Since 2019, it’s been confirmed that Marvel is in the process of bringing vampire-hunting Blade back to the big screen. But as time has gone on, it’s been slowly revealed that the project has had a rough time in development, and recently it came out that the movie was going to look very different from how it was expected. 

ComicBook.com reports that a recent breakdown, courtesy of Variety, states the original plans for the film would have wound up different that what fans would initially expect. 

Initially, “the story at one point morphed into a narrative led by women and filled with life lessons.” Blade, himself, played this time by Mahershala Ali, was relegated to the fourth lead,” as the report states. The film itself is even speculated to receive a lower budget than is the norm for MCU films. 

A new comic series from Marvel does focus on Blade’s daughter, Bloodline, and many have theorized that would have been the avenue the film took. 

Currently, Blade has seen its fair share of production mishaps, having dealt with “at least five writers, two directors and one shutdown six weeks before production.” Many of the production reports even state Ali was very close to departing the project amidst the issues, making Kevin Fiege rework the very foundation of the movie. 

Michael Green, writer of acclaimed comic-book film Logan, has recently been brought on to write the film completely from scratch, and Marvel hopes to take a different approach with it.  

Blade is currently on track for a 2025 release.