Marvel Boss Kevin Feige Gives 'Blade' Update: 'We Didn't Feel Confident'

“We didn’t want to put a leather outfit on him and have him start killing vampires,” he said.

July 21, 2025

Marvel Boss Kevin Feige Gives 'Blade' Update: 'We Didn't Feel Confident'

Photo by Andy Wenstrand/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige offered a refreshingly candid status check in Burbank this week, and the headline everyone wanted centered on Blade.

According to Deadline, the vampire‑slayer flick, unveiled back in 2019 with two‑time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali in the title role, remains on the MCU slate—just not shooting yet.

Feige revealed that Marvel has already cycled through four Blade scripts, two of which are period pieces (one set in the 1930s noir style), before landing on a modern-day story slated for Phase Six. Even so, the exits of Bassam Tariq and Yann Demange in the director's chair gave Feige cause for pause.

“We didn’t feel confident,” Feige admitted. “You can start with a good script and make it great while shooting, but we refused to gamble that approach on Blade.”

Rather than zip Ali into black leather and hope for the best, Marvel froze production until the screenplay feels unequivocally “great.” The pause, Feige stressed, protects both the character’s R‑rated pedigree and Ali’s faith in the project. Rumors that Black Panther mastermind Ryan Coogler might step in were brushed aside; Coogler is busy shaping the third Black Panther installment, so Blade continues sharpening in the dark.

The update lands as Marvel regroups from lackluster returns on Thunderbolts and Captain America: Brave New World. Feige’s new mantra is fewer, sharper swings—only one to three theatrical releases a year.

Fantastic Four: First Steps will launch Phase Six as a standalone romp, while upcoming Avengers chapters pivot from Kang the Conqueror to long‑time comic menace Doctor Doom. A seven‑year roadmap stretching to 2032 now sits behind locked doors at headquarters, hinting that mutants, cosmic twists, and fresh vampire lore are quietly brewing. Marvel is even skipping San Diego Comic-Con this summer to focus on its projects.

There’s still no launch date, but Feige offered a promise: the Daywalker won’t return until story, tone, budget, and director all align.