Marvel has had a great summer so far, enjoying the massive success of Deadpool & Wolverine in theaters while stunning fans with its Comic-Con and D23 announcements. The former was especially exciting because it finally gave us the confirmation we needed. Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the MCU, but not as Iron Man. Instead, the actor will play Doctor Doom in the retitled Avengers: Doomsday. On top of that, the Russo brothers are back to direct Doomsday and Secret Wars.
We then saw the Thunderbolts* trailer and got our first look at Red Hulk (Harrison Ford) at D23. However, Marvel stayed quiet about three other MCU adventures during these events: Spider-Man 4, Blade, and Armor Wars. Marvel could not unveil the Spider-Man sequel on its own since that’s a Sony movie. As for the other titles, we got no updates.
Fast-forward to early September, and an insider claims that Marvel will decide the fates of Blade and Armor Wars in the coming months. That implies Marvel is considering canceling at least one of the two films, if not both. I’ll warn you that some MCU spoilers might follow below.
Daniel Richtman is the Marvel insider who apparently learned that Marvel will decide what to do about Blade and Armor Wars in the coming months.
As an MCU fan who has followed closely the events in the Multiverse Saga, I’ll say that I’m happy Bob Iger got back at Disney. It’s clear that Marvel has been correcting course in recent years to improve the quality of its movies and TV shows. Deadpool & Wolverine is the best proof of that.
I’d rather have Marvel cancel films and shows than oversaturate the audience. However, despite the delays, I was looking forward to both of these movies.
Will we get a new Blade?
The Blade reboot is especially exciting, considering that Marvel has been exploring the supernatural side of the MCU. We have Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen), Agatha (Kathryn Hahn), Moon Knight (Oscar Isaac), and Werewolf/Jack Russel (Gael Garcia Bernal) are some of the superpowered individuals from this world.
Blade (Mahershala Ali) appeared in the Eternals credits scenes, but we only heard the actor’s voice. The same movie also gave us a look at Black Knight (Kit Harington). Then there’s Mephisto, a villain who should appear soon.
But Blade has gone through annoying changes and delays that made fans wonder if the movie will ever be made. Here’s a recap from a mid-July Variety report:
Five years [after its 2019 announcement], however, Blade has weathered the COVID-19 pandemic and two major guild strikes, faced three release date changes, lost two directors, and hired at least a half dozen screenwriters in what could be the most protracted development process ever for Disney’s superhero division.
Blade was also mocked in Deadpool 3, where Wesley Snipes’ version of the character made a surprising cameo that audiences loved. That “only one Blade” joke actually made me wonder whether Marvel would cancel the movie.
As it is now, Blade has a November 7th, 2025, release date, but it’s highly unlikely the movie will make that date.
The Secret Invasion plot twist
Moving on to Armor Wars, I’ll also say I’d have loved to see War Machine (Don Cheadle) get its standalone movie or TV show. This was supposed to be a Disney Plus TV series before Marvel turned it into a film. Cheadle’s performance is one of the great things coming out of Secret Invasion, an MCU TV show that’s so bad I wouldn’t mind if it were canceled.
But what happened happened, and Secret Invasion is now part of the MCU. I love the plot twist that James Rhodes has been a Skrull since Captain America: Civil War or around that time. Most MCU fans hated what this meant for Infinity War and Endgame, but I thought it’s something Marvel could definitely explore and explain in Armor Wars.
Not to mention that Armor Wars is the perfect way to bring back some of the Iron Man lore. It’s also a great way to Ironheart to the rest of the MCU. We saw Ironheart (Dominique Thorne) in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but her origin story will be the Disney Plus TV show. Rhodes would certainly be the kind of character who could mentor Riri Williams.
There’s also another aspect to consider here. Blade and Armor Wars both have Black leads. Marvel can’t cancel both of them. After all, Marvel just replaced the lead of Avengers 5 with RDJ because Kang (Jonathan Majors) was no longer a viable option.
All of this is speculation at this point. I will point out that Marvel has four MCU release dates without any movies attached: February 13th and November 6th in 2026, and July 23rd and November 5th in 2027. One might go to Spider-Man 4. But this leaves Marvel with plenty of room to fit both Blade and Armor Wars in the MCU.
