\u201cThere\u2019s only been one Blade. There\u2019s only ever gonna be one Blade.\u201d When Wesley Snipes spoke those lines in 2024\u2019s Deadpool & Wolverine, audiences cackled. Sure, Deadpool and the characters around him love to make self-referential jokes, but something about Snipes\u2014playing Blade for the first time since 2004\u2019s Blade: Trinity\u2014delivering the joke hit extra hard.<\/p>\n
Comic-book movie lovers know, of course, that Marvel announced a Blade reboot starring Mahershala Ali all the way back in 2019<\/a>. It\u2019s had a stop-and-start<\/a> progression since then and slowly became a bit of a punchline<\/a>, with many fans coming to believe it would never actually happen.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not unheard of in Hollywood that a movie gets announced, then never actually goes into production. But it is unusual when a high-profile Marvel project starring a two-time Oscar winner that was trumpeted from the Hall H stage at San Diego Comic-Con gets quietly shoved to the bottom of the TBD list.<\/p>\n However, Marvel hadn\u2019t made any statement putting Blade to rest until very recently, when Happy Sad Confused podcast host Josh Horowitz came right out and asked Marvel head Kevin Feige for an update on the status of Blade. Horowitz shared the clip in an Instagram reel you can watch here<\/a>, but this is what they said:<\/p>\n \u201cHow much time in therapy have you spent talking about Blade?\u201d Horowitz joked to Feige. \u201cThis poor project. We just need to get this done, Kevin \u2026 We all want it. Mahershala wants it. How are you feeling at this moment?\u201d<\/p>\n Feige replied, \u201cI\u2019m feeling very excited that we got Wesley back for a time in Deadpool & Wolverine\u00a0and like a gigantic loser and a failure that we didn\u2019t get off the ground with Mahershala.\u201d<\/p>\n So he doesn\u2019t say there will never, ever be a new Blade film, no matter what Deadpool & Wolverine would have us believe. But it sure sounds like the Mahershala Ali Blade movie is no longer in play.<\/p>\n Horowitz also asked if there\u2019s a chance Secret Wars<\/a> could be two films (no), if Doomsday is sticking to its release date (yes), and what the MCU will look like after Secret Wars arrives in late 2027. \u201cI look to the comics as I always do in terms of our storytelling,\u201d Feige said, after noting he doesn\u2019t consider Secret Wars to be a reboot. \u201cAnd after both the Secret Wars, but particularly the [Jonathan] Hickman Secret Wars from 10 years ago, there\u2019s a nice road map to where we can go.\u201d<\/p>\n Horowitz also asked if any actors have signed on for X-Men characters that we don\u2019t know about yet, and Feige said, with supreme vagueness, \u201cNot necessarily.\u201d<\/p>\n Perhaps we\u2019ll learn more about that when Marvel\u2019s Hall H panel happens this weekend at San Diego Comic-Con. Marvel didn\u2019t hold its traditional Saturday night panel in 2025, so Feige and company have some catching up to do.<\/p>\n Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel<\/a>, Star Wars<\/a>, and Star Trek<\/a> releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV<\/a>, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n