The Marvel Studios President, Kevin Feige, has expressed disappointment over the failed Blade reboot. The film, which was set to star Mahershala Ali as the iconic vampire hunter, has left Feige feeling like a “gigantic loser.”
What did Kevin Feige say about the Blade MCU movie reboot?
In a recent appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Feige said, “I am feeling like a gigantic loser and failure that we didn’t get off the ground with Mahershala.” The Marvel boss then expressed his excitement about having Wesley Snipes reprise his role as Blade in Deadpool & Wolverine.
Following the release of Avengers: Endgame, Marvel Studios announced Blade at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019. Bassam Tariq was originally attached to direct the film. Unfortunately, just a couple of months before the scheduled start of production, Tariq parted ways in 2022. Yann Demange later took over as director. However, his tenure on the project was also short-lived, as he left in 2024.
As a result of these production setbacks, the project ultimately stalled. Marvel also brought in several screenwriters like Michael Starrbury and Stacy Osei-Kuffour. However, none of those efforts led to the film moving forward.
According to a 2023 report from Variety, Blade reportedly had at least five writers attached at different stages of development. Production was also halted just six weeks before it was scheduled to begin. An insider claimed that one version of the script featured a female-led narrative. It also reportedly emphasized life lessons, while reportedly reducing Blade to a fourth-lead role. This was quite baffling, as Feige and Marvel Studios had a two-time Oscar-winning actor in Ali with them.
Feige also explained in 2025 why exactly Blade didn’t work out. He said, “We didn’t want to simply just put a leather outfit on him and have him start killing vampires. It had to be unique. It fell into the time when we started pulling back and saying, ‘Only accept insanely great.’ And it wasn’t ‘insanely great’ at the time.”
As of writing, the Blade reboot appears to have been shelved. However, Mahershala Ali did voice Blade in an uncredited voice cameo in 2021’s Eternals.
Originally reported by Debmallya Chakraborty on SuperHeroHype.com.
