While Marvel only has one theatrical release this year with Deadpool and Wolverine, 2025 seems to be a packed year for the franchise. Apart from Captain America: Brave New World and The Fantastic Four, the MCU will also see Mahershala Ali’s Blade making it to the big screens in November 2025.
After multiple delays due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes and key personnel changes, Ali’s Blade is reportedly headed for filming in the summer. According to Jeff Sneider, the team behind the film has finally cracked a script that will satisfy fans of Blade and that they would be headed to film in New Mexico.
Mahershala Ali’s Blade Is Finally Happening
Mahershala Ali was announced as the MCU’s Blade way back in 2019. Marvel President Kevin Feige had revealed at the San Diego Comic-Con that the Oscar-winner would be joining the MCU and taking over from the legendary Wesley Snipes. Ali ended up making his MCU debut in a vocal cameo as Blade in the post-credits scene of Eternals (via THR).
A Blade film has been in development since the announcement and has undergone multiple changes. Initially, the script was set to be written by Stacey Osei-Kuffour, with Bassam Tariq directing. However, the filmmaker left the film a year after due to production delays and he was replaced by Yann Demange, who is still attached to the project.
After numerous delays, Blade is reportedly finally ready to shoot. According to industry insider Jeff Sneider, who gave multiple Marvel-related updates on the recent The Hot Mic podcast with John Rocha, said that the film was finally ready with a script and would go for filming in the summer,
“Blade is going to start shooting in Mexico this summer…it has been stripped down to Mahershala Ali just killing vampires, which is what it should have been all along.”
The film is reportedly written by Logan and Blade Runner 2049’s Michael Green. The script has reportedly undergone multiple changes but seems to have finally cracked the formula.
Why Did It Take So Long For Mahershala Ali’s Blade To Begin Filming?
Mahershala Ali took over from Wesley Snipes as the legendary antihero Blade in the MCU. Snipes had starred in the role in a trilogy of films produced by New Line Cinemas before the MCU. The films have often been considered some of the greatest superhero films ever made. The film has fans from everywhere, including popular podcast host Joe Rogan.
“I used to like Blade. Blade was my favorite…The beginning scene of that movie where Tracy Lords leads that guy into the middle of this disco and all these vampires are dancing. And then the blood starts spraying…it’s one of the best scenes in any horror movie ever.”
While the IP has always been popular, Mahershala Ali’s film was considered to be in development hell for a long time as it went through multiple script changes and personnel changes. According to Variety, Ali almost left the project when an iteration of the script pushed him to fourth lead.
However, the film seems to be in safe hands now, as Logan writer Michae Green stepped in to take over screenwriting duties. The film is still set to release on November 7, 2025, and has not yet been pushed to 2026. Ali had previously mentioned that he was optimistic about the direction in which the film was headed to EW,
“I’m sincerely encouraged in terms of where things are at and who’s on board and who’s leading the way as far as the writing of the script and the directing and all that. So that’s the extent of what I can tell you.”
While no other key people have been announced, the film is set to be directed by Yann Demange, who replaced Bassam Tariq.
