Everything we know about the MCU Blade movie

The Daywalker is finally getting the MCU treatment

Mahershala Ali and Kevin Feige attend 2019 Comic-Con International at San Diego Convention Center
Blade star Mahershala Ali with Marvel boss Kevin Feige. (Getty)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is about to get some bite as it prepares to reboot Blade.

For a while now, fans have waited to see the Marvel Studios version of their favourite day walking half-man, half-vampire, all leather-clad badass back on screens and it’s coming. Marvel boss Kevin Feige has promised a full throttle Blade movie — but it’s having some trouble emerging from the shadows and onto our screens.

Here’s everything we know about the return of the day walker.

Mahershala Ali speaks onstage during the 96th Annual Academy Awards
The Blade reboot will be the final entry in Phase 5 of the MCU. (Getty)

Blade sits in as the final film of Phase 5 in the Multiverse saga, and is due to be released on Friday, 7 November 2025.

That said, with behind-the-scenes shuffles continuing to impact the production, it’s not guaranteed to make this date. Originally, the film was set to be helmed by Mogul Mowgli director Bassam Tariq, before he dropped out and was released by Dead Set and Top Boy filmmaker Yann Demange.

However, in June 2024, Demange was reported to have left the project, leaving Blade director-less.

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Blade has hit a number of production setbacks since it was first announced and was pushed from its original release date of 3 November 2023.

Wesley Snipes in 2004's Blade: Trinity
Wesley Snipes previously played Blade. (Alamy)

At San Diego Comic Con in 2019, Mahershala Ali was announced to be taking over the iconic fangs from Wesley Snipes who played him in a trilogy of films starting in the 90s and ending with dud third instalment Blade Trinity.

Ali has previous with the MCU having played Cottonmouth Stokes in the first season of Luke Cage, but many people have taken on multiple roles in the MCU. To cement his role he provided a brief voice cameo to the end of Eternals, signalling a more supernatural bent to the universe.

Talking about landing the role, Ali said that he specifically asked to be considered to play the day walker.

Mahershala Ali and Kevin Feige attend 2019 Comic-Con International at San Diego Convention Center
Two-time Oscar winner Ali was cast in 2019. (AFP via Getty)

In 2020, he said he “kept hearing they were trying to find a way to remake” Blade.

“Since they were having conversations about bringing it back into being, I just wanted to be considered for it because I had definitely a connection, at least in my mind, to Wesley Snipes going back to high school,” he said.

“People use to joke and say that we looked alike and all this stuff. I just brought it up as someone who really wanted to take on that [Blade] role and tackle that. He's a little bit darker than some of the other ones and so that element was attractive to me.”

So far very little of the cast has been announced. Alongside Ali, we know that screen legend Delroy Lindo will also appear in the movie in an as-yet-undisclosed role.

Delroy Lindo attends the 55th Annual NAACP Awards
Da 5 Bloods actor Delroy Lindo will appear in the film. (Getty)

Old’s Aaron Pierre was also set to appear but exited the project in early 2024. “Early on, there were conversations. As the project evolved, I’m no longer part of that — attached,” he told Entertainment Weekly.

Pearl star Mia Goth has also been confirmed to star but it’s unclear who or what she will be playing.

It’s also unclear if Kit Harington will appear in the film after the end-credits sting in Eternals teased Blade and Dane Whitman coming into contact over the mythical ebony blade.

(Marvel Studios)
The title treatment for Blade. (Marvel Studios)

Little is known about the plot of Blade as yet. Part of the reason for the change in director was issues with the script and a lack of action. But given that Blade has a long history of fighting the more occult figures in the MCU it’s possible that the plot could take threads from Moon Knight or Werewolf-by-Night and see what happens with those.

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Previous Blade films has dealt with vampires trying to harvest Blade’s blood so they can walk in the day light, as well as him facing off against Dracula himself. Given the increasing presence of the supernatural it’s possible we could see Blade coming up against some truly scary foes.

Yann Demange at the Telluride Film Festival, 2021
Yann Demange left the project in June 2024. (Killilea/Getty)

At this moment in time, Marvel’s Blade reboot is without a director.

The film was set to be directed by Demange, the British director of ’71 and White Boy Rick, before he left the project in June 2024. Demange took over the reigns from Mogul Mowgli director Bassam Tariq, who departed the film over scheduling issues and creative conflicts over the direction of the film.

As it stands, the film is currently undergoing re-writes from Eric Pearson, screenwriter of Marvel's new Fantastic Four film. Pearson is the latest in a long-line of writers who have worked on the project which includes Michael Starrbury, Nic Pizzolatto and Michael Green.

How much of the original script will make it into Pearson’s final version is unknown — much like everything else with this troubled production. Despite this, Feige remains confident in the project.

Speaking in July 2024, the MCU mastermind said that its delays were all necessary to create a good finished film.

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - JULY 25: Kevin Feige, President, Marvel Studios speaks onstage during Marvel Studios: The Ultimate Deadpool & Wolverine Celebration of Life in Hall H at SDCC in San Diego, California on July 25, 2024. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)
Kevin Feige has confirmed that Marvel's Blade will be R-rated. Disney)

“I mean, for the last two years we’ve been trying to crack that movie,” Feige told BlackTree TV. “The most important thing for us is not rushing it and making sure we are making the right Blade movie.”

He also confirmed that when the film finally reaches audiences it’ll be a bloody, R-rated adventure similar to the Blade movies that came before it. “There were some great Blade movies years ago – they were all rated-R. So I think that’s, like Deadpool, inherent with the character of Blade,” added the Marvel boss.

Speaking in December 2023, Ali said: “We’re working on it. That’s the best I could tell you. I’m really encouraged with the direction of the project. We’ll be back at it relatively soon.

“I’m 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. So that’s the extent of what I can tell you.”


Blade is due for release on Friday, 7 November 2025