Further behind-the-scenes drama involving the Mahershala Ali-led movie Blade has apparently come to light after this week’s huge Marvel Studios report.
Insider Jeff Sneider revealed on the latest episode of The Hot Mic podcast that he’s unsure about the accuracy of the claim that Blade was, in one draft, the fourth lead character. However, he reported that it sounds as though the Marvel Studios executive overseeing Blade did end up leaving or being fired from the company due to a dispute.
“There were allegations about Blade being the fourth lead in one of the drafts,” Sneider stated. “I’ve gotten pushback on that, I don’t know if that’s 100 percent accurate; although, here’s what one source said …. I really don’t want to name the person, but I’m told when the executive, who is working on Blade … Basically, he tried to obscure what was going to be in this draft from [writer] Stacy Osei-Kuffour. He either intentionally tried to obfuscate what the draft was going to entail or, as another source put it, he didn’t sound the alarm on the process or about what trouble the project was in. I’m told that he was fired. Another source said it was a parting of the ways.
“I pushed back against that because who leaves Marvel? This is the dream job for most geek executives … My source said, Marvel didn’t comment on anything about this, but they said it’s one of the few times they ever heard Kevin Feige yell at someone … so the executive on Blade is no longer with Marvel and that is confirmed.”
You can check out the podcast episode below:
Who will star in Blade?
Blade will star Mahershala Ali and Mia Goth, who is rumored to be playing the role of Lilith. Its production had a turbulent period late last year, with director Bassim Tariq leaving the project in September. Originally set to release on November 3, 2023, the movie ended up being delayed to September 6, 2024. Now it is set for February 14, 2025.
