Blade, the long-promised reboot of the popular film series with Mahershala Ali in the titular role, has seen several setbacks but was highly anticipated by fans of the franchise. Collectively, those same fans are decrying Marvel’s decision to remove Blade from its 2025 release slate and sparking a spirited discussion on X.
As reported by Deadline, Blade, which has seen a shuffle of names for directors, was reported for a November 2025 release. Instead, Predator: Badlands has the date slot. As the outlet adds, the reboot of the beloved Wesley Snipes vehicle was announced in 2019 at the San Diego Comic-Con, and the announcement of Mahershala Ali as the Daywalker was met with approval.
However, production on the film was halted after its first director, Bassam Tariq, vacated the project. Yann Demange was then brought in to helm the film but the French film director decided to move on earlier this year. Adding to all of this, production on Blade was beset with delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a series of strikes in the film industry.
Given that Snipes appeared in the well-received Deadpool & Wolverine film in a reprise of the vampire hunter character, it appeared that it was still full speed ahead for the film to come to fruition.
Some MCU fans online, still reeling from the loss of Chadwick Boseman, who played King T’Challa aka Black Panther, were hoping to have another Black character to rally around and show that Black moviegoers are eager to throw their support behind characters that look like them.
There is also a wider discussion happening on the X platform about scrapping the project altogether and reviving the King T’Challa character despite Marvel boss Kevin Feige saying he doesn’t intend to do so.
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