Kevin Feige Offers Positive Update on Marvel's BLADE Movie
It’s taking Marvel Studios a long time to get its Blade movie off the ground and into production. The studio most recently removed the film from its release schedule, and it has gone through a number of directors and writers, the last filmmaker being Yann Demange, who left the project several months ago.
We’ve heard that Marvel is still on track to shoot next year and that they are on the hunt for a new director. It’s rumored that Jeymes Samuel (The Harder They Fall ) "impressed the Marvel brass."
During D23 Brazil, Kevin Feige was asked for an update on the project and his response was positive. He told Omelete: “We are committed to Blade. We love the character, we love the version that Mahershala has of him … I can say that the character will reach the #MCU.”
So, it’s good to hear that Marvel is still planning on making the movie and that Mahershala Ali is still involved. We just have no idea when that is going to happen.
The latest draft of the script was by Eric Pearson, who is the sixth writer to have been brought in to work on the project. Previous writers include Michael Green, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Michael Starrbury, Beau DeMayo and Nic Pizzolatto.
Feige previously talked about the project, saying: “For the last few years, as we’ve been trying to crack that movie, the most important thing for us is not rushing it. And making sure we are making the right Blade movie.
“There were some great Blade movies years ago… they were all rated R. So I think that’s inherent–like Deadpool–inherent with the character of Blade.”
As for why the film has been taking so long to develop, Feige has likened the delays to Deadpool & Wolverine, saying that they are just waiting for the “magic thing to fall into place.”
He said: “It's part of the process. And when you have a character as famous as Blade, and an actor as famous as Mahershala, everything that happens just gets a lot of attention.
“I'm sure you've heard us talk about, we were struggling finding the perfect reason for Deadpool to exist, for the third Deadpool movie in the MCU, and then Hugh Jackman called, and it fell into place.
“Sometimes you need that magic thing that falls into place. And sometimes it happens – sometimes it takes a day. Sometimes it takes two years. Sometimes it takes 10 years. But that's what you really should be waiting for, until you make something.”
Ali's last update on the project was: “We’re working on it. That’s the best I could tell you. I’m really encouraged with the direction of the project. I think 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.”
When this movie gets made, I hope it’s great and that it will be worth the wait.