Aaron Pierre Is Officially No Longer Attached to Marvel’s ‘Blade’

The Marvel casting changes continue to roll in. Following the departure of Steven Yeun from Thunderbolts, it has now emerged that Aaron Pierre has departed the production of Blade. Speaking to Variety on the red carpet for the 55th Annual NAACP Image Awards, Pierre revealed he was no longer a part of the project, saying ““Early on, there were conversations. As the project evolved, I’m no longer part of that — attached.”

Pierre was cast in an undisclosed role in the film, which stars Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali as the title character. His latest project is Foe, starring Saiorse Ronan and Paul Mescal, while he’s also been featured in key roles in M. Night Shyamalan’s Old and the Prime Video series The Underground Railroad. He will also be heard as the voice of Young Mufasa in the prequel, Mufasa: The Lion King, which is directed by Barry Jenkins. At the time of his casting, Pierre shared how thankful he was to be cast in the film, which was intended to begin filming in October 2022.

“I think it’s just the MCU is something that, from a very young age, I’ve always looked to and been inspired by and been excited by – and at times been empowered by. You know, particularly with movies like
Black Panther
and things like this. So, I think for me, honestly, it’s just – I’m just tremendously grateful and just abundantly thankful to even have been considered to become part of that family.”

The series is based on the Marvel comics of the same name, which was first adapted into a series of films starring Wesley Snipes, beginning in the late 1990s. The story follows Frank Blade, a vampire hunting dhampir whose only goal is to rid the world of the vampires which he deems to be the scourge of humanity.

The film, which was announced in 2019, has already been pushed back to 2025, having first been announced at San Diego Comic Con by Kevin Feige, where Ali was initially unveiled. Ali made his first vocal appearance as the character in a cameo in the 2021 film Eternals. Mia Goth and Delroy Lindo have also been cast in undisclosed roles, while production on the film was paused like so many other projects last year, with work shut down due to the ongoing strikes at the time.

Blade is scheduled to hit theaters on November 7, 2025.