About five years ago at a Comic-Con appearance, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige eagerly announced that a new film about the vampire hunter Blade would be produced by Marvel Studios to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). What made the announcement even more exciting was that Mahershala Ali would portray Blade, a role made famous by Wesley Snipes. That was then. Now? Nothing. The film keeps getting delayed over and over again to the point that many are asking if the project is cursed.

At the same Comic-Con, several other film and TV projects were announced and they have been produced and released since then. Only Blade remains unrealized; the closest we got to having Blade appear in the MCU was hearing his voice during a post-credits scene in Eternals. There are several reasons why the reboot of the Wesley Snipes film has been delayed, some of it has to do with the pandemic and the recent Hollywood strikes. But the main reason for the delays has to do with the inability to come up with a script and holding onto a director.

Marvel Studios has not been impressed with the scripts. The first one was penned by Stacy Amma Osei-Kuffour in 2021, while Bassam Tariq was chosen to direct the film. Tariq left a year later due to the lack of progress with the film while Marvel Studios brought in other writers to revamp the script. Reports have it that the first script was very light on action, a staple of the Blade films, and supposedly took place in the 1920s. Other writers who took a shot at Blade included Beau DeMayo, who was responsible for the well-received X-Men ’97 animated series, but time and time again Marvel Studios brought more and more screenwriters to turn in a suitable script. Mahershala Ali himself has expressed dissatisfaction with the original script and the pace of the project and it would not be surprising if he winds up leaving the project, even though he approached Marvel Studios with the idea of portraying the vampire hunter.

Meanwhile, Yann Demange, the director who replaced Tariq, left the project a few weeks ago, and no replacement has been announced yet. This is going on as the film is supposedly slated to begin production later this year for a 2025 release. At this rate, it is doubtful the film will meet the deadline or even be made.

Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios recently announced their desire to focus on the quality of their films and TV shows, which is commendable. But the unfortunate result of focusing on quality has been the delay of Blade. This is very frustrating for fans of the character and the original films who wanted to see the MCU take of the Daywalker (as he is called by the vampires he hunts), as well as Ali’s interpretation of the superhero.

It is baffling why Marvel Studios is having a hard time with this project which should be a slum dunk and would have a ready audience for a character with huge name recognition. The Blade films were popular even before the MCU existed and most people were not even aware that the supernatural hero was actually based on a Marvel Comics character. The premise should be fairly simple to produce. Why not just do a remake of the original Blade film Deacon Frost as the villain? The story worked in the first Blade, just throw in some MCU references and call it a day.

The answer to that is that Marvel Studios wants a fresh new take on the character and probably as rumors have it, wants Blade to help launch the Midnight Sons superhero team for the future. This is a great idea, but Marvel Studios has a lot on their plate and it’s anyone’s guess as to when they will get around to it.

Until Marvel Studios decides on a script and hires a solid director (supposedly they are eyeing Jordan Peele or Chad Stahelski who have either shown interest or been approached for Blade), the least they can do is have the character appear in upcoming MCU projects. This would keep fans happy and maybe even Ali, too.

However, the constant delays has become an embarrassment for Marvel Studios. They must settle on a script and director very soon in order to meet the production schedule and release date. Otherwise, Blade is doomed.