We’ve known that a Blade movie is coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2019. Who can forget with the film’s star—Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali—put on a hat that said “BLADE!” and caused an excited uproar in San Diego Comic-Con’s Hall H?! Though there have been some ups and downs with this movie, hopefully, we’ll only see smooth sailing for our favorite vampire from here on out.

Still, the Marvel movie has seen many shifts, and we’re still learning about some of them. Most recently, Aaron Pierre, who had been slated to play a major role in the MCU’s Blade revealed he was no longer a part of the project. Per Variety, he shared, “Early on, there were conversations. As the project evolved, I’m no longer part of that — attached.” The publication additionally notes that, “Pierre was set to star alongside Mahershala Ali, who plays the vampire hunter originally brought to life by Wesley Snipes. Pierre’s role remained undisclosed, although it was reported that he was chosen for the part after an expansive and thorough casting process.”

Aaron Pierre in Krypton, no longer a part of Blade
Syfy

When news of Pierre’s casting first emerged in 2022, Deadline noted that “the role itself was one of the more highly coveted parts in Hollywood.” But it seems we may never know what MCU role Pierre had been slated for.

Thankfully, Ali says things are still moving forward to some degree in a direction that he approves. “We’re working on it. That’s the best I could tell you,” he said in an  Entertainment Weekly interview in December 2023. “I’m really encouraged with the direction of the project. I think we’ll be back at it relatively soon.”

Here’s everything we know about the upcoming Blade movie.

Title

Marvel Studios

The title of this movie is simple: Blade.

Blade‘s Plot

Right now, we don’t have any plot details for Blade. But, we can imagine the film will borrow from the character’s comic origins. Blade debuted in the tenth issue of Marvel’s Tomb of Dracula comic back in 1973, from writer Marv Wolfman and penciller Gene Colan. He quickly became a supremely popular character, a half-vampire killer of vampires and other occult baddies. Blade first made it to the big screen in 1998 starring Wesley Snipes. Two sequels followed—one of them good—but eventually, that franchise sort of fell by the wayside.

We do know that Blade will be rated R; the rating was recently confirmed by the movie’s director Yann Demange. Blade marks the second MCU movie to receive an R-rating, although we bet that it will be a very different R-rated experience than Deadpool 3. The rating opens up a whole new world of possibilities for the MCU movie and we can’t wait to see what how they will manifest.

Behind the Scenes

Playwright Stacy Osei-Kuffour (Watchmen) wrote an early draft of the script. In 2021, Bassam Tariq confirmed he will direct the film via The Playlist podcast. However, Tariq has since left the project.

The director offered a brief statement about his experience with Blade.

Now Lovecraft Country‘s Yann Demange has come aboard as Blade‘s new director. In addition, Michael Starrbury wrote a new script for the vampiric movie. According to The Hollywood Reporter, True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto has recently joined the project to work off of Starrbury’s script.

Blade‘s Cast

Marvel Studios

As mentioned above, two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali will play the daywalking half-vampire badass in the upcoming Blade movie. Meanwhile, Delroy Lindo is joining Ali in film. While we don’t formally know who Lindo is playing, we think he could be Jamal Afari, who in the comics raised Blade and taught him all about vampire slaying. As we saw (or rather, heard) at the end of Eternals, Kit Harington will cross paths with Blade, reprising his role as Dane Whitman.

Deadline has also reported that X and Pearl star Mia Goth will join the cast in an unspecified role.

Marvel Comics

Blade‘s Release Date

The Blade Marvel movie will arrive in theaters on November 7, 2025.

Originally published on July 20, 2019.