'I'm done. I'm over that': Mahershala Ali has walked away from Blade with one thing to show for seven years

Here we are again—yet another superhero project bites the dust, and this time it's a big one. If you've been following the never-ending saga of Mahershala Ali's Blade with Marvel, you'll know we've finally, properly reached the end of the road. Ali himself has pulled the plug, and to be honest, it's hardly a shock given how long this thing has been languishing in development hell.

So, what actually happened?

Let's rewind. Back in 2019, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige dragged Ali out onto the San Diego Comic Con stage to announce Blade like it was a sure thing. Flash forward to now—over seven years later and it's still not even been made. In fact, Ali's gone, making it official during a press tour for his new film, Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother. Apparently Marvel paid for his action training (so, silver lining for him at least), but as far as suiting up as Blade? That's dead and buried.

Asked straight up about Marvel, Ali didn't mince words:

"I'm done," Ali said on his future in Marvel. "I'm doing this and anything moving forward. I'm over that. I'm done with that."

Despite all the Comic-Con fanfare and hopeful headlines, the project fizzled. Ali's departure wasn't some secret—it was obvious to anyone tracking the film's glacial progress. Still, Marvel had hyped it for so long that shutting it down is a pretty public embarrassment.

Blade was first unveiled in 2019; it never entered production and is now officially scrapped.

The real story: Hype over substance

This speaks to a broader issue with both Marvel and DC. It's all become more about chasing headlines than actually locking down a workable film. Half the time, these big events—Comic-Con, Investor Days—feel like they exist just to show off a logo or trot out a big name without having an actual creative team or a proper script in place. Look at Marvel's Armor Wars: dropped as a Don Cheadle TV series back in 2020, quietly morphing into a movie, yet here we are in 2026 and it still hasn't materialised. Nothing ever seems nailed down, even years after announcement.

But Marvel's far from alone. DC's almost made it a running gag. When James Gunn and Peter Safran revealed their big new DC universe slate in 2023, they promised 10 new films and series—Creature Commandos, Booster Gold, Lanterns, the works. As it stands, only four have actually appeared; the rest are either quietly binned or moving so slowly you'd think time was running backwards. It's a system built around PR, not storytelling.

• Marvel announced Blade in 2019
• Armor Wars (with Don Cheadle) was named at Investor Day 2020, now adrift
• DC's 2023 slate included 10 shows/films—only four have surfaced so far
• Six DC projects are either cancelled or indefinitely stalled

Announcing films just for the sake of building hype, without a real plan, backfires spectacularly. All it does is ramp up pressure, create expectations, and—when things inevitably stall—leave everyone feeling let down. Marvel and DC would do themselves (and us) a favour by keeping schtum until they've genuinely got something concrete to announce. This year's Comic-Con and D23 were proof you don't need a dozen empty teasers. A handful of big reveals—like X-Men and Ghost Rider—actually meant something precisely because they weren't drowned out by endless noise.