It has been almost five years since Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige announced that a Blade reboot, with Mahershala Ali in the lead, was in development. However, since then, the revival has seen several setbacks, from production delays to Bassam Tariq leaving the director’s chair, though he remains an executive producer. As its second director, Yann Demange, also exits the project, original Blade star Wesley Snipes seemingly mocks the Marvel reboot with the number of problems it faces.
In November 2022, Deadline broke the news that Demange would direct the Blade reboot over a year after Tariq left the film due to numerous changes in the production schedule. However, like Tariq, Demange departed the project, though the reason remained unknown. Several days later, Snipes shared a post on X, outwardly making fun of Eric Brooks’ introduction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Marvel Studios still looked for that “secret sauce.”
“Blade, lordylordylordy folks still lookin for the secret sauce, ridin snowmobiles in traffic, kinda rough,” he wrote, accompanied by a GIF of his iconic character giving a sarcastic grin. “Daywalkers make it look easy, don’t they?”
Daywalker refers to the type of vampire or half-vampire who can walk in the daylight without harm. Blade himself is a Daywalker after his mother was bitten and turned into a vampire while she was still pregnant with him.
Yenn Demange Leaves Blade Reboot
The Wrap first reported that Demange left the Blade reboot, and the parting happened “a while ago.” The split was said to be “entirely amicable.” Demange is best known for directing the acclaimed TV series Lovecraft Country and Top Boy.
However, though the movie has lost its director, it now has a new scriptwriter. Marvel veteran writer Eric Pearson, who works on The Fantastic Four, has joined the vampire superhero film and is working on the movie’s script after Michael Starrbury, Nic Pizzolatto, and Michael Green wrote the previous drafts.
The film rights to Blade had reverted to Marvel Studios in August 2012, and an insider revealed that getting its rights was much more important than releasing the movie. As Disney eyes to reduce Marvel TV series and movie releases per year, it looks like it’s not in a rush to finish the reboot, especially if it’s not ready for production yet.
So far, there are no words on whether the film’s set release date of November 7, 2025, will change. With the success of Snipes’ three Blade movies, Marvel probably feels the pressure of getting things right.
