Marvel Studios Delays 'Blade' Reboot Following Director's Exit

It will be a while longer before fans get to see Oscar-winning actor Mahershala Ali take up the shades, sword, and coat of the vampire hunter, Blade.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the upcoming Marvel Studios reboot of "Blade" has seen its production and release date delayed following the exit of original director Bassam Tariq from the project.

Late last month, it was announced that filmmaker Tariq was exiting "Blade" shortly before the film was slated to go in front of the cameras in Atlanta, Georgia. As a result, Marvel Studios is putting pre-production on pause for the film in in Atlanta while the studio begins a search for a new director.

THR reports that crewmembers were notified of the decision on Tuesday, October 11. The hope is that Marvel will be able to restart production early next year.

Additionally, Marvel's parent company, Walt Disney Studios, has pushed back the film's release date by a number of months. The film has now been moved from November 3, 2023 to a September 6, 2024 release. It now takes the slot previously occupied by Marvel's "Deadpool 3," which will now move to November 2024. This was part of a number of recent shifts in Marvel Studios' overall release slate in the coming years.

THR noted that Marvel's planned "Blade" reboot had previously undergone multiple production shifts beforehand as the script underwent several rounds of rewrites. The current writer is scribe Beau DeMayo ("Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," "The Witcher"), who also worked on Marvel's "Moon Knight" and is currently the lead writer and showrunner on the "X-Men '97" animated series.

After Tariqs's exit, many expected that a new director could be quickly brought in to fill his shoes. However, after about two weeks, it reportedly became clear that Marvel Studios need more time to "deepen the search" for a new filmmaker to take over. Also, Marvel wanted to take more time to improve other aspects of the project, with one source explaining to THR, "They want to really get it right."

Marvel's "Blade" is expected to star two-time Oscar winner Ali, Delroy Lindo ("Get Shorty") and Aaron Pierre ("Old") are also attached to costar in the film. The film is based on the Marvel Comics character created by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, who first appeared in Marvel's "The Tomb of Dracula" Issue No. 10 in 1973.

Wesley Snipes previously starred in three live-action "Blade" films released in 1998, 2002, and 2004 released by New Line Cinema. There was also a short-lived, live-action television series that aired on Spike TV back in 2006 that starred Kirk "Sticky" Jones as Blade. There was also a twelve-episode anime series in the early aughts.

Ali's reboot would reintroduce the character within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which launched in 2008 with "Iron Man."

Marvel Studios first announced that a "Blade" reboot starring Ali was in the works back at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019. Ali made a small vocal cameo as the character in a post-credits scene for Marvel's "Eternals" last year. However, he did not make a physical appearance.