Marvel Studios’ Blade, starring Mahershala Ali, is reportedly very close to the beginning of production. Ali himself has been a champion of the project from the start, going after a meeting with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to get the project up and running. Marvel’s Blade was formally announced at 2019’s San Diego Comic-Con. The movie has since suffered a number of delays due to behind-the-scenes issues — which involved original director Bassam Tariq leaving the project — but Blade looks finally poised to begin filming.
According to a new production list by the Film & Television Industry Alliance, Blade is aiming for a May 1 start date. Blade’s MCU time period setting has long been rumored to be the 1920s, which could be revealed sooner rather than later, with production looking to kick off in around two months. Blade’s new filming update is very exciting, as it shows the Marvel film is finally back on track after a series of issues.
Why Blade Starting Filming Is A Big Deal
While there have been a number of rumors regarding Blade‘s long development at Marvel Studios, the film has gone through some very publicized changes. Blade was officially announced by Marvel at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con. Tariq was announced as the movie’s director in the summer of 2021, but the filmmaker shockingly departed the project last September. Although the MCU’s Blade casting team has encountered solid actors, the movie appears to have had a hard time figuring out exactly what story it wanted to tell. At the time of Tariq’s departure, the reason for Blade‘s director leaving was attributed to “continued shifts in the production schedule.”
Those shifts eventually led to Blade giving up its original release date of November 3, 2023 in favor of a September 5, 2024, release in theaters. Following Tariq’s departure from the directing gig, Marvel brought in Yann Demange (Lovecraft Country) to helm the vampire hunter film. Blade then left behind the movie’s “on hold” status and reentered development focused on getting Blade’s MCU introduction, an important set piece to Marvel’s supernatural corner, ready for a big screen debut next year. However, according to a number of rumors, Blade‘s behind-the-scenes issues go deeper than just the announced director change.
It has been reported that the original script for the Blade movie heavily frustrated star Ali. The original rumor came from industry insider Jeff Sneider, who revealed last September that the “BLADE script is roughly 90 pages and features exactly TWO (lackluster) action sequences, Mahershala said to be very frustrated with the process.” Following such a convoluted development process, the report that Blade is looking to start filming soon is a big deal, as it means Marvel is finally happy with the state of the movie. With the behind-the-scenes issues resolved, Marvel can now focus on making Mahershala Ali’s Blade different from Wesley Snipes’.
Source: Film & Television Industry Alliance