JP Nunez
When Marvel announced they were making a new Blade film with Mahershala Ali as the titular daywalker, I was ecstatic. I’m a huge fan of vampires, the MCU, and the original two Blade movies (we can just forget that Blade: Trinity ever happened), so this new one immediately became my most anticipated film on the Marvel slate. I’ve been counting down the days until its release, but unfortunately, that count has just gotten a lot longer. THR is reporting that Marvel has paused production on Blade, and as a result, the studio has pushed the film’s release date back almost a full year, from November 3, 2023, to September 6, 2024.
As disappointing as this news is, it’s not exactly a shocker, as we learned last month that director Bassam Tiraq had left the project less than two months before shooting was set to begin. It would’ve been really tough for Marvel to keep this movie on schedule no matter how quickly they hired a new director, so this pause was just about inevitable.
That being said, there is a silver lining to the delay. THR is also saying that Marvel wants to use this extra time to straighten out a few issues with the film. According to one of their sources, “They [Marvel] want to really get it right,” and that’s pretty encouraging. Even though I want Blade to hit theaters as quickly as possible, I’d rather wait a bit and get a better movie than see an inferior product sooner. So hopefully this pause will be a blessing in disguise and allow the studio to make the best film possible.
To accommodate Blade’s new release date, Marvel has also pushed back Deadpool 3, Fantastic Four, and Avengers: Secret Wars (although, curiously, not Avengers: Kang Dynasty), so if you’re a fan of the MCU, you’re going to have to wait a bit longer to see those films as well.
