Between the Marvel TV reckoning, the new “MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios” book, which details a lot of Marvel’s 2023 and post-‘Endgame‘ issues and this new “Crisis At Marvel” Variety article, it really does feel like that the “Marvel is in trouble” narrative is starting to take hold.
According to the new Variety report, one of the biggest signs that there is trouble afoot is the development of the “Blade” film. Announced years ago, with Mahershala Ali attached to star, it seemed as if “Blade” would be one of the premier titles in Marvel’s post-‘Endgame’ universe. Well, after delays have seen the film pushed from a possible 2023 release to what everyone is expected to be 2025, it appears the project is on fairly shaky ground.
The big news is that Marvel has gone through numerous script overhauls to nail the story. And after rumors that Ali was willing to walk away from the project, Marvel Studios has brought in Michael Green, the writer of “Logan,” to hopefully get the script right. if you’re keeping track, Green would be the sixth writer attached to the project.
The report claims that some of the “Blade” ideas involved a story where it was led by women and Ali’s character is the “fourth lead.” Obviously, that would have been a shock for fans who are expecting the vampire hunter to lead the way, you know, cuz the title says so. Also of note, it appears Marvel is hoping that the film will go in front of cameras in time to make a 2025 release date, but it won’t sport the typical massive budget. The studio is reportedly hoping to keep the budget to under $100 million, which would be a huge change in the M.O. of the studio.
That said, in a world where blockbusters (especially superhero films) are struggling to reach the heights of a pre-COVID box office world, tightening purse strings seems to be a good idea. And honestly, “Blade” is a film that would probably benefit from having a more restrictive budget, forcing the project to remain more small-scale and street-level, as it should be.
Obviously, there’s still plenty of this story to come, as we are still quite far away from a 2025 release of the film. Things could change, yet again. So, let’s just hope Marvel Studios can figure it out sooner than later, and that Ali is still around to star.
