Marvel, Marvel, Marvel. We gotta have a conversation real quick. (I shook my head throughout writing this article. A little visualization for you guys)
Listen, I get it. You want to make money. A LOT of money. And you have for a very long time. You want to continue to be the dominant comic book-related company in the world, in TV, actual comics and of course in the movie medium. I understand that you want to pick up some of that peak attention like you had from 2008 with the first Iron Man movie to 2019 with the greatness and legendary impact of Avengers: EndGame.
Recently, however, some of your decisions have been….questionable, to put it mildly.
I can go on about the cancelation of WONDER MAN, the lack of support behind CAPTAIN AMERICA: NEW WORLD ORDER, IRON HEART and the like, but I want to zoom in on the very large elephant in the room: Marvel not being able to produce an MCU related BLADE movie. (Also, I’m pissed off about them canceling DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN, but that’s another story for another day)
The anti-hero(?) Blade, (released in 1998 as a movie, portrayed by the great Wesley Snipes and again in 2024 with Deadpool & Wolverine) is one of the most popular Marvel characters ever made. Don’t believe me? The aforementioned 1998 movie still holds a lot of weight with comic book, and even non comic books fans, alike. The opening scene is one of the best opening scenes ever in a movie. The coolness, cockiness and enigmatic aura of Blade was everything you could ask for in a superhero (again, is he an antihero?) So, one would think with the popularity of the MCU over the last 15 years or so, that Blade could be re-introduced to a wider and broader audience, right?
Right?
Hello?
Anyone there?
Yeah, let’s move on.
SO, what does Marvel do instead? They dropped the ball on not only a MCU produced Blade, but they had, in my honest opinion, THEE perfect actor to play Blade in the form of Mahershala Ali. Dude has it all. The look. The acting chops. The intensity. The total package. I mean, Wesley had the same boxes in 1998, so there’s that. Production was supposed to take place in 2019 during the height of the MCU run. Seven years of pre-production hell, writers and directors changing, supposedly budget issues also played a role that led to the movie being canceled. Wasted 7 years of Ali’s acting prime (Ironically enough, Him and the director of the canceled Blade movie, Bassam Tariq, has a movie coming out nationwide soon called YOUR MOTHER, YOUR MOTHER, YOUR MOTHER and I’m hearing rave reviews, in which I will check it out myself) and among the other actors who were attached to the project. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige recently said that he feels “like a loser” for not being able to get Blade off the ground. And he should feel that way. How can you NOT write a Blade movie? It’s not the typical vampire movie, and Blade clearly isn’t the typical superhero. There’s so many ways they could have made this movie, so this is all on Kevin and the people at Marvel Studios. No other way anyone could see differently.
At the end of the day, I mean, are we really surprised? The recent run of black lead projects being canceled or a lack of a marketing push has led to some questions from the fans. Despite my criticism in this article, I’m still a fan of the MCU. I still watch their movies and shows on streaming. I’m still going to watch Doomsday (even though I don’t think it will hold a candle to Infinity War and Civil War, that’s either here or there). I just need the MCU to take a damn chance/gamble on pushing black characters. The Black Panther series (part 3 coming in 2028) won’t be around forever, so they will have to come up with fresh ideas. Because going back to the same well over and over again will result in the well going dry. And that’s something Marvel can’t afford to happen or else more backlash from the fans will be created on a higher level.
Regardless of how their bank account or box office numbers look.
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