Blade Indefinite Delay Controversy

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Overview

The Blade Indefinite Delay Controversy refers to the indefinite delay of Marvel Studios' 2025 Blade reboot, starring actor Mahershala Ali and actress Mia Goth, that was reported in late October 2024. The film was originally announced in 2019 but amassed setbacks in the following years. The movie's 2024 delay caused viral discourse, reactions and memes on social media platforms like Twitter / X, Reddit and TikTok, among others. Fans of the original 1998 Blade film and its franchise, starring actor Wesley Snipes, were upset by the indefinite delay.

Background

On July 20th, 2019, it was announced at Marvel's event during San Diego Comic-Con that Blade was getting a reboot, starring actor Mahershala Ali, and was set to release in 2025.^[1] In the following years, the film received numerous setbacks, like in June 2024 when director Yann Demange exited the project. Sources stated that the decision was amicable.^[2]

On October 22nd, 2024, Disney announced that Blade (2025) was indefinitely delayed. 20th Century Studios' Predator: Badlands would instead release in November 2025.^[3]

The news was notably spread by the X^[4] account @DiscussingFilm on October 22nd, whose post received roughly 14.4 million views and 65,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Online Reactions

After the news spread on Twitter / X in late October 2024, fans and internet users reacted en masse to the indefinite delay of Blade (2025). For instance, on October 22nd, X^[5] user @LukeFlux1 replied to @DiscussingFilm with a GIF from Deadpool & Wolverine in which Wesley Snipes, as Blade, says, "There's only been one Blade. There's only ever gonna be one Blade." @LukeFlux1 captioned the GIF, "This film ain’t getting made," receiving over 6,100 likes in a day (shown below).

A few minutes later on October 22nd, X^[6] user @ZeroYear97 quote retweeted @DiscussingFilm with a screencap of the "There's only been one Blade" scene from Deadpool & Wolverine, writing, "The most cursed line of dialogue to ever exist in a MCU film." The QRT earned over 147,000 likes in a day (shown below).

A similar post as the abovementioned was shared by Redditor^[7] Elite_CC to /r/marvelcirclejerk on October 22nd, 2024, receiving over 2,800 upvotes in a day. Also, Redditor^[8] MarvelsGrantMan136 posted the news to /r/movies on October 22nd, gaining over 6,300 upvotes in a day.

Videos about the indefinite delay also surfaced on TikTok, like a video posted by TikToker^[9] @tonyceno on October 22nd, receiving over 112,600 plays and 27,700 likes in a day (shown below).