Even Kevin Feige Can’t Believe How Bad Marvel Fumbled Its Coolest Character

By TeeJay Small
| Published 2 hours ago

Though I’ve had many critiques of the Marvel Cinematic Universe over the years, it’s impossible to deny the scope and impact that these movies have accomplished. Sometimes I think we take for granted just how much coordination, logistics, and careful planning has gone into a decades-long movie universe that delivers such hits as Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Endgame. Even still, not every move made by the architects of the franchise has paid off, as Marvel head Kevin Feige would be quick to admit. In fact, Feige recently sat down with the Happy Sad Confused podcast to discuss his handling of Mahershala Ali’s Blade film, concluding “I’m feeling … like a gigantic loser and failure that we didn’t get off the ground with Mahershala.”

The Blade That Got Away

Feige didn’t officially confirm that the Mahershala Ali Blade reboot is dead in the water, but his comments, paired with the fact that we’ve had virtually no updates about the project in years, suggest that the film will never hit the box office. This is obviously a massive disappointment to fans, since the Blade character is one of the greatest comic book characters to ever be adapted for the screen. Wesley Snipes famously bolstered the franchise for an epic (if slightly dated) trilogy back in the late 90s and early 2000s, long before the MCU had even kicked off.

Ironically, Feige and company had the perfect opportunity to trojan horse the new Blade into the MCU with 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, which featured a cameo appearance from Snipes in the iconic leather duster. The Marvel creative head did mention during his podcast interview that he was proud of how that appearance shook out, though it seemed to weigh heavily on him that he couldn’t organize the new Blade film to coincide with Deadpool & Wolverine‘s release.

In case you’re not up to date on the timeline here, Mahershala Ali’s Blade reboot was initially announced over seven years ago. That’s back before the COVID-19 pandemic, before the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, and long before GTA VI was given an official release window. Since then, the film has languished in development hell, with multiple writers and directors departing the project over creative differences. Variety reports that the film has fumbled no less than five screenwriters, and insiders have still been unable to confirm whether a completed screenplay has been locked in.

Kevin Feige’s official explanation for the film’s failure is Marvel’s aggressive over-expansion into Disney+ limited series. He even went so far as to comment that “for the very first time ever, quantity trumped quality” regarding his own prioritization of streaming shows over Blade. So the next time you’re laying in bed at night, tossing and turning with anxiety about the times you’ve screwed up at work, just remember that the guy who turned Marvel into the biggest cinematic profit mill in history experiences imposter syndrome too.