The MCU’s Blade Was the ‘Fourth Lead’ in One Version of His Solo Film’s Script

Mahershala Ali is primed to be one of the most important Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) characters ever with Blade, but Marvel Studios almost strayed from making the Daywalker title character a lead in his own movie, Variety reports.

In fact, according to one person familiar with the scripts, some early versions of the film’s plot involved a female-led narrative “filled with life lessons.” In this iteration of the process, Ali’s Blade character was nearly positioned as the film’s fourth lead, with other characters taking a greater piece of the spotlight instead. It’s…weird, to say the least, especially considering fans reacted positively when Ali was announced to star as Blade in 2019. Ali could carry such a film on his own and has before, so it’s bizarre to hear that Marvel would opt to cut his screen time down so significantly.

But it’s also not a surprise to hear that some early versions of Blade involved strange decisions, as the project has undergone major changes in the last few years. While the MCU vampire entry was, at one point, set to see direction from Mogul Mowgli director Bassam Tariq, it was reported in 2022 that he had left the project due to scheduling changes. Production paused shortly after as Marvel hunted for a new director, with a delay following shortly after. Now, Blade won’t hit theaters until February 14, 2025, at the absolute earliest.

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That’s a generous estimation from Marvel, as Variety also reports that MCU mastermind Kevin Feige has been struggling to find scripts that work. All in all, the site says that Blade has been through at least five writers and two directors. Ali almost left the project over script issues, specifically, but Feige has since hired Logan writer Michael Green to tackle the project. He’s starting over from scratch, with Ali still attached and Marvel hoping to spend less than $100 million on the Blade. The budget estimation is also interesting, as most Marvel films, including the upcoming supergroup flick, The Marvels, typically have budgets of around $200-$250 million.

Blade isn’t in the best shape, but it appears the MCU as a whole is in hot water. For more information on Marvel’s plans to stay afloat, be sure to stay tuned for updates.