“Blade” really is unique in the history of troubled Hollywood productions. So tumultuous was the film’s journey that Ali himself almost left “Blade” altogether, which would have been a disastrous, and potentially fatal blow to the project. In the meantime, Ali has left “Blade” fans hanging by joining the new “Jurassic World” movie — which given the ongoing issues with his Marvel film isn’t all that surprising. As the Oscar-winner’s rep, Shelby Weiser, told The Hollywood Reporter in June 2024, “That [‘Blade’] deal was in 2019, and they still haven’t shot it, which is pretty much the craziest thing in my professional experience.”
But while nothing has yet been shot, that doesn’t mean it didn’t come close. As Marvel has struggled to overcome its recent issues with strikes, so-called superhero fatigue, and the fact that we frankly just had too much of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Blade” has arguably suffered the most. But it seems Marvel Studios has at least tried to get production underway.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, a version of “Blade” that was due to film in 2023 was set in the 1920s, and “featured Mia Goth as a vampire villain named Lilith who wanted the blood of Blade’s daughter.” The “MaXXXine” star is still attached to “Blade” but it seems whatever form the new version takes, it will no longer be set in the ’20s, as THR confirms the film will now be set in the present day. Interestingly enough, the outlet also reports that Marvel Studios built “a massive train set,” for the movie during Bassam Tariq’s tenure, which was never used and may end up being utilized by a different Disney production.
