Kevin Feige breaks silence on Marvel’s failed Blade reboot with Mahershala Ali

Kevin Feige says Marvel failed to launch Mahershala Ali’s Blade reboot after years of development setbacks

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has spoken candidly about the studio’s unsuccessful attempt to reboot Blade, admitting he feels disappointed that the long-planned project starring Mahershala Ali never moved into production.

Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Feige described the cancelled Blade reboot as one of Marvel’s biggest recent frustrations. He said he felt like “a gigantic loser and failure” for not being able to bring Ali’s version of the iconic vampire hunter to the big screen. Despite the setback, Feige said it was still exciting to see Wesley Snipes reprise the role of Blade in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Marvel Studios first announced the Mahershala Ali Blade film in 2019, but the project encountered repeated production delays. Director Bassam Tariq exited the film in 2022 shortly before filming was scheduled to begin, while several writers joined and departed during development. Yann Demange later signed on as director but also left the project in 2024.

Following years of script revisions and creative changes, Marvel ultimately removed Blade from its release schedule. Feige explained that the decision reflected the studio’s renewed focus on prioritising quality over quantity after expanding its Marvel Cinematic Universe slate through Disney+ projects.

According to Feige, Marvel wanted Blade to offer something unique rather than simply revisiting familiar vampire-hunting stories. He said the studio concluded that the screenplay had not yet reached the creative standard required for production and chose not to move forward rather than compromise the film or Ali’s performance.

Although the reboot has been shelved, Ali has previously stated that he remains interested in portraying Blade if the project is revived in the future. For now, Marvel Studios continues refining its long-term development strategy while focusing on fewer, higher-quality productions.