Draft:Blade (2025 film)

Blade is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is intended to be the 38th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and a reboot of the Blade film series. The film is being written by Eric Pearson, and stars Mahershala Ali in the title role, alongside Mia Goth.

Marvel Studios re-acquired the film rights for Blade by July 2011, following the earlier New Line Cinema franchise. After Ali approached Marvel Studios about the character, the film and his casting were announced in July 2019. Active development began in 2020 and went through multiple filmmakers, including directors Bassam Tariq and Yann Demange, and delays in the following years. Pearson was re-writing the script by June 2024, when Marvel was searching for a new director. Filming was expected to take place in Mexico, the United Kingdom, and at Trilith Studios in Atlanta, Georgia.

Blade is scheduled to be released in the United States on November 7, 2025, as a part of Phase Six of the MCU.

Cast

 * Mahershala Ali as Blade: A half-vampire "daywalker" who hunts vampires
 * Mia Goth as Lilith

Interest and early work
At San Diego Comic-Con in July 2011, Marvel Entertainment's chief creative officer (CCO) Joe Quesada confirmed that Marvel Studios had re-acquired the film rights to the character Blade from New Line Cinema, which previously produced a successful film franchise starring Wesley Snipes as the character. Marvel had a working script for a new Blade film from its in-house writing program by May 2013. In July 2015, Snipes said he hoped to reprise the role in any future film and had discussed this with Marvel. After hearing of a potential Blade remake, actor Mahershala Ali had discussions about it with Marvel starting at the end of September 2016, on the same day that the first season of Marvel's Netflix series Luke Cage was released; Ali portrayed Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes in that season. Marvel Television wanted to develop a new series featuring Blade, but Ali was interested in moving from Marvel's television side to a film. He was drawn to Blade because of Snipes' portrayal, and was interested in exploring the role's darker side which predated the lighter tone of more recent superhero films.

In October 2016, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said there were opportunities for Blade to appear in a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film or television series, similar to the character Ghost Rider being added to Marvel Television's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. In June 2017, he described Blade as a "legacy character" and said "it would be fun to do something with him one day". In August 2018, Snipes said he had continued to have discussions with Marvel for over two years and there were two potential projects in development for the character.

Shortly after Ali won Best Supporting Actor at the 91st Academy Awards in February 2019 for his role in Green Book (2018), he contacted Marvel Studios and pitched the idea of a new Blade film that he would star in. Ali envisioned the film as his version of Marvel Studios' Black Panther (2018). Feige announced Blade, with Ali attached to star, at Marvel Studios' San Diego Comic-Con panel that July. Feige said the project was moving forward because of Ali's interest and would be part of a future "phase" of the MCU rather than the just announced Phase Four. Snipes was surprised by the announcement but said, "Such is the 'business' of 'entertainment!'" He congratulated Ali on the casting and said he would always be a fan of Marvel Studios and the MCU.

Active development began in mid-2020, and the studio began searching for a writer-director to lead the project later that year. Marvel Studios executive Eric Carroll was producing the film alongside Feige at that time. At the end of September, Ali confirmed that the film would have a darker tone than previous MCU films. By October, Marvel Studios were looking to hire a separate writer and director, and began looking for a writer first. The studio hoped to assemble a primarily Black cast and crew to work on the film. Stacy Osei-Kuffour was hired to write the screenplay in February 2021 after a six-month "meticulous search" that Ali was directly involved in. Only Black writers were seriously considered for the film. Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter felt this was a reflection of Marvel Studios' commitment to diversity, especially for projects featuring non-white characters. Later that month, Feige said the studio did not plan for any of its future films to be R-rated other than Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), concerning some Blade fans who had hoped the film could be R-rated instead of PG-13. Filming was set to begin in September 2021,  to occur at Trilith Studios in Atlanta,  but by May 2021 it was pushed back to July 2022 while Marvel Studios continued working on the script.

Work under director Bassam Tariq and production delays
From March to June 2021, Marvel Studios met with a shortlist of possible directors, focusing their search on Black filmmakers such as Steven Caple Jr., J. D. Dillard, Regina King, and Shaka King. Albert Hughes discussed directing the film with Marvel Studios but left after disagreeing with their approach. Several directors were chosen to give final presentations, and Bassam Tariq "won all parties over" with his vision for the film. Tariq was in final talks to direct the film by the end of July, and had been hired by the start of September. Tariq said the film would not be "boxed in" by adapting comic book elements since the character has an evolving canon. Ali made an uncredited voice cameo as Blade in the post-credits scene of the Phase Four film Eternals, which was released in November 2021. In the scene, he contacts Kit Harington's Dane Whitman about the Ebony Blade.

Delroy Lindo was cast in an undisclosed role in late November 2021. The producers wanted to cast him in the role from the start of the casting process, but they took their time casting a different major role in the film. The latter became "one of the more highly coveted parts in Hollywood". Feige, Tariq, and other executives met with "dozens of up-and-coming actors" for the role and Aaron Pierre, who impressed the creatives, became the frontrunner in February 2022. Pierre joined the cast by the end of the month. In January 2022, Eternals visual effects supervisor Stephane Ceretti said his assistant supervisor on that film, Mårten Larsson, would serve as the supervisor for Blade "very soon", and provided him with the design for the Ebony Blade to use in Blade for a larger capacity. Production designer Stefania Cella was working on the film by the end of March, after working on the Marvel Studios series Moon Knight (2022) and Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) film Morbius (2022). Pre-production work was starting in Atlanta between mid-June and mid-July, when filming was set to begin in October 2022 at Trilith and Tyler Perry Studios, to last until January 2023. Filming was also set to occur in Cleveland from November 14 to 22, 2022. A major train set was built for the production but ultimately went unused. Milan Ray was reported to have been cast as Blade's daughter. At the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con, the film was given a release date of November 3, 2023, making it part of Phase Five of the MCU. Filming was confirmed to begin in October. In August, Ruth E. Carter joined as the costume designer, after previously working on the MCU films Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).

At the end of September 2022, Tariq stepped down as director due to further production delays, and creative differences with Marvel Studios; the studio no longer believed that Tariq was the best fit for the film. In separate statements, Marvel Studios and Tariq said they both appreciated their work together on the film and added that Tariq would remain an executive producer. The studio had begun searching for a new director by that point. Beau DeMayo, a writer for Moon Knight and the head writer for the first season of the Marvel Studios series X-Men '97 (2024), was rewriting the script. The version he was working on was said to be a period piece. Filming was set to begin in November by that point. Jeff Sneider of Above the Line reported that Ali was frustrated with some of the film's development, including the state of the script and the fact that Feige was said to be "spread too thin" with his commitments to the wider MCU. Marvel Studios temporarily suspended production work being done in Atlanta in early October while they continued to search for a new director. Production was expected to resume in early 2023. This resulted in the film's release date being delayed to September 6, 2024, now making it the last film in Phase Five.

Shift to director Yann Demange and further delays
In October 2022, it was reported that Ali would have a major involvement in the film's new direction and that further rewrites could occur at his request. Marvel Studios met with filmmakers for several weeks, and presented Ali with a list of director candidates. The actor chose to search a new director himself after being concerned that the studio's choices were largely "untested" at the major studio-level. Yann Demange was handpicked by Ali for the position, and his pitch for the film excited executives. Demange was hired to direct in November. Michael Starrbury was hired to perform a page-one rewrite; Ali was involved in hiring Starrbury as well. Demange was working on pre-production in Atlanta by February 2023, and filming was set to begin that May. By the end of March, Sneider reported that the new script was "leaner" and removed elements that were deemed extraneous, such as a planned Eternals tie-in with Harington returning as Dane Whitman. Harington later said a misunderstanding had led to rumors about his involvement and this had never been planned. Sneider also reported that some roles were potentially being recast, including Blade's daughter. Starrbury's script was reported to be darker than most MCU films. Mia Goth joined the cast in April as Lilith, and Nic Pizzolatto joined later that month to work on the script from Starrbury's draft. Ali chose Pizzolatto after previously working with him while starring in the third season of the series True Detective (2019). By then, the script was set in the 1920s and featured Lilith trying to obtain the blood of Blade's daughter. Filming was set to begin in June, before Marvel shut down pre-production in early May as Pizzolatto did not have adequate time to work on the script before the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike. They planned to resume production after the strike concluded. In June, the film's release date was pushed back to February 14, 2025.

The writers' strike ended in late September 2023. Michael Green was hired to write a new draft by November, following reports that Ali was prepared to exit over issues with the script. Tatiana Siegel at Variety reported that a prior version of the script focused on a female lead and included "life lessons", with Blade being relegated to the fourth lead role. Starrbury said this report was not reflective of the draft he worked on before the strike, explaining that Blade had been in "almost every scene". Siegel also noted speculation that Marvel Studios was looking to have a budget under $100 million for the film, which would be a deviation from the studio's typically higher spending, but Sneider soon reported that the film would have a similar budget to other MCU films. Sneider also reported that the Marvel Studios executive overseeing Blade was no longer involved with the film, or the studio, due to issues with the film's production and script, including a draft by Osei-Kuffour. Demange said Marvel now planned for the film to receive an R-rating, and was excited to portray Ali with a ruthlessness and roughness as the character. When the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike ended in early November, the film's release date was pushed back to November 7, 2025, making it part of the franchise's Phase Six slate.

Ali said in December 2023 that he felt encouraged with the film's direction and creative team, and he believed they would be resuming work shortly. After the strike ended, most of the previously known actors were let-go from the film, including Lindo and Pierre, though Goth remained attached; Pierre soon confirmed his departure, citing the film's creative changes since his casting. In February 2024, Sneider reported that the script had come to fruition and Ali was comfortable moving forward, debunking rumors that he had exited the film, and later stated the script had been revised to featuring Ali "just killing vampires". Demange amicably exited the film in mid-March, after the director and studio had grown frustrated with the film's long development. Ali had also become increasingly frustrated with the delays and the director. Filming was expected to begin in Mexico in mid-2024 and the United Kingdom later that year. Marvel Studios began searching for a new writer and director, with potential for a singular writer-director to be hired. Demange's exit was revealed in mid-June.

New work and search for a third director
The film was considered unlikely to begin production in time to meet the November 2025 release date. A release delay had been expected as early as February 2024, when commentators felt Marvel Studios would not release four films in 2025 as scheduled. This speculation came amidst Disney's larger plans to scale back content, and was furthered by Disney CEO Bob Iger not mentioning the film during an earnings call where he discussed Marvel's other 2025 releases. In May, Iger said Disney would only release two, or at most three, Marvel films a year moving forward. Marvel Studios was reported to no longer be feeling pressure to get the film released following these efforts to reduce content output, and the studio was prioritizing getting the film right. It was felt that the project had not received enough attention previously due to Disney's mandate for Marvel Studios to overdevelop its production slate. Eric Pearson, a frequent writer for Marvel Studios who was internally seen as a "closer" who could "bring scripts over the finish line", was rewriting the script by mid-June. He was expected to work on it through the following months before it was shown to potential directors. The script was being refocused to set the film in the present day. The next month, Feige confirmed Marvel was looking to develop the film with the intent of receiving an R-rating, noting how that rating had been associated with the character and the New Line Cinema films, much like how Deadpool & Wolverine was R-rated given its association with Deadpool.

Filming
Principal photography is expected to take place at Trilith Studios in Atlanta, under the working title Perfect Imprints, with Matthew Libatique serving as the cinematographer. Location filming is expected to occur in Mexico and the United Kingdom.

Release
Blade is scheduled to be released in the United States on November 7, 2025, in IMAX. It was previously scheduled for November 3, 2023, September 6, 2024, and then February 14, 2025. It will be a part of Phase Six of the MCU.