This week, there has been renewed talk about what is or isn’t happening with the “Blade” reboot after the original franchise architect, David S. Goyer (who wrote the original three movies and directed “Blade Trinity“) revealed that his offer to help Marvel Studios on the troubled reboot was turned down, which is a little shocking given that Goyer is extremely notable for his work as a script polisher and being the superhero story guy that helped with “The Dark Knight” trilogy.
Now, star and two-time Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali is being asked about the film’s status while on the red carpet for the premiere of “Jurassic World Rebirth” (co-starring with “Black Widow” actress Scarlett Johansson) and isn’t sharing responses that fans would like to hear.
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“Call Marvel, I’m ready, let them know I’m ready [laughs],” Ali told Variety on the red carpet when directly asked when “Blade” would begin filming. Arguably, you can hear the frustration in Ali’s voice when responding to the same question multiple times at the premiere with one less energetic response to The Hollywood Reporter being, “I’m just taking it a day at a time.”
With that said, you have to imagine, given that he was first announced to play MCU’s version of The Daywalker back at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, that he’s either ready to get this movie finally shot soon or potentially looking for the exit to focus on other projects. Since that announcement back in 2019, the only things he’s managed to do as Blade are a go-nowhere post-credit scene for “Eternals“ and a piece of concept art for the animated Multiverse series “What…If?” at Disney+, where Eric Brooks became a variant of Moon Knight.
Yann Demange (“’71”) was the last director officially attached and confirmed the studio’s aim to make “Blade” R-rated, but will that ultimately be how this goes down? Unknown for the moment, however, we hope that Marvel leans hard into the martial arts and gunplay aspects of the original, as the action sequences have been mostly the highlights of the first two films, so it FEELS like a “Blade” movie even if the lore and other character aspects are changed.
The original “Blade” trilogy, launched back in 1998 two years before “X-Men,” is an action-horror hybrid that infused elements of a badass stoic black lead like Richard Roundtree‘s iconic “Shaft” and Hong Kong action films (a year before “The Matrix” also helped popularize wirework in the West) with simple world-building via The Vampire Nation (think The High Table from “John Wick” movies, but less mysterious) being interconnected with human society across the globe. It certainly feels like this kind of action-focused story could be within Marvel’s wheelhouse after things like “Shang-Chi” blended well-crafted martial arts action with supernatural elements. Then again, finding that right tone for this reboot could be an underlying issue, as Brooks is not exactly a kid-friendly character to begin with (why a PG-13 take feels misguided) and doesn’t need to be cracking-wise regularly since he’s not Deadpool.
Will we even get this “Blade” reboot? The longer these delays take place that window feels less likely, but there is some optimism that the extra time is being used wisely and not Marvel just holding back the reality of the project not moving forward.
Mahershala Ali on when he'll start filming "Blade": "Call Marvel, let them know I'm ready." #JurassicWorld pic.twitter.com/24v8yPI7fm
— Variety (@Variety) June 23, 2025
Mahershala Ali shares the status of #Blade at the #JurassicWorldRebirth premiere: "I'm just taking it a day at a time" pic.twitter.com/iu2iITY4ds
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 23, 2025
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