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It is no secret that Marvel Studios’ attempts to reboot Blade for the MCU have not been a smooth ride. While some of the delays, such as the 2020 pandemic and the Hollywood strikes of 2023, have been outside the studio’s control, at least one was due to executives losing faith in the team behind the film, such as when they fired Blade’s first director.

With just two months to go before principal photography was meant to begin in 2022, Marvel Studios wasn’t convinced by Bassam Tariq’s plan for the Blade reboot. According to reports, the studio didn’t believe that Tariq was the best fit for the project and parted ways with him, resulting in a massive delay as they sought a new person to helm the film.

Shortly after, they presented a list of directors they were considering for the movie to star Mahershala Ali, who has exerted an unusual amount of control over Blade since its very inception as he is determined to make his first appearance in the MCU since playing Cottonmouth in Luke Cage is a spectacular one. He went so far as to reject the suggestions from Marvel Studios and instead picked Yann Demange. Demange would later leave the project in June 2024 due to frustrations with the multiple delays that the movie has had to endure so far.

We don’t know much about what Bassam Tariq’s Blade would have looked like, but we know that Demange’s plot was based in the 1920s and focused on Mia Goth’s Lillith searching for Blade’s daughter. Now, the studio is planning to return the film to the modern era with a new script before searching for its third director this summer.

Popverse has assembled everything you need to know about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, from our MCU watch order to a guide to upcoming Marvel movies and TV shows. Plus, we've taken the time to rank the entire MCU and compile the biggest outstanding questions from Marvel's connected films. Enjoy.