• The director of Marvel’s Blade movie, Bassam Tariq, walked away from the project two weeks ago.
• Production is anticipated to start again in early 2023.
• At the time of writing Mahershala Ali is still attached to the project in the titular role.

We have not seen a single frame or teaser of the film, but Marvel’s upcoming Blade project is easily one of our most anticipated titles to come to the MCU. That was until behind-the-scenes issues on the film now place it in jeopardy.

Two weeks ago, director Bassam Tariq walked away from the project and unsurprisingly, production has now been paused.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, crew members working on the film were notified of the pause earlier this week. At the time of writing, Mahershala Ali is still attached to the project, taking up the role of the titular day walker.

Filming on the project was set to begin in Atlanta next month, but now that it has been paused, Marvel Studios is hoping to get it up and running again in early 2023. That said, much of this will be dependent on finding a new director to helm the project.

This is not the first time that Marvel has parted ways with a director on the eve of production, with Edgar Wright having stepped away from the first Ant-Man film in 2015.

Since this news broke, Marvel has provided an updated timeline for some of its other upcoming projects, including Blade, which is now expected in cinemas come 6th September 2024. Other projects which have been pushed back are the Untitled Deadpool movie (8th November 2024), Fantastic Four (14th February 2025) and Avengers: Secret Wars (1st April 2026).

With the fate of Blade up in the air at the moment, should Marvel push ahead, we only hope that the film keeps an R-rating and stays true to the character.