As absurd as it may sound, Marvel’s problems with Sheet been going on for a decade. Starring Mahershala Ali as the latest incarnation of the vampire hunter, Sheet is one of the most highly anticipated upcoming movies in the MCU. Sadly, it just got pushed back again after the loss of director Bassam Tariq. Sheet has now been pushed back to 2024; Ali is thankfully still on board, and there are indeed reports that the latest production delays include rewrites that he himself requested.
It’s quite disconcerting to realize that Marvel is on the Sheet franchise for a full decade. The studio regained the license for Blade (along with several other supernatural characters) in 2012. There was an initial outburst of excitement among fans, who hoped Blade would enter the MCU soon. Instead, more than a decade later, most audiences were treated to a voice-only cameo The Eternals‘ post-credit scene. Strangely enough, this coincided with a period when Marvel Comics also struggled to know what to do with Blade. Marvel came up with the idea in 2015 to give Blade a daughter and a bloodline, but the idea never made it and now only takes place seven years later. Sheet really shouldn’t be that hard to get it right.
Marvel Rejected a Blade/Underworld Crossover
“They’re doing something to Blade.“Those words, spoken by underworld star Kate Beckinsale at New York Comic-Con 2016, appeared to be a looming tease Sheet project. During a panel, a fan asked about the possibility of a crossover between Blade and underworld, and she revealed that the idea was actually considered, but that it was shelved by Marvel because the studio apparently had other ideas. It didn’t take long for Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to insist not Sheet movie was coming. The implication seemed to be that, remarkably, Marvel Studios had regained the rights to Sheet in 2012 and would have just sat on it and turned down other opportunities for the vampire fighter simply because they wouldn’t have been part of the MCU. It was a disappointing reminder that Marvel owns the rights to a large number of characters and concepts, and that only a limited number can be developed at a time. (Beckinsale, for her part, remains enthusiastic about the idea of ​​a Sheet/underworld intersection to this day.)
Wesley Snipes Revealed Two Knife Projects Were In Discussion
The next news came in 2018, the 20th anniversary of the first (non-MCU) Sheet trilogy movie. Star Wesley Snipes was interviewed as part of these celebrations, and he revealed that his agents had been in talks with Marvel Studios for years. According to Snipes, Blade’s MCU future was being actively discussed by Marvel bosses, and there was even a chance he might reprise his role. “We have created two projects that fit perfectly into this world,“Snipes Revealed,”and when people see them, I think they’ll just have a problem deciding which one they love the most.“As far as Snipes is concerned, the ball was in Marvel’s court. Unfortunately, again, the studio chose not to do anything with either concept.
Mahershala Ali’s blade configuration seems to have changed
Finally, in 2019, Marvel Studios officially announced that Mahershala Ali had been cast as the new Blade. According to Feige, Ali himself started the talks shortly after winning an Academy Award for Green Book. “When Mahershala calls, you answer,Feige recalled when he talked about casting Mahershala Ali as Blade. Later, in an interview with Rotten tomatoesFeige suggested that he believed Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness would serve as the perfect setup for a new version of the vampire fighter. There is some evidence that Scott Derrickson’s version of Doctor Strange 2 would have focused on multiverse monsters, unlocking a supernatural corner of the MCU rather than focusing on variants of Stephen Strange himself. Eventually Marvel turned away from this idea and every other Sheet set up in Doctor Strange 2 was dumped.
Instead, Ali’s Blade was set up unexpectedly in Eternals‘ post-credits scene. Ali’s voice was heard warning Kit Harrington’s Dane Whitman not to claim the Ebony Blade, and Marvel insiders have indicated that they tie Blade and vampires to the Ebony Blade itself. Frustratingly, there’s also no indication where this particular plot thread will be developed; there have been reports of ‘s script Sheet explores the character’s history in the MCU rather than focusing on his current status, meaning it’s unclear if Dane Whitman will even appear in the film.
The MCU’s blade has been constantly pushed back
Ali was officially cast in 2019, but even then Marvel didn’t announce a date for the Sheet movie. To be fair to Marvel, the studio’s plans were severely disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic; therefore, it wasn’t until San Diego Comic-Con 2022 that the studio was ready to schedule it for November 3, 2023. It quickly became apparent that Marvel wouldn’t make it to this release date, but production was pushed back time and again. This eventually led to Bassam Tariq leaving Sheet, and no one was surprised when the film was pushed back to September 6, 2024. Whether this will actually happen remains to be seen. Marvel’s Sheet the problems have lasted ten years and could continue, especially as Tariq’s replacement has not yet been announced. It’s really amazing to think that Marvel has been”do something with Sheet‘ for so long, and yet nothing has come of it.
