Marvel Studios Delays Two Upcoming Movies

Marvel's theatrical release slate continues to work out some wrinkles. Friday afternoon, the decision-makers at Walt Disney Studios opted to delay two of the House of Idea'supcoming projects. Both of the delays were dates already reserved by the studio and had yet to be assigned an actual movie, at least on a public-facing basis. The dates impacted include the studio's October 2022 date and November 2023 date.

The movie that was going to debut on October 7, 2022, has now been pushed back nearly one full year and is now set to open in theaters October 6, 2023. The November 2023 movie has been pushed back one week, from November 3, 2023, to November 10, 2023.

With the October date bumping back a whole year and keeping in the same month — a frame Marvel rarely ventures into when it comes to releases — most will probably agree that's reserved for Mahershala Ali's Blade. With spooky season ramping up right around then, it's a perfect release for the season. Production on the project was initially set to start later this year, but has recently been pushed back as the studio continues to look for a director on the project.

"I did this Marvel show for Netflix called Luke Cage. So in doing that show, the day it premiered, I had turned to my agent, and I had said, 'What are they doing with Blade?' Because I kept hearing they were trying to find a way to remake and put it back together," Ali previously told The Tight Rope. "And it was exciting for me to get to be in that Marvel space and TV, but for me, my goal had always been film. But also being able to participate in television in a very specific way that had real meaning, but my larger goal was to be able to really navigate between film and television."

"Since they were having conversations about bringing it back into being, I just wanted to be considered for it because I had definitely a connection, at least in my mind, to Wesley Snipes going back to high school," he added. "People use to joke and say that we looked alike and all this stuff. Sometimes people try to throw a little dig on you, they call me his character name. They call me Shadow from [Spike Lee jazz drama] Mo' Better Blues or whatever, right?"

Blade is currently being written by Watchmen alum Stacy Osei-Kuffour.