\n Ali said he agreed: \u201cHe should feel that way.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n The \u201cBlade\u201d project, which fans and the media view as effectively abandoned, joins a list of recently stalled or scrapped titles from Marvel Studios, in stark contrast to the era when its Marvel Cinematic Universe kept expanding through seemingly unlimited spinoff films and TV shows. A number of those projects \u2014 like \u201cBlade\u201d and the Disney+ series \u201cWonder Man,\u201d which was initially renewed, then canceled anyway \u2014 feature Black protagonists.\n <\/p>\n
\n As planned series and movies fall by the wayside, Black fans are asking whether the MCU is purposely neglecting and sidelining its Black characters.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cAll the Black-led shows seem to have a harder road to get either made or publicized or treated in the same fashion as other properties,\u201d said Carl Waldron, a longtime Marvel fan who writes about Black superheroes on his website, Super. Black.\n <\/p>\n
\n A representative for Marvel declined to comment on the record.\n <\/p>\n
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Into the spotlight and out again<\/p>\n
\n For some fans, these latest decisions feel far removed from the era of exuberance surrounding 2018\u2019s \u201cBlack Panther.\u201d While Chadwick Boseman\u2019s Black Panther wasn\u2019t the first Black superhero to make it to the big screen, the film broke box office records<\/a>, proving that a predominantly Black cast and superhero story could have mainstream success. Its 2022 sequel, \u201cBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever,\u201d grossed more than $859 million worldwide and earned Angela Bassett the MCU\u2019s first acting Oscar nomination<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Feige has spoken of Marvel\u2019s commitment to diverse storytelling for years, reiterating his views while speaking to journalists last year. \u201cMarvel represents the world outside your window,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019ve always said it, before DEI and woke became a thing and after DEI and woke became a thing \u2014 are we after? I don\u2019t think so.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n When Marvel\u2019s green light seemed permanently turned on, that approach went beyond \u201cBlack Panther\u201d: \u201cShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings\u201d (2021) became the MCU\u2019s first Asian-led film. \u201cEternals\u201d (2021) featured a multiethnic cast, as well as the MCU\u2019s first out gay superhero and first deaf superhero. Characters given the spotlight in the MCU\u2019s Disney+ offerings included Pakistani American teen Kamala Khan in \u201cMs. Marvel,\u201d deaf Native American superhero Maya Lopez in \u201cEcho\u201d and a young Black woman, Riri Williams, in \u201cIronheart.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n More recently, the now-canceled \u201cWonder Man\u201d \u2014 which earned lead actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II an Emmy nomination \u2014 focused on Simon Williams, a struggling Haitian American actor trying to conceal his otherworldly abilities.\n <\/p>\n \n But many of these projects, especially those developed for streaming, have either been canceled or set aside after one season. And fans have been scratching their heads over changes to the MCU slate in recent years, especially when it comes to projects featuring Black protagonists.\n <\/p>\n \n The \u201cArmor Wars\u201d film<\/a>, originally planned as a series focused on Don Cheadle\u2019s James \u201cRhodey\u201d Rhodes (a.k.a. War Machine), is nowhere to be seen. (\u201cWhat\u2019s \u2018Armor Wars\u2019?\u201d Cheadle quipped<\/a> during a 2024 \u201cToday\u201d show appearance.) On social media, fan forums and podcasts, fans and other observers have asked how the \u201cBlade\u201d reboot could fall apart even as a new \u201cGhost Rider\u201d<\/a> with Ryan Gosling was announced. Some wondered where Monica Rambeau<\/a>, a powerful Black superhero last seen in \u201cThe Marvels,\u201d has gone \u2014 and why her last film is missing<\/a> from the studio\u2019s official watchlist for \u201cAvengers: Doomsday.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI think that the people that have the most control over what they want to put out are either afraid and\/or they do not know how to handle characters of color,\u201d said Kira Brown, a Marvel fan who runs Room Full of Blerds, a platform for Black independent comic creators. She noted that the decision to backtrack and cancel \u201cWonder Man,\u201d one of the most specifically Black stories in the MCU, especially felt like \u201ca slap in the face.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The series struck her as lived-in and real, while other Black-led MCU storylines have lacked depth. She pointed to a scene in \u201cThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier,\u201d where Anthony Mackie\u2019s Sam Wilson is denied a loan due to having no income \u2014 an acknowledgement of racism<\/a> in the banking system, but one devoid of any detail or explanation, leaving viewers confused as to what, exactly, the moment was trying to get at<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cYou can\u2019t just have Sam walk into this bank and get denied and not be brave enough to have fuller conversations about that,\u201d Brown said.\n <\/p>\n \n That effort, and others like it, felt forced and designed to appease Black fans, she said: \u201cHere\u2019s a Black face on the screen. Here\u2019s kind of a Black story, and we\u2019ll sprinkle some Wakandans in it too, just to spice things up for you.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Marvel did do better in \u201cWonder Man,\u201d Brown said. In the third episode, Simon\u2019s family hosts a birthday cookout in his childhood home, in the predominately Hispanic neighborhood of Pacoima, Los Angeles. In the scene, Simon\u2019s family speaks Krey\u00f2l \u2014 although to varying degrees of proficiency \u2014 and the camera lingers on the Haitian feast presented on the table.\n <\/p>\n \n While all walks of life can relate to the idea of having a family cookout, she said, \u201cthose dishes are what makes it a Black experience.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The MCU franchise seemed to peak in 2018-2019, as it wrapped up the final phase of the Infinity Saga, which included \u201cBlack Panther,\u201d \u201cAvengers: Endgame\u201d and \u201cSpider-Man: Far From Home.\u201d But several films that followed, such as \u201cEternals,\u201d \u201cAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania\u201d and \u201cThunderbolts,\u201d performed far below expectations. Viewers began to complain of superhero fatigue<\/a> as more and more new series debuted on Disney+ and still more films rolled out.\n <\/p>\n \n Then Disney announced it would reduce its \u201cStar Wars\u201d and Marvel Studios output. \u201cYou pull back not just to focus but as part of our cost containment initiative,\u201d said then-Disney CEO Bob Iger in 2023<\/a>. \u201cSpending less on what we make and making less.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n As some projects moved forward, others faltered. The \u201cBlade\u201d reboot, announced with great fanfare at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, cycled through multiple directors and screenwriters<\/a>. (One of those directors, Bassam Tariq, directed Mahershala Ali in \u201cYour Mother Your Mother Your Mother.\u201d) Ali has been vocal about his displeasure with how Marvel Studios handled the situation: \u201cThey have billions of dollars, if they wanted to do the movie, we would\u2019ve done the movie,\u201d he told GQ<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Ali\u2019s comments have struck a chord with fans, Waldron said. The failure to launch \u201cBlade,\u201d while \u201cGhost Rider\u201d moves forward, feels like Marvel sacrificed a Black story for one that isn\u2019t, he said. And as a father, he can\u2019t help but notice that the MCU currently seems to lack characters that his kids can see themselves in \u2014 part of what made \u201cBlade\u201d so exciting.\n <\/p>\n \n Ali is right, said Jeffrey A. Brown, a professor at Bowling Green State University who has studied superheroes in media. If Disney can make live action remakes of every animated film and movie sequels no one asked for, then why not reboot \u201cBlade\u201d?\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThey\u2019ve got the money, the power, the distribution. They own everything,\u201d he said. \u201cIf Disney can\u2019t make a viable \u2018Blade\u2019 movie, then what\u2019s going on?\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n That doesn\u2019t mean that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is intentionally discriminatory, Brown said. \u201cWonder Man\u201d was a great TV show, he said, but might struggle to sell toys or other merchandise against more popular characters like Iron Man or Spider-Man, whose fourth Tom Holland-led film \u201cBrand New Day\u201d made $2.5 billion worldwide. Similarly, a new \u201cBlade\u201d movie might bring in $500 million, he estimated, whereas having Robert Downey Jr. back in the MCU could be worth $2 billion. (Downey is returning<\/a> in the upcoming \u201cAvengers: Doomsday\u201d film, with the company announcing he\u2019ll take on the new role of Doctor Doom, despite the MCU previously killing off his Iron Man character. \u201cCaptain America\u201d actor Chris Evans is coming back as well, even though his \u201cCap\u201d is supposed to be retired.)\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cBlade\u201d isn\u2019t likely to get the same resources as other titles in the MCU, Brown said. \u201cIt\u2019s really just a microcosm of Black representation in movies and television in general.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Promoting diverse characters is also not as safe a corporate strategy as it was a few years ago. The Trump administration has been hostile toward nonwhite representation across an array of institutions, while it has also picked fights with Disney and its ABC network, leading to an FCC probe of the company and an ongoing legal battle<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n The political moment could be affecting the types of stories the MCU may choose to tell and what characters it chooses to elevate, Brown said. A billion-dollar company has to take the current pressures into account, he said.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThey\u2019re being told, \u2018You change this, or we\u2019re going to have the FCC take away your license,\u2019\u201d Brown said. \u201cAt the same time that the government is saying the Smithsonian can\u2019t talk about slavery as American history. I think Disney is going to be around a lot longer than political administrations, but they have to walk that tightrope right now.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Through the long course of the MCU project, Marvel Studios has succeeded in diversifying its fanbase. It\u2019s succeeded in diversifying its roster of heroes. But who is actually important in the universe? Whose stories are integral the larger MCU timeline?\n <\/p>\n \n That\u2019s where some fans see the MCU stumbling. \u201cWe\u2019re still fighting to see those stories as viable in media,\u201d Waldron said.\n <\/p>\n \n The MCU has shown that it can raise a superhero character\u2019s stature in popular culture, or give a boost of super-serum to an actor\u2019s career. Kyle Stanley, a media scholar at the University of Nevada, Reno who has studied the MCU, noted that Iron Man was a lower-level hero when the company decided to build a movie around him, and Downey was not the kind of star who anchored blockbusters. But the MCU made Downey\u2019s character foundational to its entire MCU project.\n <\/p>\n \n It\u2019s that type of treatment that Black characters are missing, Stanley said.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cMarvel is doing a great job of representation,\u201d Stanley said. \u201cBut investment \u2014 that tells us who Marvel thinks is important.\u201d\n <\/p>\n ![\"Robert](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/mcdirma-ec114.jpg\")
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