Blade Reboot Loses Director and Star After Years of Delays

Marvel Studios' long-gestating Blade reboot is currently without a director and a lead star, according to Screen Rant. The project has been hit by repeated delays since it was first announced in 2019.

Mahershala Ali had been attached to star as the vampire hunter since that initial announcement. Bassam Tariq signed on to direct before leaving the project, and Yann Demange later replaced him. Demange has since departed as well, leaving the film without a filmmaker or its intended star.

In comments about Marvel's production model, Tariq said the studio told him that a Marvel film is directed by a person and that this is fine. Ali has also said a director's name might not matter on Marvel films.

Tariq praised Daniel Destin Cretton and Ryan Coogler for their work in the MCU, and said Kevin Feige taught him to think big and be ambitious.

Ali remains busy elsewhere. He stars in the action thriller Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, now in theaters with a 97% Rotten Tomatoes critic score, and will voice a character in Laika's Wildwood in October. He previously voiced Aaron Davis/Prowler in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Wesley Snipes originated the role on screen in Blade in 1998, Blade II in 2002 and Blade: Trinity in 2004, and appeared in Deadpool & Wolverine 20 years after Blade: Trinity.