A new Blade film rumor claims to reveal the main plot of the upcoming Marvel Studios production.
Blade: Sins of the Father #1 Cover Art by Claudio Castellini (1998), Marvel Comics
As reported by Murphy’s Multiverse, scooper Daniel RPK claims that the film will see Mahershala Ali’s Blade face off against Mia Goth’s Lilith. Lilith is attempting to gather up the blood of Blade’s daughter and plans to use it to create an army of Daywalkers.
On top of this main plot, the scoop also reveals that the Ebony Blade, the sword used by the Black Knight and seen in a mid-credit scene in Eternals will be wielded by Goth’s Lilith.
Bloodline: Daughter of Blade (2023), Marvel Comics
In the mid-credit scene of Eternals Kit Harrington’s Dane Whitman opens a box containing the blade, but before he even touches it, a voice over from Mahershala’s Blade asks, “Are you sure you’re ready for that Mr. Whitman?”
Marvel Studios Executive Producer Nate Moore explained the connection between Blade and the Ebony Blade saying, “The Ebony Blade, the characteristics of the Ebony Blade are not dissimilar to some degree of vampirism and we think that’s an interesting kind of thing to play with. So we kind of knew that was on the table.”
Blade the Vampire Hunter #1 Cover at by Doug Wheatley and Chris Ivy (1994), Marvel Comics
The Blade film has been in development hell for quite some time. The movie was initially announced at San Diego Comic-Con back in 2019 and has gone through numerous script writers since.
In 2021 it was announced that Watchmen scribe Stacy Osei-Kuffour was writing the script.
In September 2022, scooper Jeff Sneider claimed, “I’m told that the current BLADE script is roughly 90 pages and features exactly TWO (lackluster) action sequences.”
“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,” he added.
Jeff Sneider on X
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On the same day of Sneider’s scoop, a Marvel spokesman told The Hollywood Reporter that director Bassam Tariq was exiting the project, “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 said, “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.”
Blade #12 (2007), Marvel Comics
After Tariq left the project, The Direct reported that Moon Knight and The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf writer Beau DeMayo was working on the script.
In April 2023, it was reported that Nic Pizzolatto was working on the script. More recently Variety’s Tatiana Siegel claims that Michael Green was working on it.
Blade #3 Cover Art by Marko Djurdjevic (2006), Marvel Comics
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Not only did Siegel claim Green was working on the script, but she shared that in one of the scripts it had “morphed into a narrative led by women and filled with life lessons.”
Furthermore she said , “Blade was relegated to the fourth lead, a bizarre idea considering that the studio had two-time Oscar winner Ali on board.”
She would also claim, “Ali was ready to exit over script issues.”
Mahershala Ali as Vector in Alita: Battle Angel (2019), 20th Century Fox
Interestingly, Michael Starburry, who also worked on the script, refuted her claim. He shared on X, “I worked on a draft of this before the strike. Never saw a version where Blade was 4th lead or it was a ‘narrative led by women and filled with life lessons’ but I suppose a lot could have happened since I had anything to do with it.”
He added, “He was in 99% of the scripts I was a part of.”
Michael Starburry on X
Clearly, there have been numerous scriptwriters working on the script, so this rumor from Daniel RPK could be from one of the previous variations, or it could be from the most recent one.
What do you make of this recent plot rumor for Blade?
