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Blade, the most anticipated movie currently of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, was temporarily shut down reportedly due to delays caused by the writer’s strike. For the unversed, over 11,000 Hollywood writers are on strike because of the emergence of AI-generated stories. According to ABC News, the demand is not just for better work conditions but to save Hollywood from getting littered with AI-generated stories.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie’s pre-production was temporarily shut down due to the writer's strike, causing unforeseen delays. Accordingly, the studio has plans to restart production once the strike is over.
Marvel is recently bustling with TV and movie productions lined up for the next few years. From Blade to Secret Invasion, it has a lot of projects going on at the same time.
According to several rumors, Marvel’s Blade has been developing since 2013. In 2019, the movie was finally officially announced, and the release date was set for November 3, 2023.
However, due to creative differences, the previous director, Bassam Tariq left, leading to more delay and the film having a 2024 release date. Now amidst the massive writer’s strike, it seems unlikely that the studio would be able to fulfill that goal.
3 cool facts about MCU’s Blade that many do not know
1) Blade was the saving grace for Marvel and the superhero movie genre at one point
MCU did not become the huge mogul it is in one day. One of the movies that one must thank for putting the MCU on a larger map is Blade. According to Indie Wire, the 1998 original was the one that created a roadmap for the success of movies like Iron Man or Avengers: Endgame.
The 80s and the 90s were not a good time for comic books and superhero genre movies. Due to oversaturation, the genre's movies started to fail one after another, and public’s interest started to wean off. Marvel even declared bankruptcy in 1996 due to dire conditions.
Although Blade was not a huge critical success for Marvel, it still managed to make around $131 million against its $45 million budget, with the whole trilogy going on to make a whopping $415 million.
One insider opened up via Indie Wire, saying how it saved the franchise:
“In many ways, it saved Marvel’s cinema prospects entirely, as well as revived the superhero genre. Blade’ was a moral victory for Marvel, finally establishing it as a rising force in Hollywood. It demonstrated that audiences could be drawn towards Marvel’s C list characters.”
So, it is no wonder that Marvel wants to reprise the success of the franchise again.
2) Stan Lee and Michael Jackson had supposed cameos in the original movies
Marvel movies are filled with cameos, especially from the legendary creator Stan Lee. However, many do not know that Michael Jackson was also going to have a cameo in Blade, which was later scrapped.
The 'King of Pop' was quite a comic book fan, according to What Culture. Stan Lee revealed many years ago that Michael Jackson wanted to be in a Spiderman movie in the 90s. He also wanted to play The Riddler in DCs Batman Forever. However, none came to fruition.
The closest he came was in Guillermo del Toro’s Blade 2, where he would have been a vampire pimp. However, Michael Jackson could not make it due to scheduling conflicts, and the entire sequence was later cut out of the movie.
Stan Lee’s appearance was also cut out of the movie due to pacing issues. He would have reportedly played the cop who discovers Quinn’s dead body after the opening scene devastation.
3) Blade Trinity was into murky waters with Wesley Snipes
Wesley Snipes apparently hated Blade: Trinity. Many sources came out later and said he had an unchecked ego. However, the situation was much grave than that. According to Slash Films, writer/director Goyer and Wesley Snipes did not get along, which led to huge feuds sometimes.
Snipes was also apparently upset about close to no black representation in the film and would only communicate with Goyer via post-it notes. Patton Oswalt, who played the role of researcher Hedges, said in an interview with AV Club about what shot off the alleged discomfort between Goyer and Wesley:
"I remember one day on the set — they let everyone pick their own clothes — there was one Black actor who was also kind of a club kid. And he wore this shirt with the word "Garbage" on it in big stylish letters. It was his shirt. And Wesley came down to the set, which he only did for close-ups. Everything else was done by his stand-in."
He continued:
"I only did one scene with him. But he comes on and goes, "There's only one other Black guy in the movie, and you make him wear a shirt that says 'Garbage?' You racist motherf***er! And he tried to strangle the director, David Goyer."
There were also other allegations involved that Wesley’s role was minimized without prior consultation, unjust pay scale, and racial discrimination on stage that Goyer either ignored or incited. Moreover, the movie was one hell of a ride for everyone involved due to the ongoing feud between Goyer and Wesley.
The upcoming Blade movie is one of the most high-budget productions of MCU with two times Oscar winner Mahershala Ali. Mia Goth is rumored to be in the movie as well. The release date has been pushed to September 6, 2024.
