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.
As Captain America: The Winter Soldier celebrates its 10th anniversary this month, it’s time to take a quick examination of why the Captain America film is considered one of the best films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
Very few MCU fans expected much from the sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger, especially given that Joe and Anthony Russo, the directors of Captain America: The Winter Soldier were relative unknowns whose biggest accomplishments to date were directing episodes of Community. Yet, the film blew away audiences, critics and fans with its non-stop action, intriguing script and well-developed characters. It turned out to be one of the most important films in the MCU as it forever changed it.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier centers around Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) uncovering a huge conspiracy in S.H.I.E.L.D. the spy organization he works for while grappling with a deadly ghost from his past. The first Captain America film dealt with Steve’s adventures as a superhero during World War II and ended with him being frozen in ice then revived during modern times. Ordinarily, a sequel film would have focused on fish-out-of-water tropes as Steve struggled to adapt to a whole new world. While this does happen in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the film to its credit doesn’t concentrate on this concept. Instead it forces Steve to adhere to his honorable values as the world around him exhibits dubious morality. He clashes with his superiors who think nothing of spying on civilians and eroding their privacy with a clandestine project. He soon learns that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been compromised by the evil Hydra organization which plans to use the project to unleash a preemptive attack on its enemies throughout the world, including members of the superhero team, the Avengers. For his troubles, Steve is branded a traitor and chased by the mysterious Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), a deadly assassin who turns out to be his best friend Bucky from his World War II days.
All these plot elements successfully evoked a paranoid spy/political thriller that was highlighted with high-octane action scenes that demonstrated how vicious and lethal the Winter Soldier was. These battles were among the best action scenes ever seen in any film and has not been replicated in other MCU films. There was a genuine sense of danger and fear as Steve and his allies fought the Winter Soldier and the compromised S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. One scene in particular, which took place in an elevator, proved what a badass Captain America was. He was surrounded in a cramp space by several men who tried to arrest him and he singlehandedly fought and defeated them despite the odds.
But getting back to the political angle, the film always kept you guessing as to who could be trusted, or what was actually happening in a way that was not confusing and kept audiences engaged. It helped that the film featured Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce, a government official who was actually a Hydra agent. Redford’s acting prowess elevated the film and he was a great callback to the ’70s spy thrillers such as his own Three Days of the Condor.
More importantly, Captain America: The Winter Soldier was at its core a film about a man struggling with his past and his place in the world. In this situation, Steve tries to make sense of the new world he is forced to live in where it seems as if his values are out of step. But they are what is needed to fight a great evil that has corrupted the world and his best friend. What makes confronting Bucky so much worse for Steve is not only Bucky the lethal Winter Soldier, but due to brainwashing by Hydra over the decades, Bucky has lost his decent personality and no longer remembers his past or his friendship with Steve. The Winter Soldier is the only remaining link Steve has with his past and he has to find the strength to bring his friend back. His plight was very emotional and the sacrifice he made at the end to get through to Bucky was very powerful. The final battle between the two as Steve struggled to connect with Bucky was much more riveting than the wild, effects-laden action scenes involving Steve’s other friends fighting Hydra.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier propelled the narrative of the MCU from that point as it no longer had S.H.I.E.L.D. as the support organization for the Avengers and the world. This in turn would later have severe consequences during future Avengers films and immediately impacted the TV show, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Even though that show is now ignored these days, back in 2014, it was clearly part of the MCU and the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier directly affected the TV show as one of the main characters was revealed to be a Hydra agent, and the other characters underwent crises of faith. The film also led to Captain America becoming a man without a country and on the run as seen in the next Captain America film, Captain America: Civil War when his morality led to a devastating conflict with some of his fellow Avengers to the point that the team broke up and left Earth unprotected.
Thanks to Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the MCU began to be seen as something more than typical superhero films. This was reinforced later in the summer of 2014 with the release of the space epic Guardians of the Galaxy. Together, the films proved that the superhero film genre was very diverse in terms of storytelling and being able to surprise everyone with its potential. That is because not only is Captain America: The Winter Soldier the best superhero solo film of the MCU but one of the greatest films of all time.
As we move further into this decade, it is apparent that the superhero era in films and TV shows has ended. We all know about the hurdles many recent superhero films and TV show have faced with diminished quality and profit. Guaranteed would-be hits like The Marvels or The Flash failed spectacularly last year and help cement that the superhero films and TV shows are no longer as popular at they were in the previous decade.
This does not mean that there won’t be anymore superhero films or TV shows or that they will never be popular again. There are several superhero films and TV shows in various stages of development and it is possible that a new era could arise. It has happened before. Back in the early 2000s, superhero films became dominant in films thanks to the success of Spider-Man and X-Men, but they then diminished in quality and several films did not perform well. However, as we all know the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) exploded on the scene and launched an even more successful and popular era of superhero films and TV shows. It is similar to what has happened with the comic books that inspired these live-action films and TV shows.
As comic book fans know, comic books have had their ups and downs throughout history with different ages. When they first came into prominence in the late 1930s they sold very well, but by the mid 1950s comic books declined in popularity and sales until the release of Showcase #4, which revamped the Flash and introduced a new age of comic books. Essentially, the eras come and go in cycles with comic books as they reinvented themselves and there is little reason to doubt this won’t happen with superhero films and TV shows. For all we know this year’s Deadpool & Wolverine will usher in a new age of superhero films and TV shows. Or it may be a while as other genres capture the attention of viewers as they offer a fresh new take on superheroes.
So, until then what genre can replace the superhero films and TV shows in terms of prominence and popularity?
It is too early to tell, but we have a couple of contenders: video game-based properties or monster-based properties.
The MonsterVerse based on giant kaijus like Godzilla and King Kong has proven to be unexpectedly popular, while Godzilla Minus Zero blew away audiences and critics with its high quality and success. There are plans for films based on classic movie monsters like the Wolfman and Frankenstein’s monster, which could fulfill the failed promise of the so-called Dark Universe from ten years ago. The only issue with these monster films is their limited scope in terms of story. It is difficult to make compelling stories that focus on giant monsters while ignoring poorly developed human characters. But it is possible, again look at Godzilla Minus Zero.
On the other hand, video games have provided ample material for filmmakers to mine from. The most popular video games are based on science fiction, horror and fantasy and everything in between. In the past, films based on video games fared poorly as filmmakers were unable to translate what made the games so popular into film.
However, there have been many recent films and TV shows based on video games that were wildly successful and were well received. These include Sonic the Hedgehog, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Five Nights at Freddy’s, The Last of Us, The Witcher, Halo and most recently Fallout. Although the quality and success of these projects varied, it is clear that they are becoming more and more prominent in theaters and in streaming services. These properties are just the tip of the iceberg of available video games that are practically begging to be adapted to live-action. There are plans to produce films and TV shows based on The Legend of Zelda, Death Stranding, Borderlands, Minecraft: The Movie, Metal Gear Solid, Mass Effect and Bioshock. Of course, we will also be getting sequels and new seasons like Sonic the Hedgehog 3, The Last of Us, Knuckles, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, and Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft. The subject matter of these projects range from alternate history, hard sci-fi, horror and animated cartoons.
Will these films duplicate the success of the MCU and other superhero films and TV shows? It’s hard to say at this point, but do not be surprised if some video-game based property explodes and captures the public zeitgeist. The Super Mario Bros. Movie was able to do this given that it earned over $1 billion when it was released last year. It’s possible that the sequel could earn more money and cement the Mario Brothers as the next big thing. Or maybe it will be some other video game property. The future is wide open for video game-based films and TV shows to dominate the public consciousness.
The big news this past week regarding the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) was that Disney cancelled a few MCU projects that were being prepared as a way of getting MCU and Marvel Studios back on its feet. What was noticeable about the news was that the projects included followups to Eternals, Captain Marvel and Ant-Man. There are also reports that long-announced projects like Ironheart and Armor Wars are also on the chopping block. While it is understandable why they have been cancelled, there is also some cause for concern.
The reasoning behind the cancellations was that Marvel Studios should focus on projects based on popular characters that will be guaranteed hits like Spider-Man, the Avengers and the X-Men. It makes sense but it just means that Marvel Studios will be forced to play it safe. It’s a shame because Marvel Comics has a huge plethora of intellectual property to mine from. To just go back and do films and TV shows about the same characters over and over again runs the risk of over-relying on them. Then you wind up with the situation Warner Bros. has with its DC characters where the only thing the company focuses on are numerous Batman films and related TV shows. Of course, these film studios need hits and it doesn’t hurt to rely on what works to fund future projects, but doing so risked overusing certain characters and diluting their appeal in the long run.
By playing it safe, Marvel Studios will avoid taking risks and approving projects based on lesser-known Marvel characters. This is understandable given the time and money that will be used to produce films and TV shows on characters few have heard of. But if Marvel Studios always followed this mentality we never would have gotten Guardians of the Galaxy. Back when that film was first announced, many were convinced that it would be Marvel Studios’ first flop. After all, few people heard of the characters who were outlandish. A talking raccoon? A walking tree? These doubters were sure no one would pay money to see films featuring such bizarre characters. But as we all know, the film was a huge hit and turned the Guardians of the Galaxy into beloved household characters.
Marvel Studios has tried to replicate the success of Guardians of the Galaxy with other lesser-known properties to varying results. For every Black Panther there was Eternals. While not everything Marvel Studios tried worked out, this does not mean that the film studio should avoid experimenting and trying out new characters. This will pay off for the film studio in the long run. Just look at the Scarlet Witch. When she first debuted in Avengers: Age of Ultron, she had an impact but her popularity did not truly take off until WandaVision years later. That show was so popular that it has spun off a couple of its characters into their own film and TV show, that being Photon and Agatha Harkness. Unfortunately, Photon’s film The Marvels flopped and Agatha: Whatever is the Subtitle still hasn’t streamed yet, so the jury is out on the TV show. However, the failure of The Marvels cannot be blamed on the character of Photon. The same would have to go with the other main characters in that film and going further with Nick Fury in Secret Invasion or Ant-Man in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Those projects failed but it was not because of the characters. They had their own issues and the characters were mostly well received in other appearances.
Thankfully, Marvel Studios will continue to utilize these characters in other projects. For instance, Ant-Man is supposed to appear in the next Spider-Man film and the next Avengers film. With Eternals, even though that film won’t get a proper sequel, the characters and events from the film are rumored to be incorporated into the next Avengers film. It would make sense that if the fifth Avengers film is no longer about Kang the Conqueror then it could be a cosmic-based film that features the Eternals and even the Guardians of the Galaxy in a loose adaptation of the Annihilation storyline from Marvel Comics (this was the comic book event that introduced the modern incarnation of the Guardians of the Galaxy that we think of). Some creative scripting could have the events of the cosmic plot in that Avengers film continue the Incursion/Multiverse arc and lead into Avengers: Secret Wars.
Marvel Studios should not hesitate with continuing to introduce new characters all the time in their films and TV shows. Although not all of them will take off in popularity, they should be featured to at least test the waters and see how they are received.
Maybe after a few hits under its belt, Marvel Studios will once again take creative chances with Marvel’s other characters. After all, the richness of the vast Marvel Universe deserves to be fully explored for MCU fans.
Here we go again with the two corporate giants, Sony Pictures Entertainment and The Walt Disney Company, battling over Spider-Man. More specifically the films about the superhero and everyone in his orbit. The colossal failure of Sony’s Madame Web and the delays in producing a fourth Spider-Man film set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) only exacerbated the situation between the two companies.
Past Disagreements
Most Marvel fans know by now the convoluted story of how Sony acquired the exclusive film rights to Marvel Comics’ most popular character, Spider-Man. They also know this meant that Disney’s Marvel Studios could not make its own Spider-Man films. After the failure of Sony’s reboot of Spider-Man in the early 2010s, the two companies decided to share the character and have him appear in the MCU starting with Captain America: Civil War.
Things went well for both companies and the superhero. Marvel Studios produced acclaimed Spider-Man films as the character proved to be even more popular than ever. However, as the saying goes, all good things come to an end. After Spider-Man’s appearances in Avengers: Endgame and his solo film, Spider-Man: Far From Home in 2019, Sony decided to end its agreement with Marvel Studios and prepared to make their own Spider-Man films without the involvement of Marvel Studios and Disney. Following a huge backlash from the public, the two companies decided to play nice and the result was one of the greatest Spider-Man films, Spider-Man: No Way Home. Everything was great. The last MCU Spider-Man film essentially set him up to be a more traditional and grounded loner superhero and plans for a fourth film were underway. This was back in 2021/2022. Nothing has happened since then, and now there are reports of tension between the two companies.
Current Disagreements
Apparently, there are disagreements over the direction of the next Spider-Man film. Marvel Studios has planned a grounded, street-level film for Spider-Man that has him facing off against the Kingpin with appearances by Daredevil and other street-level heroes. However, Sony wants a repeat of Spider-Man: No Way Home where the MCU version of Spider-Man is to reunite with the Sony versions of Spider-Man as the trio would team up for another multiverse story. The reason for this is that Spider-Man: No WayHome was the most successful Spider-Man film and Sony wants more of this. While the idea of expanded multiverses has become part of the Spider-Man comic book mythos, to do the same thing after Spider-Man: No Way Home is creatively lazy and plays it safe. Also keep in mind that the recent releases of Sony’s animated Spider-Man films had similar plot lines where the title character interacted with alternate versions of himself. As tempting as it is to repeat the same thing expecting the fourth MCU Spider-Man film to be just as successful as Spider-Man: No Way Home is wishful thinking on Sony’s part. There isn’t any guarantee that lightning would strike twice. Frankly, doing a grounded Spider-Man story that would be part of a larger MCU storyline where the Kingpin is the mayor of New York City is the logical path for Spider-Man: No Way Home left our hero.
Another issue that is being reported is that Sony wants a Spider-Man film to come out next year. But Marvel Studios has four films already scheduled for release next year and adding the MCU Spider-Man film would strain the bandwidth of Marvel Studios’ resources and be too much for the average filmgoer. This could mean that one of the other scheduled MCU films would suffer at the box office. But Sony does not care, obviously they are only concerned about their own studio, which is desperate for a hit after the failures of Morbius and Madame Web. Marvel Studios could play nice and just delay one of their films next year. But the forthcoming MCU films have already undergone significant delays and Spider-Man will reportedly be a major character in the Secret Wars story, so Marvel Studios is in a pickle over how to go forward.
Sony’s Dismal Track Record
The problem with Sony is that they have proven that they cannot make a good Spider-Man or Spider-Man adjacent film. Yes, the first couple of Spider-Man films done by Sam Raimi were classics but that is largely due to the director, who ended up clashing with Sony over Spider-Man 3 and that film was a letdown compared to the first two films. Aside from an occassional Venom and the animated films, the Spider-Man and Spider-Man-related films were not well done and produced to keep the property with Sony. Apparently, Sony is contract-bound to release a Spider-Man film or one featuring characters in Spidey’s universe every few years. This was part of the reason why Raimi left the Spider-Man franchise because Sony was in a rush to release a Spider-Man film before giving Raimi the time to fully develop it. The tendency of Sony rushing out these films would explain why so many of them are bad. Another culprit is probably studio interferrence because that could only explain why Madame Web was so horrible. Let’s be objective, many of the actors and behind-the-scenes people in Madame Web are clearly talented, but the film was such a bad misfire that reeks of last-minute changes, such as poorly done ADR.
Sony is clearly desperate to create their own cinematic universe as seen with their films like Venom, Morbius, Madame Web and the upcoming Kraven the Hunter. On paper, creating a cinematic universe based on Spider-Man and characters in his world makes sense because throughout the decades the world of Spider-Man has seen many interesting characters that have spun off successfully into their own comic books. But what have we gotten from Sony? Aside from their released misfires, there were attempts to launch their own version of the Suicide Squad only this time with Spider-Man’s enemies, the Sinister Six, which was clumsily alluded to in The Amazing Spider-Man 2; a film about Aunt May as a spy in her younger days (!); and the character everyone has been clamoring for: El Muerto. Seriously, Sony, WTF?! We can understand a film about the Black Cat teaming up with Silver Sable, (which fell apart) but El Muerto? And the upcoming Kraven film has him as some kind of anti-hunting hero who gets his powers from being bitten by a lion! “Sigh”
Clearly, Sony does not know what to do with its superhero cash cow. The problem is that Sony’s ineptness is harming the MCU brand. How can this be? The Sony films are set in different universes except for the MCU Spider-Man films, which is what most fans would point out. But the average person would not know the difference. There are people who still confuse the Marvel films with the DC films! They’re not going to look at the fine print in marketing to see that Morbius was made “In Association with Marvel”, they’re going to see the Marvel logo and think that garbage Sony film is part of the MCU. This has a negative impact on Marvel Studios since the average moviegoer will think the inferior Sony films are made by Marvel Studios, which is the last thing Marvel Studios wants now that they are struggling to come back from recent setbacks with their own products.
Marvel’s Options
What can Disney and Marvel Studios do? Ignoring the Sony films is not working. Well, Disney can try to buy back the film rights to Spider-Man. Naturally, Sony will understandably be hesitant to give up its cash cow unless Disney pays them handsomely. But given the company’s financial hurdles, it’s doubtful Disney has the funds readily available for that feat. Disney can sue Sony with the argument that Spider-Man is so entwined with Marvel that the Sony films are hurting the Marvel brand even if future MCU films completely ignore Spider-Man.
Can Sony be forced to sell the rights back to Disney or at least be forced to remove the Marvel name from their marketing? Who knows at this point, but this cannot continue. Of course, the easiest way to get Sony to relinquish or loosen their hold on the rights would be for people to stop seeing the Sony Spider-Man and Spider-Man-related films. This includes Venom and the animated films. Sony has to be convinced that holding on to the film rights is not worth it if there are diminishing returns for these films. After all, it was the failure of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 that coerced Sony to negotiate with Marvel Studios to bring Spidey into the MCU. So, the ball is in our court.
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