Kevin Feige Blames One of 2025’s Biggest Blockbusters for ‘Blade’s Most Recent Delay

Marvel Studios head, Kevin Feige, took a playful bite out of Ryan Coogler’s incredibly successful vampire-centered blockbuster hit Sinners today while addressing a room full of press who piled into Marvel Studios to get caught up to speed on the franchise’s future happenings. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it was nightwalker vs. daywalker, as Feige poked fun at the studio’s seemingly cursed Blade production. Earlier this month, it was revealed that the two movies shared something in common and, no, it isn’t their bloodsucking main characters. Instead, fans discovered that the costumes from the scrapped Blade project were used as the extras’ garments for Sinners — something that Feige pointed to as the reason for the ongoing slowdown behind the Mahershala Ali-led MCU feature.

Joking with those in attendance, Feige said,

“The obstacle was Ryan Coogler called and said, ‘We’d love some costumes for Sinners.’ And we said, ‘Take them, man.’ He’s our good friend, take our costumes. We’ll hold off on the movie.”

For those not fully in the know, one of the first versions of Blade was set to be during the Prohibition Era, which worked out for Coogler when he came looking for costumes, as Sinners finds itself during the same period. Since then, a multitude of rewrites and developments have bounced the storyline behind Blade to numerous other timelines, with Feige verifying that — so far — there have been four different versions of the vampire movie in talks. As for the years during which they took place, he confirmed that two were period and two weren’t.

Blade has had plenty of back-and-forth momentum on the studio’s docket and even took a hit during last year’s summer blockbuster, Deadpool & Wolverine, when Wesley Snipes reprised his role from the original trilogy of yesteryear and alluded to the stalled production. But fans will be delighted to know that Feige was willing to give a major update for the hopeful film, telling the audience that the movie will officially be set in the “modern day,” adding that Ali is still on-board to star.

If you were hoping for more to come from Feige — say, perhaps a timeline or even a rough release window — that, unfortunately, wasn’t shared at today’s press meeting. However, he did tease that the third Black Panther film, which will see Coogler return to the helm alongside a cast that includes Denzel Washington in his MCU debut, is not only in the works but also has a timeline in mind.

Stay tuned to Collider for more updates about Blade.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter