Filmmaker Yann Demange (“Lovecraft Country”) is no longer set to direct “Blade,” Marvel Studios’ long-in-the-works reboot of the vampire superhero franchise set to star Mahershala Ali. This is the second director to leave the project; Bassam Tariq (“Mogul Mowgli”) exited the production in 2022.

Insiders say Demange departed the film amicably weeks ago, as development on the project has stretched over multiple years. Screenwriter Eric Pearson, who co-wrote “The Fantastic Four” for Marvel, is the latest scribe to take on the “Blade” script, after at least five other writers have taken passes on the film, including Michael Green, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Michael Starrbury, Beau DeMayo and Nic Pizzolatto.

While Marvel has not officially moved “Blade” off of its Nov. 7, 2025, release date, it is looking increasingly unlikely that the project will be able to start production in time to make that date. The next four Marvel films on Disney’s release calendar — “Deadpool & Wolverine” in 2024 and “Captain America: Brave New World,” “Thunderbolts” and “The Fantastic Four” in 2025 — are all either completed, nearly completed or well into production. And Disney CEO Bob Iger’s statement in an earnings call on May 7 that the superhero shingle will release “a maximum of three” movies a year has further alleviated the pressure for Marvel to crank out titles before they are fully baked.

Marvel first announced a new “Blade” movie at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, after Ali met with Marvel chief Kevin Feige to pitch himself to headline a reboot of the franchise first led by Wesley Snipes in a trilogy spanning from 1998 to 2004. Far more of a classic horror character than other Marvel protagonists, Blade (aka Eric Brooks) possesses many of the powers of vampires without their weaknesses, especially daylight, which he wields in his mission to rid the Earth of the undead blood-suckers.

- Variety

We see this stuff before. I am willing to bet the producers have a movie they want to make, and are demanding someone just make it. Then when it releases it will be utter shit, and whoever makes it will come out and claim they had no creative input. Just reeks of stuff like Alien 3.

You're right, it seems like this movie was announced and teased years ago now.

I for the life if me can't remember what the last MCU film was. It's almost like the entire thing has lost all of its momentum and has come to a screaming halt.

Blade is a little bit like The Crow, you can make a sequal or two, or three and eventually reboot the entire thing, but the original will always be the best.

A remember when Blade came out, and the talk of the playground was the blood rave scene and the chaos that was Quinn's roasted corpse getting up off that morgue table. It was gritty and unfortunately The MCU won't give us gritty and violent.

I still, whenever I hear Bad Moon Rising I think of Blade.

Maybe it's time to move on? I am sure Deadpool will make money no doubt but does the gp care much anymore? Maybe if FF is a hit, but if it ain't (and it hasn't been so far, different studio but whatever) but maybe its done?

The bubble was bound to burst eventually.

I don't know how many times you can remake the same movie with a different setting, using the same hero's journey structure.

Deadpool works well, and I know a lot of people who have little care for the wider MCU or The X-Men, who love Deadpool for its humour.

They obviously know what they're doing in terms of managing the MCU, but surely they needed or need to make a decision on going all in on the " Big Bad " central theme, or just making stand alone movies without any cross over, instead of what's been a very inconsistent run since Endgame.

Looks like it’s the final nail in the coffin for this

The fact that we had a Wesley Snipes cameo before this film got a release date is wild. Throw the damn towel, Feige.

There's only one Blade.