Credit: MarvelIn the wake of the unpredictable chaos surrounding Marvel’s new Blade movie, Marvel has found another way forward for its resident Daywalker in a series.
Related: ‘Blade’ Receives Concerning Update, Director Steps Down
Mahershala Ali’s Blade movie, currently tipped for a September 2024 release, has had a tumultuous few years of development. The movie has seen a change of director, with Bassam Tariq leaving the project just a month before shooting started.
Then reports came in that the star, Ali, was reportedly personally frustrated with the tricky production and a script which — according to industry insider Jeff Sneider — was just 90 pages long and featured two action scenes.
Things have advanced since then, although they have remained just as chaotic. Despite a post-credits sequence in Eternals (2021) suggesting Kit Harington’s Dane Whitman would be seeing some action as The Black Knight alongside Blade, with Ali’s voice heard offscreen as Harington revealed the fabled Ebony Blade his hero is destined to wield, that may no longer be the case. Recent reports would suggest the script has undergone another rewrite, with Harington now a much smaller element.
All this to say: now is a very tense time to be a Blade fan. But Marvel continues to forge a path forward for the hero, who is enjoying a decidedly less difficult time on the comic book pages than he is in front of the movie cameras.
The comics giant is bringing a new “Blade” book from writer Bryan Hill and Black Widow’s Elena Casagrande as the artist. Set to release this summer, here’s the synopsis courtesy of Polygon:
True evil is patient. And a dark, ancient power has been simmering quietly for centuries…and when Blade himself is the one to unknowingly unleash it, Marvel’s entire supernatural underworld will come out of hiding to demand he handle it. Or pay a pound of flesh for his mistakes. Bloodbaths, blackmail and Blade – you won’t want to miss the explosive first issue of this new volume!
Despite the hero having a somewhat rocky start to his Marvel Cinematic Universe introduction, his comics’ appearances are flourishing. This book arrives after Blade’s stamped his time as an Avenger and is now living as Sheriff in a vampiric sovereign nation within the irradiated Chernobyl.
Blade was famously brought to the big screen previously by Wesley Snipes, who starred as the Daywalker in three movies: Blade (1998), Blade II (2002), and Blade: Trinity (2004). The first two movies are still held in high regard by comic book fans, with the second in particular benefiting from director Guillermo Del Toro’s own particular eye for a sensational movie monster. The third film was a controversial entry in the franchise but featured an appearance from now-Deadpool Ryan Reynolds.
Only time will tell if the big-screen MCU Blade will be able to stand the heat, but at least in the meantime, his comic book counterpart is thriving. “Blade” (2023) debuts this summer.
Will you be reading the new “Blade” book? Tell us in the comments below.