Walt Disney Co. announced on Tuesday it will be pushing back the release dates for numerous upcoming Marvel films including, Blade, Fantastic Four and Avengers: Secret Wars.
Marvel has chosen to temporarily halt production of the movie in order to look for a new director after Blade director Bassam Tariq left the project in September due to schedule issues. Blade’s original release date of November 3, 2023 has been moved to September 6, 2024, which has an effect on the remainder of the studios’ production schedules.
Deadpool 3 was pushed from September 6, 2024, to November 8, 2024; Fantastic Four from November 8, 2024, to February 14, 2025; an untitled Marvel project from February 14, 2025, to November 7, 2025; Avengers: Secret Wars from November 7, 2025, to May 1, 2026; and an untitled Marvel project from May 1, 2026, to no longer being on Disney’s release schedule.
According to a source familiar with the studio’s plans, Marvel is using the pause in Blade production to locate a successor for Tariq to collaborate with Blade screenwriter Beau DeMayo, who wrote Moon Knight.
The Hollywood Reporter was informed by an unnamed person with knowledge of the movie starring Oscar winner Mahershala Ali that “They want to get it right,” which entails delays.
The Marv Wolfman-created Marvel character Blade, who debuted in 1973’s The Tomb of Dracula comic book, eventually had his own storyline, which Wesley Snipes later turned into the trilogy of Blade, Blade II, and Blade Trinity movies.
Stories have been connected throughout the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse, and a substantial delay from one movie frequently affects the schedule for others. Due of the pandemic, a similar postponement was made for the movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which also caused the postponements of Thor: Love and Thunder and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
