Marvel’s Blade Movie To Start Filming In July 2022

Marvel’s Blade reboot movie will start filming in July 2022. Blade made the leap from the pages of Marvel comics to the big screen with the Wesley Snipes original back in 1998. Sequels followed in 2002 and 2004 before the dark comic book franchise ran out of steam (partly thanks to Snipes’ own insane behind-the-scenes behavior).

That original Blade series of course came along before the era of superhero and especially Marvel dominance at the box office. Now almost two decades after Blade: Trinity brought an end to Snipes’ run as the half-human vampire hunter, juggernaut Marvel is rebooting the franchise with Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali in the lead role. All fans want to know about the new Blade is whether it will follow in the footsteps of the original movies and be R-rated, or go down the standard Disney path and carry a more family-friendly PG-13.

It still has not yet been revealed whether Blade will go for the dark and violent tone of the original movies or clean things up to stay in keeping with the MCU. It has however been revealed that the movie is over a year away from going before cameras. As just reported by THR, Marvel has decided to go slow in their development of Blade, hence their move to push back the start date from September 2021 to July 2022. The decision was made because the studio believes the script by Stacy Osei-Kuffour needs more work.

The move to give Blade a later start date, obviously pushing back its eventual date of release as well, likely explains why the movie was left out of a recent Marvel Phase 4 sizzle reel teasing several of the studio’s big upcoming projects. Thanks to that sizzle reel, fans of Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Ant-Man and the Wasp and other Marvel titles have a slightly better sense of what to expect when their favorite characters return to screens. But Blade fans remain mostly in the dark about what is in store for the Daywalker when he eventually makes it to the MCU.

Given the enduring popularity of Blade as a comic book and movie character it definitely makes sense for him to arrive in the MCU in some form. But will hardcore fans be happy with a watered-down version of Blade? Deadpool according to Marvel chief Kevin Feige will remain R-rated when he makes his own MCU debut, but the same assurances have not been given about Blade. Indeed, considering Marvel’s ongoing search for more diverse characters to spotlight, Blade would seem to have a lot of value to the future of the MCU, a fact that only diminishes the possibility of his being depicted in all his violent vampire-hunting glory. No matter what happens with Blade, it seems fans have a long wait in front of them for the reboot movie to arrive, as it won’t even begin shooting for another year at least.

Why isn't Wesley Snipes for the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Blade? After revealing the MCU's Phase 4 slate in SDCC's Hall H, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige decided to make one last announcement to really send the crowds home happy - Mahershala Ali being cast as Blade. The two-time Academy Award winner was met with widespread cheers and applause; fans were happy to see the vampire hunter coming back on the big screen with such a trusted performer.