With a development timeline that has stretched into eons, Blade is fast becoming Marvel’s white whale; an impossible thing to obtain despite pouring mountains of resources into it. The latest setback has been the loss of director Yann Demange, who has become the second director to leave the project. Why has Yann Demange left Blade, and where does it leave the Mahershala Ali-led vampire hunting film?

So far, Marvel has offered no official word on why Yann Demange left Blade, but sources have said that both the director and studio have grown increasingly frustrated in recent months by the seemingly endless development process for the movie. Demange came on in 2022 following the departure of the previous director, Bassam Tariq. The original plan was for Demange’s Blade to begin filming in May 2023, but the WGA and SAG strikes of that year shut down production before it could begin. Despite most other Marvel projects like Deadpool & Wolverine and Captain America: Brave New World picking up where they left off after the strikes were over, Blade remains eternally stalled.

How this departure will impact the movie’s November 2025 release date remains to be seen, but we’d be shocked if it makes it to cinemas on that day. It also isn’t clear how losing its second director will impact the film’s star – Mahershala Ali handpicked Yann Demange to replace Tariq after he felt the directors the studio was approaching didn’t have the experience to helm a film of this size. Ali has been attached to star in Blade since 2019, so we can’t blame the actor, who won an Oscar for his role in Green Book, for wanting to see the project finally get off the ground.

The current plan appears to be to bring on yet another writer – this time Eric Pearson, who helped polish scripts for Thor: Ragnarok and Fantastic Four – to give the screenplay yet another rewrite before trying to convince yet another director to sign on to the project. However, we’re still doubtful the movie will get made in time for its November 2025 release date.

Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills:

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• Our weekly Marvel insider's column, Marvel Matters