Amid all of Marvel’s canceled and postponed projects, one movie is always brought up as the epitome of development hell: Blade. After years of kicking the release date back, Marvel finally removed it from its schedule in October 2024, putting the movie’s existence in jeopardy. But a figure from the franchise’s past has revealed that he offered a helping hand — and got a hopeful update in response. Later that same year, writer Michael Starburry joined the project when Yann Demange became its latest director. Finally, in June 2024 — a few months before the movie was removed from the schedule — Eric Pearson was brought on to do rewrites.