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Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has shared his most candid comments yet about the troubled development of Marvel’s long-delayed Blade reboot, admitting he feels personally responsible for the project never getting off the ground with Academy Award-winning actor Mahershala Ali.

Speaking during a recent interview with the Happy Sad Confused podcast while promoting Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Feige reflected on the six-plus years of setbacks surrounding the highly anticipated reboot, calling it one of the biggest disappointments of his career.

“I feel like a gigantic loser and failure that we didn’t get off the ground with Mahershala Ali.”

Marvel first announced Ali as the MCU’s new Blade during San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, generating enormous excitement among fans. However, the project soon became one of the studio’s most troubled productions, cycling through multiple writers, directors, release dates, and creative overhauls before ultimately being removed from Disney’s theatrical calendar.

According to Feige, Marvel ultimately chose not to force the film into production unless it met the studio’s expectations.

“We weren’t going to make it until it was insanely great,” Feige explained, emphasizing that the character deserved the best possible introduction into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The reboot has endured years of production challenges, including changes in creative leadership, multiple screenplay rewrites, scheduling issues, and delays caused by the Hollywood strikes. Despite the setbacks, Feige indicated that Marvel has not abandoned the character entirely. The film remains in development, and Mahershala Ali is still reportedly attached to star if the project eventually moves forward.

The comments also come after Wesley Snipes made his surprise return as Blade in Deadpool & Wolverine, a cameo that reignited fan enthusiasm for the iconic vampire hunter while also raising new questions about the future of Ali’s version of the character.

For now, Marvel’s focus remains on upcoming projects including Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday, while Blade continues to wait for the right creative direction.

Whether Mahershala Ali will eventually wield the Daywalker’s sword on the big screen remains one of the MCU’s biggest unanswered questions.