Blade star Mahershala Ali offers a promising update on the troubled MCU movie

After many ups and downs, it appears the long-awaited Blade reboot from Marvel Studios might actually start shooting soon.

One of the many problems that Disney and Marvel have faced recently is getting their Blade reboot right before putting everyone in front of the cameras. If you can remember, the project was announced back in July 2019, which is... kind of long ago.

Since then, it's gained Mogul Mowgli director Bassam Tariq and Watchmen scribe Stacy Osei-Kuffour to pen a script. We might never learn the full truth behind the massive creative shake-up, but in 2022 both creatives left the project, which was essentially scrapped.

After further delays (it was originally set to open on November 3, 2023), Lovecraft Country's Yann Demange was recruited to captain the rebooted production, and more recently, we learned that Logan and Blade Runner 2049's Michael Green had been hired to come up with a new script. Word on the street is that Marvel Studios now wants to keep the budget under $100 million and go for a R-rated flick in the vein of the recent John Wick entries. But, you know, with vampires and horror elements.

Now, during an interview with Entertainment Weekly about Netflix's Leave the World Behind, star Mahershala Ali has promised the project is in better shape now and will finally be ready to shoot soon. "I’m really encouraged with the direction of the project. I think we’ll be back at it relatively soon," he declared.

Previous reports claimed that Ali almost dropped out of the project he set up himself in the first place, so things must've been pretty bad. With a scribe as experienced as Green on board, however, he seems genuinely excited once again, saying: "I’m sincerely encouraged in terms of where things are at and who’s on board and who’s leading the way as far as the writing of the script and the directing and all that...so that’s the extent of what I can tell you."

Maybe you've forgotten or don't even know because you skipped the movie, but Ali's Blade actually debuted with a voice cameo in the post-credits scene of 2021's Eternals. Right now, Blade is set to open on November 7, 2025, two years after its original release date.