Marvel Needs To Cancel Some Delayed MCU Projects
Since Iron Man first hit theaters in 2008, it has seemed like Marvel Studios can do no wrong, with the Marvel Cinematic Universe grossing over $30 billion worldwide over the last 16 years. However, there have been a few unexpected hiccups along the way, with a handful of notable delayed projects plaguing Marvel’s seemingly pristine cinema pipeline, including the Blade reboot and Armor Wars. Despite the initial massive hype surrounding each project, they have both been stuck in development hell, undergoing dramatic overhauls and staff changes that lead us to believe that we’d just be better off if they simply put us out of our misery and cancel them already.
We’ve Given Up On Blade And Armor Wars
To be fair to Marvel, the company is not the first studio to deal with delayed projects, and they surely won’t be the last. Look at James Cameron, who originally tried to develop Avatar back in 1994, but he soon realized that he had to wait until modern CGI was able to catch up to what he wanted to portray on screen, which ultimately paid off big time. But there was one big difference between Avatar’s delay and the slew of Marvel’s delayed projects; Cameron always had a concise plan.
Blade Has Suffered More Problems Than We Can Count
When Marvel Studios first announced that it was rebooting the beloved Blade franchise with Oscar-winning actor Mahershala Ali being cast in the titular role in July 2019, it almost seemed a little too good to be true. Following the devastating COVID-19 pandemic that put a stop to just about every major Hollywood production in 2020, most Marvel fans realized that a new Blade starring Ali probably was too good to be true.
But to Marvel’s credit, the studio didn’t give up on the vampire hunting reboot just yet, hiring The Watchmen writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour to pen the script and Bassam Tariq to direct the project in 2021.
But by September 2022, Tariq abruptly left the production just two months before production was slated to begin, citing a conflict in the scheduling and leaving the film in a state of chaos and its status in question. By June 2024, the film had recycled through not one, not two, but three new writers to also replace Osei-Kuffour and develop an entirely new script. At this point, it’s hard to imagine any script justifying the complete disarray that has plagued the Blade reboot.
Armor Wars Is A Thorn In Marvel’s Side
While not quite as dramatic as Blade, Armor Wars has also been a thorn in Marvel’s side, with the project being delayed countless times since first being announced as a Disney+ series by Kevin Feige in December 2020. When Yassir Lester was brought on board to serve as head writer in August 2021, it seemed like Armor Wars had a clear plan and was ready to hit the ground running. But similar to Blade, the project soon hit a wall, with Marvel announcing in September 2022 that it would instead be developed as a movie.
Over two years later, Armor Wars has still been waiting in the wing, though the project is reported to begin filming in January 2025 with a tentative release date in 2026. But if the past has taught us anything, it’s that these chronically delayed Marvel projects have been able to talk the talk but not walk the walk. If Armor Wars isn’t able to deliver a concrete plan to begin production within the next few months, Marvel needs to do its fans a favor and quit playing with their emotions.
Nobody wants to see movies with so much potential canceled and have their dreams dashed, but in the case of Marvel’s delayed projects, it is time to pull the plug unless clear plans for Blade and Armor Wars are laid out.
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