The MCU’s 6-Year Blade Failure Has Me Concerned They’ll Never Get Keanu Reeves’ Dream Marvel Role Right

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Things aren’t exactly going swimmingly for the MCU‘s Blade project, and its failure to launch now has me worried about Keanu Reeves’ well-deserved dream role. Despite running for nearly 17 years, the MCU has yet to introduce many popular characters from Marvel Comics. Since acquiring the rights to several characters from Fox, with the X-Men being the most prominent, the franchise has been capitalizing on the multiverse to begin spotlighting them. Many of Deadpool & Wolverine‘s countless Easter eggs comprise many allusions to such characters, for example.

One of the most impactful Deadpool & Wolverine cameos was Wesley Snipes’ Blade. His reprisal came 20 years after his last big screen appearance in Blade: Trinity, the third movie in his pivotal R-rated Marvel trilogy. While joining up with the resistance in the Void to stage one final assault against Cassandra Nova and her compound, Wesley Snipes’ Blade was party to one of the most savage meta-jokes in Deadpool & Wolverine, declaring “There’s only been one Blade. There will only ever be one Blade,” prompting a knowing look from Deadpool to the audience.

To be pedantic, the first half of Blade’s proclamation isn’t entirely accurate, as Sticky Fingaz portrayed Blade just two years after Wesley Snipes in the ill-fated Blade: The Series. It’s harder to say the same about the second half of Blade’s comments, however, as Deadpool’s eyebrow raise suggests. The MCU’s prolonged attempt to debut Blade outside of Wesley Snipes’ cameo has been a cause of much frustration, and I’m worried that it will affect more than the validity of Blade’s statements.

The Blade Movie Was Announced 6 Years Ago But Has Been Indefinitely Delayed

Blade Has Languished In Development Hell

Marvel Studios first announced its Blade project at 2019’s San Diego Comic-Con. There wasn’t even a writer or director attached to the project at the time, though the announcement that Mahershala Ali was set to portray Blade helped to supercharge hype for the project. Although Blade was a relatively obscure character until Snipes’ portrayal brought him to the forefront of the comic book movie sphere, fondness for Snipes’ trilogy and widespread respect for Mahershala Ali, who had already bagged two Academy Award wins by that time, made this one of Marvel’s most well-received announcements.

The global pandemic helped to inhibit progress on the title before Stacy Osei-Kuffor and Bassam Tariq were attached as writer and director, respectively, in 2021. A release date of November 2023 was subsequently given​​​​​​until a somewhat tumultuous filming schedule in 2022 was followed by Tariq leaving the project, though he remained as an executive producer for the project. Lovecraft Country director Yann Demange was then brought in to replace Tariq while Michael Starrbury replaced Osei-Kuffor as writer. The release date was then pushed back to late 2024.

Production then screeched to a halt as the 2023 Writers’ Strike got underway, with the timing clashing directly with the newly planned summer 2023 release schedule. True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto was brought in to touch up Starrbury’s script around the same time, before Logan writer Michael Green was brought in to write in November 2023. Two further delays to the release date then came in quick succession, moving first to February 2025, then November 2025.

Now, Blade feels like it’s in more disarray than ever. Demange was reported to have left the project in June 2024, with no replacement director yet announced. This was followed by Blade being removed from the MCU’s release slate, meaning it has gone from a November 2025 release to being indefinitely delayed. Despite this, Kevin Feige has insisted that Blade is still in the works and that the studio simply wishes to get it right. Nevertheless, this particularly tumultuous stint in development hell has me concerned for the future of another hellish fan-favorite.

Keanu Reeves’ Dream Marvel Role Could Be Similarly Difficult For Marvel

Keanu Reeves Wants To Portray The MCU’s Johnny Blaze

Much of the details surrounding Blade‘s development struggles are based on rumors, but the repeated changes to the creative team suggest that Marvel is struggling to nail down the correct story. This may partly be because Blade is an inherently supernatural character, the likes of which are not particularly common in the MCU and therefore represent largely unexplored territory. It stands to reason, then, that Marvel Studios might struggle to nail down a story for another anticipated supernatural hero: Ghost Rider.

Keanu Reeves has been very open about his desire to play Johnny Blaze’s Ghost Rider in the MCU, and his dreams have the support of legions of Marvel fans. I’m certainly keen to see Keanu Reeves join the MCU as soon as possible, given he is one of Hollywood’s most beloved and respected actors, and I believe he is the perfect choice to play the tortured loner, Johnny Blaze. Unfortunately, this dream seems ever more unattainable as Marvel continues to struggle to adapt Ghost Rider’s Midnight Sons teammate and prominent supernatural Marvel character, Blade.

Why Marvel Needs To Figure Out How To Get Blade And Ghost Rider Right

Both Characters Are Fan Favorites That Could Lead Marvel’s Supernatural Slate

There is an entire subset of Marvel Comics that the MCU has yet to fully capitalize on, for which Blade and Ghost Rider are natural figureheads. Namely, the supernatural side of Marvel is largely unexplored yet offers a treasure trove of mind-bending and compelling stories that fans are itching to see. The popularity of the handful of supernatural heroes who are already MCU mainstays is proof of this, while the buzz surrounding Blade and Ghost Rider cements the notion that Marvel needs to start switching things up and delving into its magical stories.

In fact, the popularity of Blade and Ghost Rider before either has even been adapted (Blade’s disembodied cameo in the Eternals post-credits scene notwithstanding) is another reason why Marvel needs to ensure that it gets the characters right. Given how much enthusiasm surrounds Mahershala Ali’s portrayal of Blade, I’m not all that surprised that Marvel Studios is keen to ensure that its Blade adaptation is practically beyond reproach. Nevertheless, with such characters as Agatha and Wiccan furthering Marvel’s supernatural stories, I think the studio needs to debut such characters as Blade and Ghost Rider sooner rather than later.

How The MCU Could Bring In Keanu Reeves’ Ghost Rider In The Next Few Years

The Multiverse Provides Plenty Of Opportunities

Now that the MCU’s Blade has been indefinitely postponed, I still think the Multiverse Saga is the right place to bring Keanu Reeves into the fold. The multiverse provides ample opportunities for Marvel to integrate Ghost Rider, even if plans to incorporate the Midnight Sons or supernatural characters generally into the MCU have hit a significant stumbling block with the indefinite postponement of Blade. After all, Deadpool & Wolverine‘s navigation of the void and forgotten franchises helped to round out the legacies of such characters as Wesley Snipes’ Blade, helping to prove that no idea is out of bounds.

With that in mind, I’m hopeful that Keanu Reeves can be brought in to vindicate popular fan casts even if only as a cameo in such multiverse-centered movies as Avengers: Secret Wars. It could be that Reeves, now 60, might age out of the role by the time Marvel attempts to adapt Johnny Blaze in earnest and commence his own MCU franchise. To circumvent the opportunity to vindicate the hopes of both Reeves and fans of his Johnny Blaze would feel like too much of a missed opportunity.

Then again, Reeves could still be the perfect fit for an older, more wizened depiction of Johnny Blaze in what is rumored to be a soft reboot of the MCU after Avengers: Secret Wars, similar to how Michael Douglas’ Hank Pym entered the MCU as a retired Ant-Man. Marvel’s supernatural slate of superheroes would be easier to integrate in this context, hitting the ground running with the narrative blank slate of a post-Secret Wars era. Hopefully, further news about Blade‘s release date might help to shed light on Marvel’s intentions in this regard.

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