The Blade mystery is continuing to rage as strongly as ever, and now Mahershala Ali’s future as the Vampire Hunter seems bleaker than ever before. While the actor did grace his presence through his voice as the respective character in the post-credits scene of 2021’s Eternals, Eric Brooks was then brought back to life by Wesley Snipes – his initial portrayer – in Deadpool 3.
Nonetheless, this latter live-action appearance of the character didn’t rule out Ali’s version of Brooks to be seen in a planned solo movie, with fans eagerly anticipating the same. However, fans might as well lose all hope of seeing Ali’s Blade and let Snipes’ version in Deadpool & Wolverine age like wine as Ali’s planned solo movie may never be released now as per the latest reports.
Wesley Snipes’ Eric Brooks Prevails as Mahershala Ali’s Blade Gets Delayed
When Ali was initially announced to be the next mantle holder and carrier of Blade through his own solo reboot movie, fans couldn’t be more excited about it all. This film would have seen him replace Wesley Snipes in the role, who first embodied the fan-favorite character nearly three decades ago in his titular movie from 1998 before continuing to do so for two further sequels.
But seeing Ali bring Eric Brooks to life once again feels like a pipe dream now. Even though the Marvel Cinematic Universe officially announced the solo film back in 2019, multiple reports of behind-the-scenes drama have surfaced over the years and reportedly posed a problem for the making of this much-anticipated piece. And the exclusive reports are no good news either.
According to the latest updates by @screentime on X, Ali’s reboot movie has further been “delayed indefinitely.” This comes amidst reports that Disney has removed it from their 2025 release calendar. That said, it seems like, while fans had to wait for nearly half a decade since the initial announcement of the film, they will have to wait a lot longer – and only god knows how long.
With that being put out there, it might as well be believed that Mahershala Ali‘s Eric Brooks may never make its way to the big screens (unless Marvel decides to do an ‘Old Man Blade’ story). This is because the actor is already 50 going on 51, and indefinite delays with his movie mean he would be well into his 50s by the time his film gets made – if it gets made, that is.
Comparing this with Snipes, there is a major, major difference in age. When Snipes first embodied the character in 1998, he was around 36 years old. Even when his last film Blade: Trinity came out, he was, at most, 42 years old. This made his performance as the character a lot more authentic and realistic since Brooks himself exercises the abilities of a vampire.
Of course, for those who might point out that Snipes embodied Brooks at 62 too in Deadpool & Wolverine: That was an extended cameo role at most, and it didn’t serve as a reboot to his original films. At most, it just had Snipes reprise his iconic role once again to leave fans nostalgic. Meanwhile, if Ali still gets to play Brooks, it would mark his debut and not reprisal.
All of this being said, there is inevitably more than one reason why Ali’s Blade seems unlikelier than ever before. Plus, assuming Marvel still wants to go for a reboot film, they will most certainly have to replace Ali with a younger actor for all the reasons listed above. That said, for now, it seems like fans will just have to let Snipes’ Deadpool 3 performance as Brooks age like wine for them.
Fans React to Mahershala Ali’s Blade Getting Delayed Indefinitely
While it does come as a disappointing update to many, most fans are not surprised. This is thanks to all the previously surfacing reports about the film still having a hard time coming into existence despite being announced around half a decade ago.
Nonetheless, it hasn’t stopped fans from having some really sarcastic reactions to Marvel and Disney perfectly leveling to their worst expectations. While some are taking the game to the next level with their witty remarks, others are claiming Snipes wasn’t wrong to call himself the only Blade to ever exist.
Taking to the comment section of @screentime’s reports on X, here’s a sneak peek into what the fandom has to say:
I’ve just accepted that this movie is never coming out. Apparently it’s hard to make a movie about a dude killing vampires
— 🍁 Trafalgar D. Ashy 🍂 (@Thee_ashy_larry) October 22, 2024
Well, we’re not surprised now, are we..? pic.twitter.com/TESXik6dfu
— Thorndyke (@thorndyk3_nft) October 22, 2024
Disney has removed it from their 2025 calendar
There’s only ever gonna be one Blade.#Blade pic.twitter.com/YfEyfG0usJ— Alaska (@Alaska0420) October 22, 2024
Marvel is tragic
— zbigi (@zbigi15) October 22, 2024
Some people are always trying to ice-skate uphill.
It looks like the MCU just prefers to fall on its rear most of the time instead.
— MasteroftheTDS (@MasteroftheTDS) October 22, 2024
crazy how the cooler MCU projects are the movies that get stuck in development hell while the 15th Ant Man has zero issues:-)
— Ria (@Riaaaa_560) October 22, 2024
My hopes were low, but not that low
— Alexia Armani (@imalexiaarmani) October 22, 2024
He wasn’t joking guys 😂 pic.twitter.com/r54iFjoqLd
— Todd Ferguson (@ToddFerguson01) October 22, 2024
To put it in a nutshell, all of these reactions are more than enough to say that most of the fans have already given up all hope of seeing Ali finally play the Eric Brooks they had been yearning for, for so long.
And from the tragic turn of events, it seems like the only thing that could have the 50-year-old actor play the role nonetheless would be a miracle – something like the one Ryan Reynolds managed to pull through Snipes for his Deadpool & Wolverine.
Until that gets sorted, you can stream the original Blade trilogy (1998-2004) on Prime Video.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
