Marvel's Blade Reboot Will Be Rated R, According To Its Director
The "Blade" reboot has been languishing in development hell for several years now but Marvel Studios isn't letting this one die. The film is still very much on the release calendar, and we now have word that the version of it that's moving forward is going to be R-rated. This news comes from director Yann Demange, who is currently helming the film, which has Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali ("Moonlight") set to star.
Demange recently spoke with Deadline about his new short film, "Dammi." During the conversation, the topic of "Blade" was broached. While the filmmaker obviously can't say much at this stage, he did reveal a pretty important tidbit saying that, "They gave me the R, which is so important." So there we have it! It appears as though Disney won't be forcing them to pull any punches. As long as everything stands as it's currently planned, the new film will be R-rated, which will continue a recent trend where the Marvel Cinematic Universe explores harder-edge projects.
For one, we have "Deadpool 3" on the way, which will continue that franchise's history of being R-rated. It will also serve as the first official MCU project to have an R rating. "Blade" will follow suit, it seems. We also recently got the trailer for the series, "Echo," which debuts in January on Disney+ and, according to the trailer, will be pretty damn violent. Fifteen years in and the Disney brass finally seems to be letting up on keeping everything PG-13.
'We are going to have fun'
The caveat here is that "Blade" has gone through the ringer since MCU head honcho Kevin Feige announced it at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019. In the years since, it has gone through several directors and a handful of writers. The whole thing got so messy at one point that Mahershala Ali was apparently ready to walk away from the project entirely. Things are far from settled at this point and there's no guarantee that the version Yann Demange has been working on will be the version that moves forward.
That having been said, the filmmaker did speak a little bit more about the project. Without getting into serious details, he said he's looking forward to showing a new side of Ali on screen, and promises that they're going to have some fun with it. "For 'Blade,' we are going to have fun because Mahershala is such a deep actor," he said. "I'm excited to show a kind of ruthlessness, a roughness he has, that allows him to walk the earth in a particular way. I love him for that. He's got a dignity and integrity, but there is a ferocity there that he usually keeps under the surface. I want to unleash that and put it on the screen."
Wesley Snipes' "Blade" movies were Marvel's first bonafide theatrical hits, and a big reason for their success was how their R-rating let them stand apart. It seems logical to keep that same tone all these years later, as a PG-13 version just doesn't seem quite as interesting. We'll see what comes to pass in the coming months but here's hoping Demange finally gets this thing over the finish line.
"Blade" is currently set to hit theaters on February 14, 2025.