Even with all the exciting news coming from Marvel Studios' upcoming Multiverse Saga slate in recent weeks, Marvel fans have some doubts about the immediate future regarding 2023's Blade.
First announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, Mahershala Ali quickly made Blade a highly-anticipated outing as he was announced to play the titular role in Marvel's new film - the first Blade movie since 2004's Blade: Trinity. But now, with Bassam Tariq having left Blade's director's chair and writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour having been replaced by X-Men '97 head writer Beau DeMayo, there are some concerns among fans regarding how the final product might turn out.
Outside of a post-credits tease, Marvel hasn't shared any specifics about what this new take on Blade will bring, with no roles officially announced for any of its actors or any story details shared with the public.
Now, a newly-surfaced online report offers some idea of where Marvel Studios wanted to take Blade, at least at one point.
MCU's Original Blade Plot Details
A recent rumor from The Illuminerdi offered some basic plot details regarding an original draft of Stacy Osei-Kuffour's script for Blade.
This script reportedly was largely set in the 1920s and included European Vampires. It's also been rumored that this draft of the story featured multiple time jumps to other periods post-1920s.
However, fans shouldn't necessarily expect these story details to be present in the final script for Blade.
According to The Direct's sources, writer Beau DeMayo is leading Marvel Studios' efforts to overhaul the movie, starting from scratch and writing a script that is essentially entirely new. DeMayo's work as a writer on Moon Knight and especially as a head writer on X-Men '97 impressed Kevin Feige and other studio executives, leading them to hand over the reins to DeMayo to rebuild Blade's story from the ground up following Osei-Kuffour's work.
Will Blade Go Full Origin Story in the MCU?
The aforementioned period-piece plot details from a now-lapsed script would give the MCU chance to explore Eric Brooks' origin story the way the comics did, as he was actually born in a London brothel in 1929 during his original comic run.
In Wesley Snipes' Blade from 1998, the titular anti-hero was born in 1967, although the rest of his origin story was portrayed similarly to how it was in the comics. Eric Brooks' mother was attacked by a vampire at a hospital, causing her to go into premature labor before she died in the opening scene.
Over the course of Phase 4, Marvel Studios has brought a number of different adaptations of characters' origin stories from the comics to the big and small screen. If this trend continues in Blade, it would certainly give fans a look at Eric Brooks that hasn't been brought to any live-action project in an era that's never been used in the MCU before.
This would also add to the growing list of MCU prequel movies, which include Chris Evans' Captain America: The First Avenger from 2011 and, more recently, Brie Larson's Captain Marvel from 2019. On top of that fact, the 1920s would be an entirely new era of untapped stories that the MCU has never explored, allowing the franchise to expand even further into the past.
Unfortunately, it's tough to tell how many of these details will actually make it into the final cut of Blade, with the entire story being developed from scratch just over a year before it's supposed to release. Only time will tell what Ali's MCU debut will actually bring to the table as it helps open the door to more supernatural adventures.
Blade is currently set to release in theaters on November 3, 2023.
