There are several projects that sound great but could never get off the ground. For a while, it was the Sandman movie—which became a series, and then there was the Green Lantern reboot—which also got retooled for television. Another project that seems to be languishing in development hell is the Marvel Studios’ Blade reboot with Mahershala Ali.
The film was announced back in 2019, and there has been no significant update since. Now, the film just received a major update—but it’s not one the fans are going to be happy with.
Jeymes Samuel Reportedly Exits Blade Reboot
Reports have been going around recently that director Jeymes Samuel (The Book of Clarence, The Harder They Fall) could be up for the Blade reboot helm, and some have said that he was able to impress Marvel with his pitch for the film. However, according to Jeff Sneider in a recent episode of The Hot Mic, Samuel is not in the running to helm the reboot.
So far, Sneider says that his sources close to the production have said that Samuel was not in line to direct the movie. He doesn’t go into detail, but he just said that his sources say that ‘somebody else’ is going to direct. He does say, “It may be true, but I’m hearing someone else.”
As far as the production is concerned though, Ali is still attached to the part, and the script will still be coming from Eric Pearson.
Who has been Attached to Blade?
Samuel is the third director attached to Blade who looked like he was finally going to be at the helm, and before him, other directors attached include Bassam Tariq (Mogul Mowgli) and Yann Demange (71).
There have also been other directors rumored to take on the project with names like Spike Lee and Gina Prince-Bythewood, and directing duo Bilall Fallah and Ail El Arbi. The most recent rumor, however, suggests that Jordan Peele (Get Out, Nope) could be in talks for the director chair because Ali just started following him on Instagram.
Should They Just Quit by Now?
It’s already been five years since the official reveal of Blade, and with no real progress, a lot of fans are thinking that Marvel should just really up and cancel the project. For now, it does look like Marvel is still trying to figure itself out while building up to the crossover that is Avengers: Secret Wars, and the introduction of a bigger IP like Fantastic Four and the whole restructuring after the Jonathan Majors scandal, a project like Blade seems like it could just be put on the back burner till after the events of Secret Wars.
At this point, it’s probably best they don’t keep Ali on the hook for a project that can’t seem to move forward; and after Wesley Snipes’ comment in Deadpool and Wolverine (i.e., “There’s only one Blade. There’s only ever going to be one Blade.”), it’s possible that Marvel Studios has already decided what to do with this vampire hunter that’s a definitive product of the early 2000s.
Marvel’s Blade reboot still has no release date.