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In the late 1990s/early 2000s, Wesley Snipes starred as Blade in a trilogy based on the title/comic book character. In 2019, Marvel announced a reboot of the franchise, only this time, it would star Mahershala Ali as Blade. Unfortunately, for the past five years, that reboot has been consistently delayed, thanks to industry strikes, as well as two different directors and different writers leaving the project. Basically, it got stuck in developmental purgatory. Well, we just got word that the project has now been delayed “indefinitely.” Over the summer, Snipes made a surprise appearance as Blade in Deadpool and Wolverine. He even made a joke about how there was only ever going to be “one Blade.” Fans got the inside joke and laughed.
Marvel has delayed its Blade reboot indefinitely and MCU fans are all making the same joke linking back to the studio’s most recent smash hit Deadpool and Wolverine.
As soon as the news broke, Deadpool 3 fans were quick to mention that hilarious moment in the 2024 movie when Wesley Snipes’ Blade claims there will never be another Blade. “There’s only ever gonna be one Blade,” quoted one fan on Twitter, whereas others pointed out how much funnier the joke is now. See more reactions below.
“There’s only one Blade…and there’s only ever gonna be one Blade,” says Snipes after pointing out that there is no other version of him, unlike Fantastic Four’s Johnny who has been played by numerous actors at this point. But when Snipes’ Blade makes the claim, Deadpool gives the audience a smirk as, at that time, there was a new Blade on the way. But it looks like Snipes was right.
Snipes starred as the Marvel hero Blade in all three movies starting with Blade in 1998, Blade II in 2002, and finally Blade: Trinity in 2004. The movies follow Frost, a half-human vampire hunter able to walk in the light, who battles underground vampiric societies and forces.
The Blade reboot was supposed to star Mahershala Ali as the new vampire hunter. The film was announced in 2019 but has since hot roadblock after roadblock due to the Hollywood strikes and even the writers and director leaving the project. The project was finally set for a November 7, 2025 release date, but this slot has since been given to Predator: Badlands.
Marvel Studios has given no real reason as to why the project has been shelved but fans have been speculating that this may be due to the studios’ string of underperforming movies and shows. Others think that Snipes’ appearance in the recent Deadpool movie may be a factor. Could Snipes return as the daywalker in another Blade movie one day?
The joke is funny, I’ll give them that. But it is a shame that the movie has been put on hold indefinitely. Mahershala would have been a great Blade. I mean, do we really think that there’s anything to the Deadpool effect, in which they’ve thrown it back to development in order to get Snipes back involved? There may be, but who knows? It would be cool, but there’s no real indication of that. This news is just a bummer. Representation matters, and Marvel is all over the place right now. They need to do better.
Photos credit: Getty images for Netflix, Lumeimages.com/ImageBROKER/Avalon, kpa Publicity/Avalon
