The Marvel executive overseeing Blade has reportedly left the project, according to Jeff Sneider of The Hot Mic podcast.
On a recent episode of The Hot Mic, reliable industry insider Sneider said the Marvel executive overseeing the Mahershala Ali-led Blade movie has been taken off the project.
“There were allegations about Blade being the fourth lead in one of the drafts,” Sneider said. “I’ve gotten pushback on that, I don’t know if that’s 100 percent accurate; although, here’s what one source said … I really don’t want to name the person, but I’m told when the executive, who is working on Blade … Basically, he tried to obscure what was going to be in this draft from [writer] Stacy Osei-Kuffour. He either intentionally tried to obfuscate what the draft was going to entail or, as another source put it, he didn’t sound the alarm on the process or about what trouble the project was in. I’m told that he was fired. Another source said it was a parting of the ways.”
He continued, “I pushed back against that because who leaves Marvel? This is the dream job for most geek executives. I don’t think a lot of people are leaving on their own accord. My source said, Marvel didn’t comment on anything about this, but they said it’s one of the few times anyone’s actually heard Kevin Feige yell at someone … The executive on Blade, who I’m not going to name, you can maybe figure out who it is, is no longer with Marvel, and that is confirmed.”
What’s going on with Marvel’s Blade?
On November 1, 2023, Variety reported that Ali was nearly ready to walk away from Blade, which was initially announced at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, following multiple preproduction issues. The article said that one draft of the script “morphed into a narrative led by women and filled with life lessons” and saw Ali as the fourth lead in the movie.
Former Blade screenwriter Michael Starrbury pushed back on this, saying on November 2, 2023, “[Ali] was in 99% of the scripts I was a part of.” While he admitted that “a lot could have happened since I had anything to do with it,” Starrbury’s Twitter account has since been deleted.
Variety’s article also states that Blade is now being rewritten by Logan’s Michael Green and is looking to be filmed for a budget under $100 million.
“My source said that Michael Green, it’s in good hands with him,” Sneider said. “They feel like he has a good handle on Blade and they’re really committed to getting that right.”
Regarding the budget, Sneider said, “Marvel doesn’t really make movies for under $100 million. That’s just not their model for theatrical release. They’re not there to swing for doubles. So, there was definite pushback and I was told Blade will have the same or very similar budget to other MCU theatrical movies.”
