Marvel‘s troubled Blade film starring Mahershala Ali has hit yet another bump in the road with director Yann Demange exiting the project.
Per a report from Variety, sources with inside information have claimed that Demange – who has helmed Top Boy and Lovecraft Country – departed from the film “weeks ago” amicably, as the film’s development cycle dragged on.
This marks the second director to leave the film. Mogul Mowgli director Bassam Tariq, who was originally tapped to direct, departed from the film in 2022, just weeks before it was due to begin filming.
Variety also noted that screenwriter Eric Pearson, who has co-written next year’s The Fantastic Four, is the latest writer to take a stab at Blade‘s script. Since the film’s announcement, at least five other writers have worked on the ever-changing script, with Logan and Alien: Covenant writer Michael Green writing prior to Pearson.
Blade losing a second director hasn’t resulted in a delay in the film’s release just yet, as it is currently slated to premiere on November 7, 2025.
Marvel announced a reboot of Blade at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019. The role was previously played by Wesley Snipes in 1998’s Blade, which spawned two sequels in 2002’s Blade II and Blade: Trinity in 2004.
In May, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed that he plans to release no more than three new Marvel films per year, as well as only two television series in the MCU. There are currently four MCU films scheduled for release in 2025: Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts, The Fantastic Four and Blade, with another four slated for 2026, including the fifth Avengers film.
The decision to scale down output comes after a number of high-profile box office disappointments for the studio, including The Marvels, which drew the lowest opening for an MCU film since 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. The only new film in the MCU in 2024 is set to be Deadpool & Wolverine.