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Marvel Studios is developing a new Blade movie set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and here’s everything we know about the upcoming blockbuster. Wesley Snipes famously played Eric Brooks in three Blade movies starting in the late 1990s that helped prove an audience existed for R-rated comic book content. Years later, at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige made the surprise announcement that an MCU Blade reboot was in development. Mahershala Ali will play Marvel’s Daywalker in the MCU, and the new Blade movie will be a total revamp of the franchise without Wesley Snipes.
Marvel’s new Blade movie is one of a handful of previously non-Disney IPs that will get MCU debuts in the next few years, including Deadpool 3 in 2024 and Marvel’s Fantastic Four in 2025. Originally slated for a 2023 release date, Blade has had several delays and is currently still in production. The first promo materials such as a logo and photos of the Mahershala Ali Blade look have been revealed, and new Blade news is trickling through every month. Here’s everything that’s known about the Blade MCU movie so far.
Blade Release Date
Marvel Studios had initially pegged the Mahershala Ali Blade movie for a 2023 release. However, Blade’s November 2023 release date has been pushed back. The new MCU Blade release date is now September 6, 2024. This is in no small part due to initial Blade director Bassam Tariq stepping down, which led to an inevitable production delay. At the time of writing, Blade doesn’t have a new director, and until one is found, there are considerable questions about the halted production on this long-awaited Marvel reboot and whether it will arrive in time for the new September 2024 release date. Several other Marvel movies were delayed alongside Blade, so it’s clearly important to the wider Multiverse Saga narrative and the set-up to Avengers: Secret Wars.
The New Blade Movie Cast
The cast of the MCU’s new Blade movie will be helmed by its star Mahershala Ali. After Ali’s Oscar-winning roles in Moonlight and Green Book, as well as his stint in Luke Cage as Cornell Stokes/Cottonmouth, the actor approached Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige to express his interest in playing Eric Brooks in the MCU. Marvel didn’t have plans to make Blade at the time, but Ali’s talent and interest made it easy for Feige to change that. Ali won’t be alone in the movie, though, as Marvel will find another great collection of co-stars, potentially even including other MCU characters like Midnight Sons members Moon Knight or Doctor Strange (played by Oscar Isaac and Benedict Cumberbatch respectively).
Characters introduced in Werewolf By Night such as Elsa Bloodstone (Laura Donnelly), Man-Thing, or Jack Russell (the titular werewolf, played by Gael García Bernal) could also show up since they’re part of the world of Marvel monsters the Daywalker walks in. The vampire heads on the wall in Werewolf By Night were also a strong hint here. Apart from Ali, Blade’s cast includes Da 5 Bloods‘ Delroy Lindo and The Underground Railroad‘s Aaron Pierre in as-yet-undisclosed roles. Kit Harington’s Eternals character, Dane Whitman (who becomes Black Knight in Marvel comics continuity), may also make an appearance after Ali’s Blade met him in the Eternals post-credits scene.
Blade Story Details
Story details for Blade have yet to be revealed or even teased. It will likely involve pieces of Blade’s origin and how he became a vampire slayer, but the majority of the movie will presumably follow Eric as an established and experienced hunter. This would allow the film to answer where Blade has been throughout the MCU’s history. Blade‘s actual story will likely depend on which of his many supernatural villains Marvel makes him fight in his first film. The 2022 Disney+ Halloween special Werewolf By Night introduced what some of these threats could be, and established that monsters, including vampires, have been around in the MCU for centuries. While this isn’t a massive spoiler in and of itself, it does mean Marvel has the scope to skip Eric Brook’s origin story entirely, jumping straight into him being an established vampire slayer for Blade.
Blade Already Made His MCU Debut In Eternals
The MCU’s new Blade movie was heavily teased when Mahershala Ali’s Eric Brooks warns Kit Harrington’s Dane Whitman about using the Ebony Blade in Eternals‘ post-credits scene. Although Ali’s voice is only featured in the cameo, it is technically the first appearance for the Daywalker in an actual MCU movie. More importantly, this scene from Eternals provides clues about what could happen and who could show up in Blade. Also known in Marvel comics as the dark counterpart to the legendary Excalibur, the Ebony Blade confers godlike abilities at the cost of magnifying the wielder’s bloodlust, with both the sword and the wielder growing more powerful with each fresh kill. While the Ebony Blade is dangerous enough in the hands of Dane Whitman aka The Black Knight – whose Arthurian bloodline means that he is essentially immortal while holding the sword – the weapon could be even deadlier if it’s wielded alongside the Daywalker. Combined with the hype for the new movie, this has led to fan theories regarding why Blade wants Dane Whitman’s sword for himself, which could be what the post-credits scene of Eternals was setting up.
Blade’s solo movie could also be part of the setup for the MCU’s take on Midnight Sons, a team-up that in Marvel Comics also includes Daredevil, Ghost Rider, Punisher, Moon Knight, Morbius, and Doctor Strange. In short, there are a number of ways for Blade to carve out a unique new niche in the MCU Phase 4’s ongoing storylines, with plenty of room for many other long-anticipated Marvel characters to make their MCU debut. Curiously, Eric Brooks’ interest in the Ebony Blade implies that the Daywalker may have a huge role not just in Midnight Sons, but potentially even in the next Avengers team-up. Apart from being able to slice through anything except the wielder, the Ebony Blade can open portals to other dimensions, similar to America Chavez’s powers in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. This is only possible if the wielder of the Ebony Blade gives in to the bloodlust and allows the sword to take over their soul, which already sounds like the perfect way for Blade to start carving his way through vampires in the MCU.
Key Release Dates
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