Marvel's Blade Reboot Faces Further Delays as Another Director Exits

Marvel's Blade movie has encountered another setback: It has lost its second director. Yann Demange from Top Boy is no longer involved with Marvel's upcoming Blade reboot, making him the second director to leave the project since it was announced in July 2019.

The reasons for Demange's departure remain unknown, but Deadline reports that the decision was amicable. The publication also states that Mahershala Ali, who has been attached to the film for the last five years, is still set to portray the titular character, the bloodsucker-turned-vampire hunter.

Although the lead actor remains attached, the movie will likely face further delays after encountering several setbacks. Before Demange joined, Bassam Tariq from Mogul Mowgli was initially lined up to direct. Production was scheduled to start in Atlanta and New Orleans in July 2022, with Milan Ray, Delroy Lindo, and Aaron Pierre cast in supporting roles. Marvel boss Kevin Feige had slated the release for November 2023. However, everything stopped in September when Tariq moved to an executive producer role due to scheduling conflicts.

During this period, Beau de Mayo from X-Men '97 was brought in as a new writer to tweak the screenplay originally penned by Watchmen's Stacy Osei-Kuffour. By the time Demange was brought on in November 2022, Michael Starrbury was already working on the script. In April 2023, Nic Pizzolatto from True Detective joined as co-writer, while cinematographer Matthew Libatique replaced Damián García.

On November 1, 2023, Variety reported that Michael Green (known for Logan, Alien: Covenant) would write the film's new script from scratch. Since then, Mia Goth has been cast, while Aaron Pierre has exited the project. Eric Pearson from Agent Carter is the latest writer to join the team.

As of now, Blade is targeting a November 7, 2025 release, though this seems unlikely.