Academy Award-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter (“Black Panther”) has confirmed a longstanding rumor that Marvel Studios’ “Blade” reboot was going to be a period film before delays attributed to the actors’ and writers’ strikes led her to reunite with Ryan Coogler on his own vampire flick “Sinners” as the Marvel pic was placed on hold.
While chatting with the “John Campea Show,” Carter revealed that “Blade” would be set in the 1920s before it was placed on hiatus, which was linked to the Hollywood strikes, and is still seemingly “on hold.”
READ MORE: Kevin Feige Confirms’ Blade’ Is Still Happening At Marvel
“I was prepping ‘Blade’ for Marvel, and it was a 1920s ‘Blade’ story, and it got shut down because of the writers’ strike and the actors’ strike. I was just in limbo, having done a lot of research for this period piece about a vampire, ‘Blade’ is a vampire story,” Carter said when talking about how she pivoted from “Blade” to “Sinners,” which had some similar elements, forcing Marvel to make changes.
This backs up previous reporting by our own Rodrigo Perez, who said back in March on social media (You can see that thread of Twitter posts below) that “Blade” is still undergoing creative growing pains and isn’t ready, which isn’t all that shocking given they would have likely had to scrap various overlapping elements to Coogler’s film to avoid confusion. Also, downplaying online rumblings of the very busy Chad Stahelski (“Highlander,” “John Wick” franchise) looking to replace Yann Demange (“White Boy Rick”) as director.
If “Blade” is anywhere near gearing up for filming, Carter would be actively back in pre-production on it, which doesn’t sound like that is case.
Speaking of “Sinners,” actor Delroy Lindo, who was initially cast in the “Blade” reboot alongside Aaron Pierre (“Lanterns,” “Rebel Ridge”) before the two exited, has revealed to Entertainment Weekly that his unnamed character in the MCU reboot was going to be partly influenced by Jamaican political activist Marcus Garvey.
Lindo teased his mysterious character, “There was a Marcus Garvey-esque component to who this man was shaping up to be… I’m not saying that it would’ve been an out-and-out Garvey-ite. Not that, but just in terms of how this man’s philosophy, his ethos, and what was driving him. He was a character who had, very similar to ‘Sinners,’ created a community, a Black community. He was a character who was the head of this community.”
Another rumor linked to when the project had a period setting was that Dracula, who was the main antagonist of the “Tomb of Dracula” comics (where Blade originates in the world of Marvel), was expected to be a villain and had been previously used for the mostly forgettable “Blade: Trinity.”
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We’re still hopeful that “Blade” eventually comes together with Mahersala Ali (“Jurassic World Rebirth”) playing Eric Brooks (briefly cameoed in “Eternals”) and Mia Goth in an unnamed role, but what happens is really up in the air as the studio obviously had to make changes once “Sinners” was put into production and there are also unconfirmed rumblings that a “Midnight Sons” team-up horror film is in the works as well.
You can watch that full interview with Carter below, and the YouTube show’s interpretation of her comments on the film’s status.
-Additional reporting by Rodrigo Perez
