Marvel Studios’ most delayed movie may not be releasing anytime soon, but it might become an essential project for the MCU’s next wave of Avengers-like crossover events. After Avengers: Endgame culminated the three phases of the Infinity Saga with a record-breaking crossover, the Multiverse Saga introduced dozens of new characters. Yet, there are a few that will have to wait a little longer to make their MCU debut.
Neither Phase 4 nor Phase 5 had an official Avengers team-up movie. Thunderbolts*‘ ending twist made it so the New Avengers’ official reveal retroactively turned their team-up film into an honorary Avengers crossover, but strictly speaking, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars are the only two Avengers installments in the whole Multiverse Saga. After Avengers: Secret Wars, Marvel might do something similar to Thunderbolts* with a new superhero team.
Marvel’s Blade Movie May Only Be Released Until Phase 7
Blade Likely Won’t Be Released Before 2027
Despite being announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, Marvel’s Blade reboot has been delayed multiple times, and it has yet to find a finished script. Blade was delayed to 2024, then to 2025, and then removed from Marvel Studios’ project slate altogether. At this point, Marvel’s Blade is highly unlikely to be finished in time to qualify for the Multiverse Saga.
If the Blade script is completed as soon as possible, the film’s closest release date would be late 2027. With Avengers: Secret Wars taking up most of the franchise’s attention in December 2027 and only a couple one available spot for a non-Avengers movie in Summer 2027, Marvel probably won’t take a risk with Blade. Taking that into account, the earliest release date for Blade might fall around 2028.
Blade’s Delays Can Make Mahershala Ali’s Vampire Hunter A Key Phase 7 Character
Blade Could Launch The MCU’s Next Saga
Rather than being one of the many characters introduced in Phases 4 through 6, Mahershala Ali’s Eric Brooks could be Phase 7’s first new hero. By 2028, the MCU’s multiversal overarching storyline will probably have concluded, and the MCU’s main timeline may reach a new equilibrium. To provide a fresh start, Marvel Studios could take a break from the Avengers and focus on brand-new characters, starting with Blade.
With a post-Secret Wars Avengers team already established, Blade could be the first of many occult characters who would eventually form their own superhero team
Introducing Blade as the next saga’s first new superhero could signal the beginning of a new overarching storyline. Ali’s vampire hunter could help build up the mystical underworld that the MCU has only explored superficially in installments like Moon Knight, Werewolf by Night, and Agatha All Along. The occult doesn’t have to be the next saga’s main narrative, but it could gain special focus over the next three phases.
Marvel could either take a break from the Avengers immediately after the events of Avengers: Secret Wars or present a new iteration of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes without the need for another Avengers team-up movie. With a post-Secret Wars Avengers team already established, Blade could be the first of many occult characters who would eventually form their own superhero team.
Blade’s Introduction Would Be A Perfect Point To Begin Establishing The MCU’s The Midnight Sons
Blade Could Be The Midnight Sons’ Equivalent To Iron Man
Mahershala Ali’s Blade reboot could be the foundation for Marvel’s next major crossover: the Midnight Sons. Just like Iron Man paved the way for other solo movies that culminated in The Avengers, Blade could ignite a new lineup of solo projects that eventually converge in a Midnight Sons movie. These solo тιтles could include Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, and an Elsa Bloodstone spinoff.
Blade is the perfect hero to lead this shift. Among Marvel’s supernatural characters, Blade is by far the most recognizable and historically significant, due in great part to the 1998 Blade film starring Wesley Snipes, which helped launch the modern era of superhero cinema. Mahershala Ali, a two-time Academy Award winner, has the proven talent and gravitas to match Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man portrayal.
With the original cast of the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and Fox’s X-Men potentially retiring, the MCU’s next saga could revolve around three new pillars: the supernatural, the cosmic, and the mutants. The Midnight Sons would represent the first, a new intergalactic superhero team like the Annihilators would represent the second, and the new X-Men would represent the third. In the MCU’s supernatural corner, Blade would be the anchor that brings the Midnight Sons together.
