Krypton actor Aaron Pierre reveals his departure from the long-in-development Blade reboot from Marvel Studios.
“Early on, there were conversations,” Pierre said to Variety on the red carpet during the 55th NAACP Image Awards. “As the project evolved, I’m no longer part of that — attached.”
Pierre’s casting in the Mahershala Ali-led MCU project was announced in 2022 when Bassam Tariq was attached to direct. Though Pierre’s role was kept under wraps, the actor was hired following an “expansive and thorough search.” The departure of Pierre leaves Ali and co-stars Delroy Lindo and Mia Goth as the only attached actors to Blade at this point.
Blade’s production woes
Since the announcement of Ali’s casting as Marvel‘s vampire hunter at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con, Blade has met one setback after another. Original director Tariq and screenwriter Stacy Osei-Kuffour departed the project two months before its production start date in 2022. Lovecraft Country‘s Yann Demange took over as director with multiple rewrites by Michael Starrbury, Nic Pizzolatto, and Michael Green. Then the June 2023 shooting date was pushed back when the WGA strike began.
Despite initial rumors about Ali’s consideration to leave Blade amid the production issues, the Oscar-winning actor confirmed his commitment to the MCU installment to Entertainment Weekly in December 2023. “I’m sincerely encouraged in terms of where things are at and who’s on board and who’s leading the way as far as the writing of the script and the directing and all that,” Ali said. “So that’s the extent of what I can tell you.”
Blade is scheduled for release on November 7, 2025.
