Blade Creator Calls Out Marvel's Reboot: "It's Not That Hard"
Goyer's message is simple: just give us a scary, bloody vampire movie with a sword-wielding badass. How hard can that be?
At this point, Blade might be the most cursed Marvel Studios project in the pipeline. First announced way back in July 2019—yes, pre-pandemic—the reboot has burned through a revolving door of writers and directors, endless script rewrites, and multiple start-stop production delays. As of March 2025, development has been officially paused. No release date, no shooting schedule, and no real clue where it even fits into the MCU anymore.
Now, the guy who launched Blade's cinematic career is chiming in: screenwriter David S. Goyer. On the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Goyer was asked about Marvel's struggles getting Blade off the ground. His take? It really shouldn't be this difficult.
"I think Blade is a relatively simple story, it's not complicated," Goyer said. "The promise of Blade is that it should have insane ass-kicking, it should be pretty scary, might be R-rated, and it should not be complicated."
And to be fair, Goyer has a point—he wrote all three films in the original Wesley Snipes Blade trilogy and even directed the final one. So, love him or hate him, he knows the territory.
Of course, his trilogy wasn't exactly critically bulletproof. The first two films got "rotten" scores from critics—59% for Blade, 57% for Blade II—though audiences were more forgiving, with 78% and 68% respectively. And Blade: Trinity, the one Goyer directed? That one tanked with critics (24%) and didn't fare much better with fans (58%). But box office-wise, the trilogy made money and proved there was real demand for a gritty, R-rated vampire hunter in a leather trench coat.
Fast-forward to today, and the reboot has Mahershala Ali attached, with Delroy Lindo reportedly on board and a lot of MCU baggage riding shotgun. Goyer's quote might sound dismissive, but his frustration mirrors what a lot of fans are thinking: how has Marvel managed to fumble this one for five straight years?
For now, Wesley Snipes' take on Blade remains the only version that's made it to the big screen. And with Marvel still trying to sort out its identity post-Endgame, no one's holding their breath for a firm update anytime soon.