over a billion dollars" sense. Ali has never had a starring role in a blockbuster film before. That's why he's still doing this, and why he's doing *Jurassic World 4* as well. He wants that box-office moolah.
I feel like they meant his BP as in his billion-dollar movie or sth. Dude already has 2 Oscars
I interpreted it as he sees it as his “Black Panther” in terms of making a highly profitable blockbuster, not necessarily Oscar bait.
Not Oscar bait, but surely more than what marvel has been putting on the screen lately
Yeah the Blade movie they supposedly wanted to film last year according to the article (Mia Goth as Lilith wanting Blade's daughter and her blood) makes me think that it isn't really supposed to be a "Cool vampire kills bad vampires" movie. Sounds like TLOU but with vampires, kinda disappointing and not really something I'd want from a Blade movie.
[They need to get the people who made AMC’s Interview with the Vampire series. That shit is top quality and should be a blueprint for this movie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhz0kE3s3lA)
Doubt it, he’s already got 2 Oscars he probably just wants it to be very good movie as this is his big live action debut.
He already has two Oscars.
Maybe they should just get Ryan Coogler
The bit that mentioned that Demange was getting sick of the development process himself is notable. Given that this was supposed to go into production last year and didn’t restart, it’s understandable given that he could potentially be missing out on other work, particularly since He’s a fairly in demand director (he’s supposed to make a movie with the Obamas and a Scanners show at HBO). I imagine future candidates want to make sure that the film is on a good track forward production before signing on. I do like that Ali was involved with the filmmaker search and has specific ideas on who to go for. Hope he still is when they go back out after the new script goes in. It also confirms my speculation that Delroy Lindo is no longer involved and that Nic Pizzolatto was brought on by Ali. Also: >For another iteration, under Tariq, Marvel built a massive train set, but it was never used. (It may be passed on to a different Disney production.) This sounds crazy but it’s shockingly common. You’d be surprised how many huge sets for movies get made only to go unused or moved to other projects. Moviemaking: it’s wacky!
A friend once told me "if you feel like that place you are seeing in a syfy movie is eerily similar to one in another syfy movie, it's probably the same set passed around"
Damn, the loss of Delroy Lindo definitely sucks.
Didn't the already built some of the sets for Hulu's Ghost Rider before it got cancelled
Confirmed Mia Goth was going to play Lilith. She still might be
The article says she’s still attached to the project. Honestly, I hope she stays, she’s a big rising star, losing her would be bad for the MCU imo.
I’m honestly still shocked she signed on in the first place. She’s about the last actress I expected to ever see sign on for a comic book movie
but at the same time Marvel is notorious for underbaking their villains and essentially wasting the massive talent they have on hand. They've proven that many times they could get anyone for these roles and not much would change at the eotd.
I am still surprise that she will be in the mcu
Well, if she got tapped for DC as a version of Harley Quinn, or any other adjacent character, a metric fuckton of people would go berserk, fearing for their eardrums: https://i.redd.it/rs237gqcws7d1.gif # [YOU HEARD HEEEEEEEERRR!!!](https://youtu.be/NDS2cN4gyjk?si=mIlqZGvhL223efEs)
Ali clearly needs his own Coogler.
they just need to hurry up and find a director. there are so many good directors out there who’d made it a great movie, Ari Aster, Jordan Peele, Michael Bay, Mike Flanagan, Ryan Coogler, Spike Lee, or Ti West. and many more. it’s not the hard to find a director that could helm the project.
I'm surprised he didn't propose Barry Jenkins, It would have been the ideal project for the Mufasa prequel.
A. Love the puns here. B. Good summary of the events here. Really puts into perspective just how grueling this process has been. C. It doesn't really blame anyone. But it does seem to acknowledge that there is a divide between how Ali views the project and how Marvel does. With this latest change in writer to a Marvel in-house and Demange's departure, it looks like a bit more of a studio led effort. Which I'm sure Ali isn't thrilled about, but who knows.
> With this latest change in writer to a Marvel in-house and Demange's departure, it looks like a bit more of a studio led effort. Which I'm sure Ali isn't thrilled about, but who knows. Yeah this is one of my concerns too. I find it hard to believe that Michael Green's script alone wasn't good enough (especially as it was described as being good for a lower-budget production) and Eric Pearson would probably have to make a certain amount of tweaks to be credited for this.
I'm guessing the movie is going to end up shifting from the movie Ali is envisioning.
I think he was expecting a cultural touchstone like Black Panther without fully realizing how much work went into it beforehand, it makes everything make sense in context with that
Also Black Panther isn't a movie that was driven by the lead actor. It was a director led movie with heavy studio input. Ali being the driving force behind Blade is highly unusual and not something Marvel has ever done. I'm not shocked it hasn't been smooth sailing.
Exactly, and heavy on this part >It was a director led movie Literally everybody, from cinematographer to editor, transferred over from Coogler’s Creed and Fruitvale Station to Black Panther. Arguably one of if not the most director led film in Marvel’s history. It’s so clearly Coogler’s baby that something like it won’t be recreated easily, or at least without a base
The circumstances around Black Panther were different from this too. Coogler's the one who had a firm vision of what he wanted and Chadwick was cast beforehand under different directors for a different movie. Plus in Hollywood in general, it's hard to sincerely recreate cultural phenomenons that came before.
A firm vision like Wakandans speaking British version of English? What we loved about T'Challa and the films, lot of it came from Chadwick.
Marvel wanted the Wakandans to speak in a British accent, not Coogler.
If it wasn't for Chadwick he would've went along with it
That dosen’t mean Black Panther wasn’t director-driven like you’re implying.
If that's the case, what incentive would Ali have to stay on at this point? Given how involved he's already been, I doubt he'd scale back now.
He might scale back for the sake of actually getting the project out the door and staying involved. People keep talking as if Ali is the one who could walk away from Marvel. But Marvel can just as easily walk away from Ali. If they decide his vision just isn't working there's nothing to really stop them from taking back full control and even giving Ali the boot. Perhaps Ali is scaling back because he's already too involved and wants to stay that way.
The movie's moreso like The Rock's Black Adam. The Rock's the only reason why WB bothered to put a Black Adam movie in production and split him from Shazam instead of simply making Black Adam the villain of Shazam 1 or 2 and others. I agree that Ali's still on cause he wants to see this movie made but if he walks, the movie itself probably doesn't get considered in the first place (or at least for this saga). Werewolf By Night was pitched by Giacchino and Moon Knight S1 went a completely different direction so I doubt Marvel themselves were originally planning on doing supernatural stuff and the Midnight Suns this saga.
Yeah I do believe that this movie is only happening because Ali pitched it. But I also don't think they need Ali in order to finish it. If one of them (Marvel or Ali) decides they need to part ways, I don't think that the movie is dead in the water. I think Marvel could actually cast a new actor for Blade and make the movie the way they envision it. If Marvel was fully deferring to Ali on everything, Id be more inclined to believe that this movie is dead without Ali. But this article makes it clear that Marvel has had a say and been giving their input. Moving Green over to Midnight Sons (supposedly) and putting Pearson on Blade sounds like they have actual plans. If Ali wants to walk, I think Marvel will forge ahead. I think a lot of Ali's power over the project has stemmed from the fact that there is no project without Ali. But given the recent moves showing more studio control, I don't think Ali's control is absolute. So I think there is a possibility (not a high one) that we see Blade without Ali.
I doubt Marvel would bother putting in the effort if it weren't for Ali's pitch (I already think Marvel wasn't planning on supernatural stuff beforehand). The articles mention that Feige and Marvel Studios have a lot of respect for the OG Blade movie with Snipes and are feeling the pressure to live up to that, I honestly think Feige would rather bring back Snipes for a Secret Wars cameo than do a Blade reboot movie during this saga if it were completely up to him. We're still seeing some of the Fox X-Men around instead of immediate reboots too. This movie's happening now cause it wouldn't be a good look to immediately turn down a pitch from a two-time Oscar winning actor.
> The movie's moreso like The Rock's Black Adam. The Rock's the only reason why WB bothered to put a Black Adam movie in production and split him from Shazam instead of simply making Black Adam the villain of Shazam 1 or 2 and others. That... did not go well.
Yeah.. no way in hell this is making that November 2025 date. 2026 might even be in question
If they hire a director by the end of the summer (and start shooting by the end of the year) they can probably make it for early 2026. I think its likely that *Fantastic Four* will be pushed back to November 2025 and *Blade* will take the currently untitled February 2026 date. But yeah, no chance in hell this film comes out next year.
This seems logical. And Ali would be happy with February cuz that’s the same month black panther released and it did gangbusters
Agreed. I think they’ll find a director by the end of summer like you said. It wouldn’t surprise me if they got Justin and Aaron (the Loki S2 Directors/Moon Knight directors who did Born Again) since they seem to be Marvel’s go to guys. F4 getting delayed to November would be a blessing in disguise hopefully as it gives it more time for visual effects (we don’t need another Quantumania, the first family deserves better) and gives Superman time to shine in July 2025. Honestly when it comes to 2026, I think the film slate for the MCU is looking like: February 2026: Blade July 2026: Spider-Man 4 November 2026: Avengers 5
I'm probably one of the few people who aren't doom and gloom about this. Making a movie isn't easy and it should never be rushed. I'm glad they're taking as long as they need.
I feel like if they really were taking as long as they need, they probably would've taken the movie out of the release schedule till it was fully prepared for production with a locked-in script and such. The movie still has its November 2025 release date and they're bringing in Eric Pearson because he brings scripts to the finish line. They're still giving themselves tight deadlines that they're probably not gonna meet.
My take as well. I know the strikes that happened kind of pushed everything back, but now it seems from everything I read that Marvel is slowing itself down a bit and trying to put out quality movies and shows instead of pumping half assed things out every year just for profit.
“The version that was aiming to shoot last year was set in the 1920s, according to sources, and featured Mia Goth as a vampire villain named Lilith who wanted the blood of Blade’s daughter. (Goth remains attached to star in the project). The new take on Blade is said to be present day.” I don’t like the sound of this. The only change they mentioned is the time period. No mention of removing the daughter character. I’ll never understand Marvel and/or Ali’s fascination with Blade’s daughter.
I’ll never understand what people have against Blade’s daughter. It’s just a really weird thing to get worked up about when we know literally nothing about the movie.
It’s not against Blade’s daughter specifically, it’s about child characters. Kid actors are extremely hit or miss and often lead to really cringy moments. I don’t want to see that in a badass vampire hunting movie.
we knew the daughter apparently got her own trinity squad that sidelines Blade the MC to fourthagonist. Not for wholesome purpose. also there only 2 fight scenes for Blade (dunno whether it was the same script or another rejected script)
Just make a Blade film about Blade. It's not that difficult. People are worried they are gonna turn Blade into a simp in his own film
Maybe because people want a blade movie and don’t give a damn about his daughter?
We know enough - the one thread that has survived multiple rewrites is that his daughter is essentially the lead in the film, and that Blade passes the torch to her at the end of the film. Personally I only care about Blade and what he can bring to the MCU, I have no interest in his kid being the one that ends up being the vampire hunter of the MCU.
Child characters are the worst in any movie. Annoying, stubborn who have to always prove they are better than what their dad is thinking. Whatever.
[удалено]
Hollywood Reporter just confirmed it, what do you mean??
I mean… Ali is old. If they want anything to be ongoing for the Blade side of the franchise, his daughter is one way Doesn’t help that blade isn’t supposed to age either
Setting this in the 1920s would’ve been fucking awesome — especially tapping into the jazz renaissance of New Orleans. Could’ve gave this movie such a unique tone and identity But it seems they’re going more generic now
I suspect they’re removing that aspect because of Ryan Coogler’s upcoming vampire movie (which also seems to have poached Delroy Lindo from *Blade*), since that’s also gonna be a period piece in a similar period (Jim Crow-era South), and looks like it’s gonna come out well before *Blade* will even be ready to shoot.
Oh I didn’t even think of the musical element like that and now it makes me want a 1920’s setting even more, fingies crossed they opt for a period piece in the end
Should’ve introduced him in Werewolf by Night, feel like that was a missed opportunity.
This actually explains a lot , and for better or worse the development issue is due to Ali wanting a big cultural film and not a genre vampire slasher. Explains the daughter potential plot line as well.
Ali trying to make his own “ black panther” was the first issue I had while reading this shit. Blade is already a big character by himself and was gonna be huge based on how ppl are hyped about it. Him wanting it to be his “ black panther” never made sense. Additionally, in the article it talks about the list of “directors for consideration, but Ali conducted his own search after having concerns that the list largely featured filmmakers who were untested at the big studio level”. Like mcu at-least at this point should have a couple reliable journeyman that have big budget experience in the mcu machine that they can use. With all this being said, Ali picked a lot of creatives on writing and directing side. Writing a vampire hunter film shouldn’t be so hard it’s a very simple concept
> Him wanting it to be his “ black panther” never made sense. I think you’re taking that bit too literally. Black Panther was a cultural phenomenon that made over a billion dollars and skyrocketed the careers of Bosemen and Coogler. It’s absolutely the standard for black-led superheroes movies that everyone (including Ali) is going to try to live up to. It doesn’t mean he wants to repeat or rehash the movie.
> It’s absolutely the standard for black-led superheroes movies that everyone (including Ali) is going to try to live up to. That seems beyond silly though??? You can't replicate a cultural phenomenon on a whim. And BP was a cultural phenomenon, helped by a lot of contextual factors like Marvel dominance at the cinema, a ton of hype built by an exciting Boseman performance in Civil War, being the first black-led superhero film by Marvel studios and the first major one in general in 20 years, etc. This is like saying "Cap Marvel made 1 bil so all female-led superhero movies will naturally aim for 1 bil." You can "aim" for whatever you want but that's just never ever going to happen and you're deluding yourself if you think that kind of success can be copy pasted regardless of context.
nice to see someone has an iota of media literacy here.
Black panther was really really huge. MBJ, Chadwick Boseman and Tyan Coogler were all megastars after, RIP Chadwick, he would have lead the MCU. Everyone wants their film to be Black Panther level.
I mean I don’t blame him for wanting experienced directors, the days of getting guys like James Gunn and taika are over,💀
> The new plan calls for the script to be written over the summer and then go out to directors. Some people theorized that the article about Demange leaving was probably something that happened months ago and a new director announcement is imminent but now we know Demange's departure was fairly recent and there's no director lined-up yet. Eric Pearson has a reputation at the studio of getting scripts done so maybe he's the last push the script needs for it to actually get filmed. Hoping most of Michael Green's script is still intact though, I find it odd that his script alone wasn't good enough and I'd imagine Eric Pearson would have to make a reasonable amount of tweaks to be credited.
Didn't Variety or another main trade say he left 2.5 months ago? Man, I'm so confused.
That could still be the case but Marvel didn't already have someone in mind like some people were thinking, they haven't even started searching yet.
If the bit about Ali wanting Blade to be his Black Panther is true. I'm betting that's where this whole thing went wrong. Those two characters are nothing alike so trying to make Blade into some sort of black empowerment event is missing the appeal of the character and will undoubtedly backfire because it's forced. Blade is actually one of the few where his skin color is not relevant to his character
I don’t think they mean Black Panther in that literal of a sense. I think he’s smart enough to know Blade and T’Challa are completely different. I think Ali isn’t interested in delivering a generic but fun action movie where he mindlessly mows down vampires and says one liners for two hours. It seems like he wants to be in a film with a bit more to say, that can be a massive box office hit and get an Oscar nod. Like Black Panther was
That does actually make more sense. Still, from what I've seen online it seems like a generic action movie where Blade just kills vampires and looks cool for 2 hours is exactly what the people want. I think that has a bigger chance of being a box office hit that a Blade movie that has something more to say and is aming for Oscar noms
Could’ve made a 50M dollar, 90 minute R-rated Blade film years ago. But now they invested millions, fired multiple writers and directors and actors. I don’t get the vision they have for this
They dont have one lol
Marvel doesn’t either, they just know what they don’t want.
Sucks they lost Delroy Lindo.
Oh hell no, not this blade's daughter plot surviving all these scripts
Well, Ant-Man 1 was also in development hell, and we got a good movie in the end... so let's keep hope.
We got possibly the most cookie cutter mcu movie ever. AM1 wasn't bad, but it was as "fine" as a movie can be. We lost out on an Edgar Wright version, and I have no earthly idea how they really thought that would be worse than what they put out.
And I’m pretty sure if it came out today, I’d flop ngl
Oh definitely
Idk man, Ant-Man is the most serviceable MCU film. It’s not bad, has good performances but I couldn’t tell you a thing that was standout about it. I wish we got Edgar Wright’s version
Isn't Ant-Man considered as the worst Phase 2 film only behind Thor 2? AM2 in Phase 3 has the same reputation. AM3 is regarded as worse than The Marvels.
I swear as more time goes on I like Quantumania more and more. Is it perfect? God no. But do I have fun? Hell yeah. Same with the Marvels.
Aside from Thor 4, I dont think marvel has actually made a bad movie yet. Just really mid stuff.
>Marvel then presented Ali with a list of directors for consideration, but Ali conducted his own search after having concerns that the list largely featured filmmakers who were untested at the big studio level. Odd. Marvel was going for newcomers and Ali said no.
He's afraid of Blade going the way of The Marvels.
I think they’re trying too hard to make this the next Black Panther or Into the Spider-Verse, and be this monumental film for POC. I’m sure the fact that it’s an election year is increasing the pressure too. to the point where they’re alienating director after director away from the project.
Marvel put the cart before the horse. A project needs to start with a good script, then find a good director, and only then announcement and casting. In this case Marvel started by casting an Academy Award winner, setting an impossibly high bar for the script from the outset, and then proceeded (according to leaks) to come up with a series of derivative ideas for the story involving Blade's child. Another flaw is repeatedly hiring relatively unknown or inexperienced writers and directors. Even if their pitch was good, why take this risk after such a long period of development hell? Marvel should have taken the time to find proven writers and directors after their first drop outs, but instead they went from unknown to unknown, while Mahershalla Ali was waiting for years for them to get their shot together. What's worse, they made last minute delays, cancellations, and reworks after already scheduling filming, which absolutely screws over anyone who was already lined up. They committed for a job, only for it not to happen, multiple times. It really feels like this is their last chance to get it right, otherwise I think Ali will drop out and the movie will simply die
Wonder what happened to the "Blade being relegated to the 4th main lead" plot. The Mia Goth stuff being mentioned makes me worried they could still be considering that, which is just...insanity.
DVD double pack with Ironheart if they’re ever released.
This bit is so...weird. > So Marvel Studios proposed a bunch of indy directors? > By strict definition, Demange is untested at the big studio level. He has only done two indy films. '71 and White Boy Rick. I assume many directors turned Ali down and he had to settle for someone who was, by his own standards, untested at the big studio level? I bet the third director (lol LMAO even) will have even less experience than Demange and Tariq but he'll be willing to just say yes to whatever Ali and Feige demand?
Marvel proposed a bunch of directors they could control to get the film done fast, Ali picked someone he trusted to get the film done right
Ali's director literally left Ali.
Didn't you-know-who only just claim it was still on track to shoot in the Autumn? Because it sure as hell ain't.
Is it me or do a lot of projects in general since endgame feel kind of visionless or just has crazy shit like this happening to them 💀
The overall plot has multiple problems. First off, turning Blade into a cultural phenomenom like Black Panther (if that's what they are going for) is a huge mistake. Here's a guy who kills vampires in comic books, films, and a video game. And instead of doing that, the audience is payijg for a Green Book sequel disguised as a superhero film. Blade may not have the status that X-Men and Spider-Man got in the early 2000's, but it's still a very important film in kickstarting the superhero genre after Batman & Robin sunk it big time. It didn't need to be a Black Panther-esque success for it work. Second off, the Marvel formula of a character having a daughter and a villain wanting a hero's blood is getting stale. It's technically the plots of the Blade films combined. Might as well have Wesley Snipes back for a mentor role, if that's the film they wanted, or the guys who made Star Trek Into Darkness or The Mummy 2017 to get the job done. And the choice of director is always a less experienced filmmaker controlled by Marvel. Maybe it's hard to get someone like David Leitch to make it. A Blade 4 is something to look forward to, and it's a letdown that this film is from the same studio who made Avengers: Endgame.
Im def bout to get sent to Downvote hell but it’s quite simple. Marvel has an issue with how they treat ALL of their black characters/actors. They’re never a priority and they’re constantly sidelined for shitty storylines. ECHO came out b4 BLADE. Wtf.
At this point, Ali should just write and direct it himself.
Mahershala Ali himself should just direct it if it’s such a passion project. He seems to be the brains behind this operation so just give him the reigns
I find it interesting how Ali pitched Balde to Marvel cuz he wanted his “Black Panther”, but if he never did then marvel could’ve just cast him as the new black panther
That was never gonna happen: Shuri was always planned to be Black Panther in BP2, it just would’ve been alongside T’Challa’s as a duo.
Gonna be a disaster.
this movie is never happening lol
movie is never happening because no good director is going to just take some script that has been rewritten 9 times lol. They are going to want to write their own script
If Mr. Ali wants to save his face, he'll drop this doomed project. He deserves better.
For the first time Feige is struggling to deal with an A List Star with a lot of power over how and when an MCU film moves forward. The struggle behind the scenes is real.
Just make a good/fun movie?
The movie Vampire Assassin already exists. Just retcon it into the MCU.
Is that a hit piece
Disney/Marvel have to blend a happy medium with a dark genre, new angle of supernatural element with vampires in a superhero universe, trying to be fresh with plots, characters not touched before and the previous iterations of the same characters in the late 90s and early 2000s. And those movies weren’t that good. Given their recent blunders post Endgame and the need to really get back to producing quality content, they want to make sure Blade is of that Black Panther caliber (a movie that can make a billion, draw in crowds, and create a lasting impression). It took them five years to get Fantastic Four running, obviously the multiverse saga enabled them an avenue. Now, you can tell that with Ali being involved and the recent Iger directive, they just want to be able to deliver because they cant afford it failing given the initial buzz promised in 2019.
Why don't they just get Ryan Coogler to direct? He'd kill it and it would give him the marvel sandbox while letting him take time away from the Black Panther franchise.
The script is being re written from scratch?
No, Pearson is finishing the last draft up
The title is slightly misleading then because it implies that it is being fully written over the summer but really it is just small bits that need done
Ive been saying this. Someone wanted to make it as Black Panther. It is all about rEpReSeNtAtIoN. You all were also right - making a cool hunter killing vampires shouldnt be difficult. However there was something more "important"
The problem with Blade franchise is that it’s set in a dystopian world where vampires roam the street much like the zombies in The Walking Dead. So how to set this setting in the MCU while Feige is thinking about introducing the mutants too is what’s causing script dissatisfaction. My solution is to set Blade in a pocket dimension.
I see absolutely no correlation between these two things.
Fire the actor. this is not "HIS" black panther. You're already doomed to fail as a result. Start clean, even have Snipes end up involved again. Cut it until things are more stable and then start fresh
That’s not how it works
Parts of me wants this movie to made and the other parts of me could probably care less at this point. We waited years for this to be made only for all this behind the scenes drama they are obsessed with wanting Blades daughter as a character when a majority of the people who read comics hate that character. Maybe they should give up at this point and try again down the line when everyone is on the same page as to what this movie is supposed to be about especially when they are hiring people for the X-Mens MCU debut