Mahershala Ali’s attorney on Blade delay: “Pretty much the craziest thing in my professional experience”

Blade might be the most cursed production in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and director Yann Demange’s recent exit only added to the delay. In a THR feature profiling Hollywood’s top entertainment lawyers and attorneys, Mahershala Ali’s attorney, Shelby Weiser, threw a little shade at the Blade production.

“That deal was in 2019, and they still haven’t shot it, which is pretty much the craziest thing in my professional experience,” Weiser said. If you’d like a little perspective, Blade was first announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 alongside a handful of other Marvel projects, including Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Hawkeye, Thor: Love and Thunder, The Marvels, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and more. You’ll notice that all of those projects have been released, but Blade hasn’t even started shooting.

Blade was first set to be directed by Bassam Tariq, but he was replaced by Yann Demange, who has also left. The production has also been through its share of writers. Watchmen‘s Stacy Osei-Kuffour wrote the initial script, which was later rewritten by Michael Starrbury (When They See Us), Nic Pizzolatto (True Detective), and Michael Green (Logan). Eric Pearson (Fantastic Four) is currently working on the new script.

Demange had previously teased that the film would be rated R. “They gave me the R, which is so important. … We are going to have fun, because Mahershala is such a deep actor,” Demange said. “I’m excited to show a kind of ruthlessness, a roughness he has, that allows him to walk the earth in a particular way. I love him for that. He’s got a dignity and integrity, but there is a ferocity there that he usually keeps under the surface. I want to unleash that and put it on the screen.“

Mahershala Ali is still attached to star in Blade, and he provided what was thought to be an optimistic update last December. “We’re working on it. That’s the best I could tell you,” Ali said. “I’m really encouraged with the direction of the project. I think we’ll be back at it relatively soon.” Blade is still slated for a November 7, 2025 release, but I would imagine we might see a further delay as Marvel tries to get this project on the right track.