Plans for a new Blade movie from Marvel after the end of the Wesley Snipes trilogy have been in development hell for well over a decade, and it only gets much more frustrating, for us and for Mahershala Ali who is slated to be the lead star of the movie.
Blade is one of MCU’s newest additions, and will be one of the many movies released in Phase Five. The movie was officially announced to be a reboot at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, and eventually, cast Mahershala Ali as the titular character. But the movie has yet again, much like the idea of it even existing before production started, seen a few major setbacks preceding its release.
Blade Star Mahershala Ali Is Frustrated With Marvel
Marvel’s Blade is set to release next year in 2023 as part of Phase Five of the MCU, but recent reports from The Direct have suggested that the frustration of fans will be going up as a 2023 release for the movie has been deemed unrealistic, and Marvel might aim for a 2024 release.
This marks almost one year plus a decade ever since reports of Marvel working on the script for the movie emerged in 2013. Such a long wait is bound to create a set of impatient fans, but it’s not only them, even the lead star of the movie is pretty done with the slow process.
Mahershala Ali is dying to have the Blade movie out as soon as possible, but the latest setback (about the script) has sent his patience over the moon. Industry insider Jeff Sneider tweeted about Ali not being too happy with the script for the movie that Marvel drew up-
I’m told that the current BLADE script is roughly 90 pages and features exactly TWO (lackluster) action sequences. Mahershala said to be very frustrated with the process. Feige said to be spread too thin. But hey, that’s just what sources are telling me. Don’t shoot the messenger
— Jeff Sneider (@TheInSneider) September 28, 2022
The filming process for Blade hasn’t even started yet, and it’s going to take much longer than expected as the previous director for the movie, Bassam Tariq, suddenly left the project which leaves Marvel with the job of finding another director.
Barry Keoghan Seems Disappointed with Marvel
Joining the list of actors working for Marvel Studios projects that have shown their frustration about the slow process of production is Eternals star, Barry Keoghan.
Keoghan, whose acting repute is backed by performances in movies like The Killing of a Sacred Deer expressed his disappointment about the no-show announcement of a second Eternals movie in which he plays the aloof Eternal- Druig.
Related: Matt Reeves Reveals Horrifying Barry Keoghan Joker Still ‘Incomplete’
Speaking to GQ, Keoghan was pretty vocal about the lack of news for an Eternals sequel at Comic-Con as he said-
“[They] didn’t really mention Eternals 2, so…”
His reply seems like he’s pretty down about the whole thing. Eternals director Chloe Zhao has also said that she would be open to a sequel for the movie which only gives Marvel the incentive to get a second Eternals movie up and running as soon as they can.
Blade will release on November 3, 2023.
Source: Screen Rant
