Jordan Peele has had his name linked to the Marvel Cinematic Universe recently, with rumors swirling that he and Marvel Studios were interested in a collaboration. While nothing even remotely close to official has come from this, the rumor elicited many exciting reactions from fans as they imagined the Get Out, Us, and Nope filmmaker putting his stamp on an MCU character, such as Mahershala Ali’s Blade.
Peele’s production company fueled the speculation fire by responding to the rumor on social media with the eyeball emoji. While the social media team has since laughed off those theories by saying, “When the internet thinks you’re making a Blade reboot because you said 👀,” there will still be a lot of interest in the idea of Peele directing any number of MCU movies. But I really don’t want to see that happen.
Jordan Peele Is Better Off Without The MCU
After making a name for himself in comedy, Peele’s directorial career caught everyone by surprise with how he went into horror. Get Out and Us were tense horror thrillers that are often associated with the “elevated horror” genre that’s gained popularity in recent years. Nope then saw him spread his wings with sci-fi elements, even if horror roots were still present.
The talent Peele has as a filmmaker is undeniable. He can make wildly entertaining and popular genre films that also have something important to say about society, race, and more. It’s one of the many reasons he was often proposed as an ideal director for the MCU’s X-Men, a job that Thunderbolts*‘ Jake Schreier now holds.
There are plenty of other Marvel properties that could suit Peele well. Seeing him rescue Mahershala Ali’s Blade from development hell would be awesome. Putting his touch on horror properties like Ghost Rider or Midnight Sons would also be fascinating. Peele being responsible for Luke Cage’s MCU resurrection, Blue Marvel’s introduction, or positioning Bishop as a major X-Men presence would all be exciting.
But working with Marvel on any of those projects or something else comes at a cost. He’d be tied up making that film for years, with the many cogs of the Marvel machine potentially restricting his schedule and availability to direct or produce other projects. The time commitment would only increase if sequel opportunities were tied to whatever he’d direct in the MCU.
That’s not ideal for someone like Peele. He’s a singularly unique creative who is a big enough name to help sell a movie by himself. Hollywood needs more original event films from Peele, and anything he could do with Marvel can also be done without the IP. Rather than doing Blade, for instance, he’d be better off making an original vampire movie, like Ryan Coogler just did with Sinners.
He’s part of a small list of directors who can eventize any film they are part of, like Christopher Nolan, Coogler, Robert Eggers, Denis Villeneuve, and Greta Gerwig. Anything they do holds incredible weight. It’d be much better for audiences if Peele concentrated on his next original film and have others tackle MCU projects.
Peele has been developing his fourth original feature with Universal for the last few years, but it’s hit some snags, with the studio removing it from their 2026 slate. There are no known plot details or cast members. Perhaps he’s having a hard time cracking this story, which could explain why he could turn to Marvel: to take a huge payday while he figures it out.
Should these rumors come to pass and Peele directs an MCU movie, it will be an exciting time and one of the biggest director hires Marvel Studios has ever made. But there will also be some level of disappointment to come with it for anyone eager to see the filmmaker’s next wholly original piece of art.
- Birthdate
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February 21, 1979
- Birthplace
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New York City, New York, USA
- Height
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5 feet 7 inches
- Professions
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Comedian, Actor, Writer, Producer, Director
