SDCC 2024: Where the Hell Is Blade?

Let’s not lie: Blade is having a rough go at things. Five years ago, Marvel Studios brought Mahershala Ali on stage during its Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con to announce the Oscar-winner would soon play Eric Brooks, the antihero better known as Blade. By all accounts, the movie should have been released by this point in time. Only now,  for it’s far from pre-production. The film has lost two directors, and it’s been stuck in writers’ hell since the leap. As it stands now, the movie is schedule to come out next year, even though Marvel Studios doesn’t really want to talk about it.

Saturday night, Marvel boss Kevin Feige took the stage at Hall H to talk about Marvel’s releases throughout 2025. Plenty was said about Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Despite technically having a release date next year, Marvel Studios didn’t say as much as a word about the film.

Earlier in the week, Feige expressed some optimistic views on the film, saying he’s liking where the film is headed. “[It] has been frustrating for us and for some fans that it’s taken a while but we have a writer working on it now,” Feige told Shadow and Act on the press tour for Deadpool & Wolverine. “I’ve read half of his new draft and it’s feeling good so far.“

Even then, Blade’s woes have become a bit of a meme in and of itself. Even Wesley Snipes, the actor that played the characters in the early aughts, has spoken on the matter.

“I shouted him out, told him he’s got all my blessings and support,” Snipes told EW this week. “I even referenced the fact that some of the challenges they’re facing now with the project, it shouldn’t be accredited to him … It’s not the actor’s fault. There’s a lot more that goes on with pulling this Blade stuff off … You need a lot of secret sauce to do the Blade thing, man. Good luck. You’re my man, though.”

Blade is currently set to hit theaters on November 7, 2025.