Blade director Yann Demange has confirmed that the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movie will indeed be rated R.
Speaking with Deadline, the director confirmed that Marvel Studios gave him the go-ahead to make the movie with an R rating, which he considers important. The filmmaker also mentioned his excitement about working with Mahershala Ali on the film.
“They gave me the R, which is so important,” Demange stated. “I come out of this wanting to be more open, more vulnerable and bring a more personal aspect to my work. But for Blade, we are going to have fun because Mahershala is such a deep actor. 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.”
What’s happening with the Blade movie?
On November 1, 2023, Variety reported that Ali was nearly ready to walk away from Blade, which was initially announced at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, following multiple preproduction issues. The article said that one draft of the script “morphed into a narrative led by women and filled with life lessons” and saw Ali as the fourth lead in the movie.
Former Blade screenwriter Michael Starrbury pushed back on this, saying on November 2, 2023, “[Ali] was in 99% of the scripts I was a part of.” While he admitted that “a lot could have happened since I had anything to do with it,” Starrbury’s Twitter account has since been deleted.
The film is currently set to release in theaters on February 14, 2025.
