We’ve known that a Blade movie is coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2019. Who can forget with the film’s star—Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali—put on a hat that said “BLADE!” and caused an excited uproar in San Diego Comic-Con’s Hall H?! Though there have been some ups and downs with this movie, hopefully, we’ll only see smooth sailing for our favorite vampire from here on out.
Here’s everything we know about the upcoming Blade movie–including the latest behind the scenes update with True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto joining as a writer.
Title
The title of this movie is simple: Blade.
Blade‘s Plot
Right now there are no plot details for Blade. But, we can imagine the film will borrow from the character’s comic origins. Blade debuted in the tenth issue of Marvel’s Tomb of Dracula comic back in 1973, from writer Marv Wolfman and penciller Gene Colan. He quickly became a supremely popular character, a half-vampire killer of vampires and other occult baddies. Blade first made it to the big screen in 1998 starring Wesley Snipes. Two sequels followed—one of them good—but eventually, that franchise sort of fell by the wayside.
All of this leads us to wonder how dark the movie could get. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was a horror movie, so Blade will probably go full scary. Even if it doesn’t get as bloody as the Wesley Snipes movies did, a dark and scary PG-13 Blade could be, forgive the pun, marvelous.
Behind the Scenes
Playwright Stacy Osei-Kuffour (Watchmen) wrote an early draft of the script. In 2021, Bassam Tariq confirmed he will direct the film via The Playlist podcast. However, Tariq has since left the project.
The director offered a brief statement about his experience with Blade.
Now Lovecraft Country‘s Yann Demange has come aboard as Blade‘s new director. In addition, Michael Starrbury wrote a new script for the vampiric movie. According to The Hollywood Reporter, True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto has recently joined the project to work off of Starrbury’s script.
Blade‘s Cast
As mentioned above, two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali will play the daywalking half-vampire badass in the upcoming Blade movie. Meanwhile, it has now been confirmed that Delroy Lindo is joining Ali in film. While we don’t formally know who Lindo is playing, we think he could be Jamal Afari, who in the comics raised Blade and taught him all about vampire slaying. (In the Wesley Snipes films, he was called Abraham Whistler and was played by Kris Kristofferson.) And, as we saw (or rather, heard) at the end of Eternals, Kit Harrington will cross paths with Blade, reprising his role as Dane Whitman.
On February 22, 2022, Deadline reported Krypton actor Aaron Pierre has joined the cast of Blade in another undisclosed character. Unlike Lindo, however, this role will seemingly have bigger implications on the Marvel Cinematic Universe than just this one film.
“[T]he role itself was one of the more highly coveted parts in Hollywood since Tariq was tapped as director last fall. Execs on the project always had their eye on Lindo for his secret role but insiders add Feige, Tariq and others took their time finding the right person for this part, meeting dozens of up-and-coming actors for the role with Pierre becoming the favorite in recent weeks.”
This, to us, implies a character like Dracula who might have a much larger presence in the coming horror-tinged phase of the Marvel movies. More on that when it happens.
In April 2023, Deadline reports that X and Pearl star Mia Goth will join the cast in an unspecified role. She seems like a great choice to join the MCU’s flagship horror-tinged film given her cred in that specific genre. In addition to those Ti West movies, Goth has been in Suspiria, Infinity Pool, A Cure for Wellness.
Blade‘s Release Date
The Blade Marvel movie will arrive in theaters on September 6, 2024.
Originally published on July 20, 2019.
