Mahershala Ali, who will play the lead role in Marvel Studios‘ Blade, is optimistic about progress on the film and hopes to resume production soon.
Speaking to EW, Ali offered an update on the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s take on the vampire hunter first portrayed on screen by Wesley Snipes. “We’re working on it,” Ali stated. “That’s the best I could tell you.” Alluding to a number of changes that have been made since he signed on, he continued, “I’m really encouraged with the direction of the project. I think we’ll be back at it relatively soon.”
The troubled production of Mahershala Ali’s Blade
The Blade reboot, announced at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, has faced multiple preproduction issues. Original director Bassam Tariq departed shortly after a release date in November 2023 was claimed, and Ali himself was reportedly ready to walk away due to dissatisfaction with the script. Now, Ali says he’s “…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.” He concluded his update saying, “So that’s the extent of what I can tell you.”
Yann Demange, director of Lovecraft Country, has now taken over as director on Blade, with Logan writer Michael Green on the script. Demange has confirmed that the film will have an R rating, saying, “I’m excited to show a kind of ruthlessness, a roughness [Ali] has, that allows him to walk the earth in a particular way. I love him for that. He’s got a dignity and integrity, but there is a ferocity there that he usually keeps under the surface. I want to unleash that and put it on the screen.”
Following an additional delay brought on by the Writers’ Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA concurrent strikes, Blade is now scheduled to hit theaters on November 7, 2025. Although Ali has yet to appear in the role in an MCU movie, he made a brief voice cameo in the post-credits scene of 2021’s Eternals.
