It hasn’t been easy for Marvel Studios and their attempts to get a Blade reboot off the ground. The project was first announced in 2019. Since then, it’s had a number of shakeups, and now a new report claims that director Yann Demange has left the Blade project.
The film is supposed to introduce Blade, the fan-favorite vampire hunter that happens to be part human and part vampire, to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Mahershala Ali has been attached to portray the character for the film. However, various reports have claimed that Marvel Studios has struggled with the film’s direction.
The movie’s original director, Bassam Tariq, similarly left the project several years ago. Yann Demange was brought on as his replacement for Blade. As many as six writers have been involved with the film, with the current draft being worked on by Eric Pearson. Michael Starrbury, Nic Pizzolatto, and Michael Green wrote previous drafts of the film’s script.
The report regarding Demange’s departure comes from The Wrap. According to the outlet, it “actually happened a while ago and was entire amicable.” As such, the reasons are still unclear, but it seems as though Demange is still on good terms with Marvel. Hopefully a new director will be announced in the future – and they will be able to get the film out there for Marvel Studios with the right direction.
The Wrap does add that, “according to an insider with knowledge,” Marvel Studios feels that “getting ‘Blade‘ right is much more important than getting the film out. The pressure to produce as much content as possible has been lifted” especially now that the studio is returning focus to only releasing two films each year.
The film is currently still slated to be released on November 7, 2025. However, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a delay announced. Especially if the studio hopes to focus on the film’s quality rather than rush the project out for theaters next year.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding the Blade reboot as we have them. In the meantime, it’ll be interesting to see what Marvel’s next course of action will be if this news is true. Especially now that this is the second director to leave the project.