Troubled ‘Blade’ Script Reportedly “Morphed Into A Narrative Led By Women And Filled With Life Lessons,” Another New Writer Hired
John F. Trent
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The troubled Blade film starring Mahershala Ali from Marvel Studios reportedly “morphed into a narrative led by women and filled with life lessons.” Not only did one script turn into this, but Mahershala Ali reportedly was ready to leave the project entirely due to “script issues.”
Vector (Mahershala Ali) has an offer for Alita (Rosa Salazar) in Alita: Battle Angel (2019), 20th Century Fox
This recent report comes from Variety’s Tatiana Siegel who claimed, “One person familiar with the script permutations says the story at one point morphed into a narrative led by women and filled with life lessons.”
She added, “Blade was relegated to the fourth lead, a bizarre idea considering that the studio had two-time Oscar winner Ali on board.”
Later in her report, Siegel detailed that “Ali was ready to exit over script issues.”
Blade carries on the torch in Blade Vol. 4 #12 “A Stake Through The Heart” (2007), Marvel Comics. Words by Marc Guggenheim, art by Howard Chaykin via digital issue
The Blade movie was initially announced by Kevin Feige back in 2019 when he brought Mahershala Ali on to the Hall H stage at San Diego Comic-Con.
Feige said, “I want to leave you today with one more thing that I don’t think has been rumored about. Ladies and gentlemen, two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali.”
After Ali walked onto the stage, he put on a hat that read, “Blade.”
RELATED: Mahershala Ali Explains That Blade Will Bring A Darker Tone To The Marvel Cinematic Universe
Speaking with Variety, Feige would explain why Ali was perfect for Blade, “He’s the perfect Blade because he’s one of the greatest actors working today. And because he’s a huge fan of our universe and a fan of that character. And he’s going to destroy the part.”
He added, “It’s a dream. It’s the kind of dream casting that you almost don’t dare to dream that you can actually do it. But we had a couple of meetings with him and sort of very quickly decided let’s do this.”
Ali would later appear on The Tight Rope YouTube show and shared why he was attracted to Blade, “I love that’s it’s darker. That’s all in terms of tone. He’s a little bit darker than some of the other ones and so that element was attractive to me.”
Ironically, Ali would also state on the podcast, “All money ain’t good money. So, you can take money and opportunity today that will bleed you dry later on because you’ve been branded with something that is not sustainable. For me my choices have to be able to sustain what I hope to be a many more decades career, God willing. So I try to choose wisely, that’s all. And sometimes I don’t get it right, but I do the best that I can.”
Rumors and reports would begin to surface about how troubled the production was and how unhappy Ali was with the script back in September 2022.
Scooper Jeff Sneider shared on Twitter, ““I’m told that the current BLADE script is roughly 90 pages and features exactly TWO (lackluster) action sequences.”
He added, “Mahershala said to be very frustrated with the process. Feige said to be spread too thin. But hey, that’s just what sources are telling me. Don’t shoot the messenger.”
Jeff Sneider Twitter
It would be revealed on the same day that Marvel was parting ways with director Bassam Tariq. A Marvel spokesman informed The Hollywood Reporter, “Due to continued shifts in our production schedule, Bassam is no longer moving forward as director of Blade but will remain an executive producer on the film.”
“We appreciate Bassam’s talent and all the work he’s done getting Blade to where it is,” the spokesman added.
Tariq shared his own statement, “It’s been an honor working with the wonderful folks at Marvel. We were able to put together a killer cast and crew. Eager to see where the next director takes the film.”
Logan Faerber’s cover to the cancelled Blade Vol. 5 #1 (2015), Marvel Comics via Marvel.com
In November, YouTuber Overlord DVD shared a rumor that claimed to reveal why Bassam was no longer the director of the film.
He detailed, “The reason why Bassam Tariq, the director of Blade quit in frustration is how bad the script was.”
“Not only was it a rip off of a previous movie from another studio, but it was also laughably woke in a particularly distasteful way,” the YouTuber stated.
He later detailed, “Here is what we were told by source one, ‘Allegedly, the script was really bad, and to make it worse it stole the main plot of Underworld.”
“The first source claims in the script, Blade has a daughter, but for whatever reason she is not a vampire. He claims they were going to explain it using the mother and the way she was born.”
He continued, “In the script she’s working with her father aka Blade, mostly as intelligence. In the course of the script Blade’s daughter gets bitten. This wakes up her vampire powers. Then by the end, she is forced to bite Blade, which makes her basically a god with unlimited power. And she wins and takes Blade’s place.”
Brielle Brooks leaps into action on Ron Lim’s variant cover to Bloodline: Daughter of Blade Vol. 1 #1 (2023), Marvel Comics via Previews World
Following this rumor, another one surfaced on 4chan in November that claimed the film would be see Blade be born in 1920s New Orleans where his mother become the victim of the vampire Dr. Deacon Frost.
From there, there is a time jump to the 1970s where Blade rescues vampire hunters Rachel Van Helsing and Hannibal King after they attempted to take down a vampire gathering.
After rescuing the two hunters, Quincy Harker attempts to recruit Blade to obtain a weapon that the vampires want to secure. Blade initially refuses, but upon being informed that Frost has the weapon he takes on the mission.
Blade #1 (1998), Marvel Comics
The film also reportedly showed flashbacks of how Eric Brooks become Blade after being taken in by the vampire hunter Jamal Afari, who ends up training him.
Back in the present, Blade discovers that the secret weapon is really a young girl named Alex, who is a Daywalker.
In another flashback, it’s revealed that Frost kept Blade’s mother alive and he was forced to mercy kill her.
MCU Blade Leaks via 4Chan
After rescuing Alex from Frost, Blade takes her back to the Harker estate. There he’s double crossed because Harker believes Alex needs to be killed in order to prevent Frost from using her to make his vampire minions into Daywalkers.
A fight ensues with Blade being overpowered by Harker’s enforcer Nital. He’s then informed that Alex is actually his daughter that he had with Saffron Caulder, a singer at a club that Afari performed at.
Blade #3 (1999), Marvel Comics
Blade is rescued by Van Helsing and King. The trio then rescue Alex before Harker kills her. During the ensuing fight, Blade kills Nital. King, who is revealed to be a vampire under Frost’s control brings Frost and his vampires to their location.
Frost taunts Blade about killing all of his women revealing he killed Saffron. The vampire also kills Harker and begins preparations to turn his followers into Daywalkers. A rival vampire clan arrives and battle ensues. During this fight, King overcomes Frost’s control and sacrifises himself to kill Frost’s vampires. Van Helsing rescues Alex and Blade engages in battle against.
Frost is able to defeat Blade, but is saved when Alex stabs him. Blade then kills him by exposing him to sunlight.
The script allegedly ends with Van Helsing taking over Harker’s operation and Blade taking Alex under his wing to train her as the next Blade. It then flashes forward to an older Blade and Alex hunting vampires.
MCU Blade Leaks via 4Chan
In March 2023, Sneider shared on The Hot Mic podcast that Kit Harrington’s Black Knight was expected to be in the film, but had been cut and that the film was “recasting a few parts including maybe the daughter. Was there like a 14-year-old girl? They may recast that.”
At the end of April, The Hollywood Reporter noted that Marvel had tapped Nic Pizzolatto to rework a previous script for the film written by Michael Starrbury.
Now, Variety reports that Feige has tapped Michael Green to seemingly rework the entire script with Siegel noting, “Feige went back to the drawing board and hired Michael Green.”
Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes (Mahershala Ali) is unhappy in Luke Cage Season 1 Episode 6 “Suckas Need Bodyguards” (2016), Marvel Entertainment via Disney Plus
What do you make of this latest updated regarding Blade?
NEXT: Rumor: Wesley Snipes To Reprise Role As Blade In ‘Deadpool 3’
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