Blade and Thunderbolts are now rumored canceled at Marvel, which follows it said Wonder Man is getting thrown in the garbage along with other MCU projects and that Avengers: Kang Dynasty might be canceled.
It’s no secret that Marvel has been in trouble as of late. The MCU shows on Disney+ have major problems, and likewise, the movies haven’t been doing all that great following the release of Avengers: Endgame.
So with all the troubles at Marvel, it is now being said some of the MCU projects will be getting canceled. Update: Variety reports on Blade, see below in the Blade section.
Bob Iger says pullbacks are coming
Kevin Feige potentially canceling Marvel projects actually was first hinted at by Disney CEO Bob Iger in July who confirmed they are pulling back on Marvel.
Iger actually went so far as to say, Disney will be “spending less on what we make and making less.”
“Lot of stuff that is going to go in the can”
However, following Iger’s words, nothing more had been said, that is until the recent release of the MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios book. The book’s release also came at the same time as Variety confirming what I first said back in July about how Feige and Marvel are retooling the Daredevil: Born Again series.
Appearing on a recent podcast, the writer of the book said Wonder Man is getting canceled along with other projects.
Joanna Robinson said, “After we heard about Daredevil, I’ve also heard… that they are trashing the Wonder Man project… There’s a lot of stuff that is going to go in the can.”
When I wrote the article, I theorized that Kevin Feige might be trashing Marvel projects on Disney+. The book also says Feige wasn’t big on the idea of releasing the MCU on Disney+ and that Feige was basically forced to do so by Disney. Feige also apparently didn’t have much involvement with the shows and passed them off to other people. So with Feige having not much involvement with the Marvel TV projects, it didn’t seem a stretch that some of the MCU Disney+ shows would get the ax like Wonder Man.
Ironheart was recently yanked off the release schedule, so that could be another project that could get canceled.
It is also worth mentioning that the MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios book (an unauthorized tell-all) says that Feige was forced to make announcements at Disney’s Investor Day 2020 (along with Lucasfilm) that were “nowhere near ready.”
Blade and Thunderbolts
According to a new rumor, the trashing of Marvel might also involve MCU movies.
EmpireCity Box Office on Twitter says both Blade and Thunderbolts are now in the crosshairs, with the latter no longer happening.
“Hearing that @Disney and @MarvelStudios are not moving forward with #THUNDERBOLTS once the strike is over this week. Also hear that #Blade is in serious jeopardy as well,” states the tweet.
While scooper Daniel RPK did reply to the tweet noting, “Not true,” could the projects be in trouble?
Is Thunderbolts in trouble?
Similar to a number of MCU projects as of late, Thunderbolts has undergone changes that include a new writer.
Thunderbolts was previously written by Black Widow‘s Eric Pearson but is now being written by Lee Sung Jin who worked with Thunderbolts director Jake Schreier and Steven Yeun on Netflix’s Beef. Steven Yeun is confirmed to be starring in Thunderbolts with rumors offering Yeun will play a version of The Sentry (Marvel Comics just killed off the original and is replacing with multiple versions).
Due to the recent shift in MCU release dates, Thunderbolts has a current December 20, 2024 release date. Also starring in the film includes Florence Pugh as Yelena, the new Black Widow; Sebastian Stan as the Winter Soldier; David Harbour as Red Guardian; Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, and Olga Kurilenko as Taskmaster, with Harrison Ford said to be returning from Captain America: Brave New World as Thaddeus Ross aka Red Hulk.
Could Thunderbolts be one of those MCU projects that Feige was forced to announce, that is nowhere near ready, and is getting trashed along with Wonder Man? And it sounds a lot like DC and James Gunn’s Suicide Squad.
What about Blade?
It has been reported that Blade has massive problems.
Various scoopers have offered that the Blade script has major problems and that Oscar-winning actor Mahershala Ali isn’t happy at all.
It’s also known Blade has undergone changes that include a new director and writer. Nic Pizzolatto is now said to be writing the script, with Yann Demang directing the flick.
Blade moved from a September 6, 2024 release date to Feb 14, 2025, and is set to also star Mia Goth. It has also been said the flick dropped Kit Harington.
Reportedly, it was Mahershala Ali who first approached Kevin Feige to go forward with Blade, so with all the changes at Disney and Marvel, maybe a wooden stake has been plunged through Blade along with a bunch of other MCU projects?
Update: Variety offers an update on Blade that it is in big-time trouble:
As public criticism mounts, Feige is pulling the plug on scripts and projects that aren’t working. Case in point: the “Blade” reboot. With Mahershala Ali signed on for the eponymous role of a vampire, things looked promising for a 2023 release date. But the project has gone through at least five writers, two directors and one shutdown six weeks before production. One person familiar with the script permutations says the story at one point morphed into a narrative led by women and filled with life lessons. Blade was relegated to the fourth lead, a bizarre idea considering that the studio had two-time Oscar winner Ali on board.
Amid reports that Ali was ready to exit over script issues, Feige went back to the drawing board and hired Michael Green, the Oscar-nominated writer of “Logan,” to start anew. Speculation around town is that the studio is looking to make the film, now slated for 2025, on a budget of less than $100 million — a deviation from Marvel’s big-spending strategy.
