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Marvel president finally has a positive update on troubled Blade reboot

‘You’re up to date on what’s going on,’ confirmed Kevin Feige

Greg Evans
Tuesday 12 November 2024 08:31 GMT
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The head of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, has provided a positive update on the much-troubled reboot of Blade, which is set to star Oscar winner Mahershala Ali.

The film was first announced way back at Comic-Con 2019 with Ali being cast in the title role but the production has been hit with a seemingly never-ending string of set-backs ever since.

The movie has already seen two directors depart from the project, had its release date of November 2025 pulled from schedules and even seen the original Blade actor, Wesley Snipes, poke fun at the troubled production.

Feige has now attempted to provide a positive update on the film. While speaking to the Brazilian entertainment website Omelette, he said: “We love the character, we love Mahershala’s version of him. And rest assured: whenever we change direction with a project or are still trying to figure out how it fits into our schedule, we let the public know.”

“You’re up to date on what’s going on,” he added, as per Deadline. “But I can tell you that the character will be coming to the MCU.”

Mia Goth, who stars as the villain Lilith in the reboot, gave her response to the chaos as she attended the world premiere of her new slasher movie MaXXXine.

The actor defended the makers of the sequel amid the delays, saying that the creators “really care, they do. They want to make a great movie. That’s the sense that I get from them and that feels good”.

The Blade reboot will be the 30-year-old’s first foray into the MCU as she plays Lilith, a supernatural force who tries to take blood from Blade’s daughter. Ali and Goth’s characters are expected to face off in the eventual movie.

Mahershala Ali will star as the titular character in the eventual reboot
Mahershala Ali will star as the titular character in the eventual reboot (Getty Images)

Snipes reprised the role of Blade in the MCU’s most recent film Deadpool & Wolverine and broke two Guinness World Records in the process.

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The actor returned as the half-vampire daywalker 25 years and 340 days after first playing the character in Blade way back in 1998. This makes him the actor with the longest career as a Marvel character, according to Guinness World Records.

Snipes’s cameo also marked the longest gap between character appearances in Marvel films. He last played Blade 19 years and 231 days ago in Blade: Trinity, breaking the record previously held by Alfred Molina who played Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2 in 2004 and again in Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021.

Wesley Snipes was Marvel's first African-American superhero in the 1998 film 'Blade'
Wesley Snipes was Marvel's first African-American superhero in the 1998 film 'Blade' (Rex)

Elsewhere, Feige also provided an update on Elizabeth Olsen’s character Wanda Maximoff aka The Scarlet Witch, who was seemingly killed off in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Madness and was noticeably absent from WandaVision spin-off, Agatha All Along.

Feige confirmed: “Since then (Agatha), there have been a lot of questions about Wanda on fans’ minds… So all I can say is that we’re excited to find out when and how the Scarlet Witch might return.”

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