Marvel Puts ‘Blade’ Movie on Hold

Blade was nearly ready to begin shooting, after undergoing a lengthy pre-production phase in Atlanta. Unfortunately, the film’s now on hold after former director Bassam Tariq left the project. Tariq departed in late September, and ever since then, Marvel has been looking for someone to replace him. Wouldn’t any number of up-and-coming directors be champing at the bit to get in the director’s chair for Marvel?

We don’t know a ton about what’s going on behind the scenes, or why exactly Tariq decided the movie wasn’’ for him. But we do know that production is on hold while they look. The movie is now slated for release in 2024, while production is due to resume in early 2023.

Maybe it’s just that vampire movies are cursed after Morbius. That was one of the biggest misses in recent history when it comes to superhero movies. Aside from that whole angle, there’s also the fact that theres already a perfectly good Blade trilogy. While they don’t have the greatest Rotten Tomatoes scores or anything like that, they’ve become cult classics in their own right. The series also began well before the whole superhero movie trend properly took off.

Before Blade was properly announced, Wesley Snipes actually mentioned that he’d be completely open to a return to the character. In a 2014 interview with the Toronto Sun, he shared his thoughts on the prospect. He said:

I’d be open to it. I think we’ve got some stones left unturned and there’s some latitude left for us to build on and I’d love to get back in the suit again and do some things I’ve learned how to do now that I didn’t know how to do then.

While some people were a little disappointed when Mahershala Ali was announced to play the character, Snipes expressed his support. Ali remains attached to the project, which is now scheduled to open in theaters on September 6, 2024.