Marvel's Scrapped Version Of Blade Was Set In The 1920s
Things couldn't have seemed more promising when Mahershala Ali triumphantly took to the stage at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019. At Marvel Studios' presentation, the "Moonlight" star confirmed he would become the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Blade and immediately set the hype machine in motion. Since then, however, things have taken a decidedly anticlimactic turn.
In June of this year, the seemingly cursed "Blade" reboot lost its director after Yann Demange departed on what were reportedly amicable terms. The "Lovecraft Country" and "White Boy Rick" filmmaker was first announced as the "Blade" director back in November 2022, when he took over from Bassam Tariq. Tariq had stepped away from the project in September of that year, with Marvel citing "continued shifts in our production schedule" as the reason for his exit.
At the time of Tariq's departure, "Blade" was set for a November 23, 2023 release but Marvel Studios shifted that to September 6, 2024. The company has since been forced to push that date forward again, with a November 6, 2025 launch date now set. But with Demange's departure, and the many creative overhauls this film has undergone, Marvel Studios faces a heck of a challenge in bringing the movie to fans on time.
In all, then, not the best start for Marvel Studios' "Blade." With no word on what exactly we can expect from the film, fans will have to make do with the tidbits leaking out about previous versions of the movie — the latest of which reveals we came close to getting a 1920s version of the Daywalker.
The 1920s Blade that almost was
"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.
This isn't the first we've heard of a 1920s Blade
The news that we almost got a 1920s "Blade" follows a previous 2022 report from The Illuminerdi which claimed to uncover exclusive details about the film's script. Included in the report was a mention of the '20s setting, but given that The Hollywood Reporter has now confirmed that rumor as true, it's safe to assume that much of the 2022 report was likely accurate, too. That means this early 20th Century "Blade" could have, according to The Illuminerdi, also featured "European Vampires" and might even have included scenes from multiple time periods "beyond the 1920s."
As the outlet pointed out at the time, Blade's comic book origins saw him born in a London Brothel in 1929, at which time his mother was bitten by vampire doctor, Deacon Frost. The result was the human/vampire hybrid that would become Blade. As such, it seems this 1920s MCU version of "Blade" could likely have been an origin story that followed the character through subsequent decades, right up to the present day. Whatever the case, it seems we'll no longer be getting a glimpse of this comic-accurate origin when the film does arrive.
A 1920s Blade could have been great
It's a shame we won't get the 1920s version of "Blade." For anyone who's a fan of the Wesley Snipes-led 1998 movie, there was always an element of the Marvel remake that seemed somewhat unnecessary. "Blade" 1998 was a great comic book movie before comic book movies were cool, and in my opinion is still better than anything Marvel Studios has ever put out.
That said, the involvement of Mahershala Ali signaled that this MCU project might just be worthwhile, and had the film been set in the 1920s, we would have seen a truly new take on the character that could have justified its existence. With the movie now said to be set in the present day, we'll have to wait to find out how else Marvel Studios plans to differentiate their Blade from Snipes' effortlessly cool and pre-eminently badass version of the character.
Look, there's every reason to revisit Blade on the big screen. If Batman can be reinvented every decade, then why not the Daywalker? But setting the film in the 1920s gave Marvel Studios a built-in differentiating factor that would have helped set their version apart from Snipes'. What's more, something about the early-20th Century setting — especially if it were going to include the dreary streets of 1920s London — seems to fit with the horror aesthetic that is so central to Blade's appeal. For now, we'll just have to wait to see what happens to the film while Ali makes his Jurassic movie and Marvel tries to return to prominence by releasing fewer movies and shows. Hopefully, when all that's out of the way, the new "Blade" film will prove to be as resilient as its day-walking hero and we might actually get to see this movie.