In 2019, a theatrical reboot of “Blade” was announced, which will become part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and will see two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali (“Green Book,” “Moonlight”) take on the mantle of the bloodsucker. on the hunt for a half-vampire. Six years full of production problems, delays (including due to the strikes in Hollywood) and MCU adjustments later, the new ‘Blade’ is actually scheduled for 2025.
Many fans of the Daywalker are already excited about his new screen appearance – including comics expert and co-writer of “The Dark Knight” David S. Goyerwho at the turn of the millennium was primarily responsible for the first ‘Blade’ film adaptation with Wesley Snipes in the title role (as writer of all three films and also director of the trilogy finale ‘Blade: Trinity’).
Goyer is curious about the direction the new edition will take and is especially looking forward to Mahershala Ali, who he believes is the ideal successor to Snipes. At the same time, it is a bit strange for him that Marvel now wants to integrate Blade into its gigantic franchise so energetically, after the comic company did not yet believe at the time of the first film adaptation that it would be a success and probably had a very difficult time dealing with it to be associated…
‘They were afraid of Blade’
“It’s ironic that they want to bring Blade into the MCU now, because at the time they didn’t want Blade to have anything to do with the Marvel Universe.”Goyer explained afterwards . “They were afraid of Blade and assumed it would damage their reputation.”
It even went so far that the comic company did not want to put its logo on the gory film adaptation. The R rating, or adult age rating, probably gave those responsible a stomachache, not least because Marvel was going through a difficult phase at the time. The company was in danger of going bankrupt and comedy films were not nearly as established as they are today.
But in the end, the risk was worth it. ‘Blade’ became a popular hit and laid the foundation for the modern comic book film wave, which really took off shortly afterwards with the ‘X-Men’ and ‘Spider-Man’ adventures and ultimately with the Formation of the mega-successful MCU culminated.
PG-13 instead of R rating in the MCU
Precisely this renewed popularity of Blade (which even the largely banned “Blade: Trinity” could not shake) is probably one of the reasons why Marvel now thinks differently about the cinematic potential of its anti-hero, especially since they are also in the field of Age assessment is rather cautious.
As MCU mastermind Kevin Feige has stated several times, the new ‘Blade’ should have a PG-13 rating, or a youth rating, and therefore fit in better with the rest of the MCU, in which all previous cinematic adventures have such a rating (an exception here, however, will soon be “Deadpool 3”, in which the aim is to remain faithful to the orientation of its brutal predecessors).
We will (probably) know in about a year and a half whether this still works: “Sheet“According to current information, the film will open in German cinemas on February 12, 2025.