It’s been a long road for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s version of Blade, since the character’s solo film was announced back in 2019. Mahershala Ali’s Daywalker does have a vocal cameo in Eternals and appears as a supporting character (voiced by Todd Williams) on Marvel Zombies. Despite that, Ali’s solo film seemingly remains in limbo for right now. New rumors suggest, however, that the half-vampire warrior could appear in two big MCU films. WIth that, I now have a big question regarding those purported appearances.

What Two MCU Projects Is Blade Allegedly Being Featured In?

There are still several key titles on Marvel’s slate of upcoming movies though, of course, there are surely still productions the studio is working on that have yet to be revealed. As far as Eric Brooks (a.k.a. Blade) goes, it’s recently been rumored that he’ll appear in the upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars and, per a more recent piece of superhero gossip, he’ll also appear in a Midnight Sons movie This information comes by way of insider Daniel Richtman’s patreon (via ComicBookMovie).

Of course, all of this should be taken with a massive grain of salt, especially the Midnight Sons bit, given such a project has not been confirmed by Marvel. Still, Ritchman alleges that the previously mentioned vampire hunter will have a “big role” in that proposed flick. It would honestly make sense for the character to be in that film, given how long the character has been synonymous with that team of supernatural-tinged vigilantes across the comics.

It would also make sense for Ali’s antihero to appear in Secret Wars, which is apparently much different from other Avengers films. Anyone who’s read either of the Secret Wars comic book runs likely knows there are a lot of characters involved, and the MCU could easily follow suit in that regard. Even though the prospect of the Daywalker being involved in one of the movies is exciting, there’s still reason to wonder about one very important detail.

These Blade Rumors Prompt A Very Important Question

With Blade supposedly set to be utilized in two forthcoming MCU films, there’s one question we all really need to ask: Which version of the character are we going to see? I mean, given the multiversal nature of the MCU, fans could end up seeing either Mahershala Ali’s Eric or even Wesley Snipes’. My first thought would be that Ali’s iteration of the vampiric character would be involved in Secret Wars and Midnight Sons. However, the reemergence of Snipes’ beloved variant of Brooks may throw that into question.

Snipes was called upon by Ryan Reynolds to reprise his role as the vampire hunter for 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine. In the movie, Eric teams up with the titular protagonists along with others like Jennifer Garner’s Elektra and Channing Tatum’s Gambit to stop Cassandra Nova. Snipes’ surprise reprisal was lauded by fans and it also landed him a major record. With his appearance in D&W, Snipes earned the Guinness World Record for the longest stint playing a live-action Marvel character. It might seem more reasonable for Ali’s Brooks to appear in a Sons project but, in a post-Secret Wars continuity, the status quo could change.

As for Mahershala Ali’s Blade movie, some reports allege that the project is “dead” after having lost multiple directors and experienced various script changes. Nevertheless, cast member Mia Goth still expressed optimism about the film’s status around the fall of 2025, saying that Marvel still wanted “to make a great movie.” Personally, I hope the project still happens with Ali and that he does appear in another MCU movie like Midnight Sons. Nevertheless, who am I to count out Wesley Snipes at this point?

Avengers: Secret Wars is set to open in theaters on December 17, 2027. In the meantime, fans can stream Deadpool & Wolverine alongside other MCU films using a Disney+ subscription.

There aren’t many actors who can match the kind of superhero genre longevity that Hugh Jackman has had. Jackman made his debut as Logan a.k.a. Wolverine in 2000’s X-Men and went on to reprise the role in various films, with the latest being 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine. Because of that lengthy tenure, the Australian actor was the recipient of a very impressive record, which he ultimately lost to Blade star Wesley Snipes. Jackman was recently made aware of the loss, and the witty actor shared a razor-sharp response.

Jackman originally held the Guinness World Record for the longest tenure as a live-action Marvel superhero, with that number standing at 24 years in 2024. However, Snipes – who made his debut as Eric Brooks/Blade in 1998 – managed to nab that title back when he reprised his role in D&W alongside Jackman. That appearance brought Snipes’ Marvel stint up to 26 years. BuzzFeed UK recently brought up the record loss to Jackman and, as seen in the Instagram video of the chat, he had a funny reply:

One thing to know about Hugh Jackman is that he’s all about the jokes (and that’s unsurprising given this is the same man who’s engaged in a faux feud with Ryan Reynolds). During his interview, for which he was promoting the film Song Sung Blue, Jackman was also asked if he needed to win that title back. Jackman then mused that he believed it would all come down to whoever lived longer. As for who would win, the sharp Wolverine portrayer shared a chuckleworthy take, which can be seen in the video:

Jackman is definitely no slouch, but Wesley Snipes is also a force to be reckoned with in his own right. Snipes’ imposing presence is arguably one of the biggest reasons why he’s so perfect for the role of the Daywalker. In 2024, many were hyped to see him reprise his role as Brooks (although the original Blade trilogy writer was confused by his appearance). The character’s inclusion in Deadpool & Wolverine was not only special for Snipes himself, but it was auspicious for Ryan Reynolds (the lead actor and producer) as well.

Of course, the re-emergence of Wolverine was a major moment as well, and Jackman has been candid about how Reynolds helped convince him to don those adamantium claws again. Now, as Marvel Cinematic Universe films like Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars approach, Jackman is receiving questions about whether he’ll reprise Logan at some point. He recently said he’d never rule out the possibility but mostly played coy.

Another appearance as his beloved mutant character could help Hugh Jackman take back his title (if Wesley Snipes doesn’t return either, of course). Considering the funny thoughts he shared on losing the record, however, it feels as though he doesn’t put so much stock into such accomplishments. Quite frankly, I love a sharp-witted actor who doesn’t take himself too seriously.

Check out both Jackman and Snipes in Deadpool & Wolverine, which is streamable with a Disney+ subscription. Other X-Men-related films can also be found on that platform.

It was a big deal when Mahershala Ali walked onto the Hall H stage at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 as part of Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige’s announcement that the actor would lead a Blade reboot. And yet, six and a half years later, all we have to show for this is Ali making a voice cameo as Marvel’s Daywalker in Eternals. Blade keeps getting hit with setbacks, and now there’s a rumor claiming that the upcoming Marvel movie is “dead,” though there may still be some hope for Ali’s vampire hunter.

Let’s cover the potentially bad news first. The Hot Mic co-host Jeff Sneider claimed in the show’s latest episode that he’s heard Blade is no longer moving forward. That on its own would be disappointing. After all, Wesley Snipes led three Blade movies from 1998 to 2004, and while their qualities all differed, you’d think it would’ve been easy enough for the powers-that-be at Marvel Studios to seamlessly throw in Blade going around and killing vampires fit within the Marvel Cinematic Universe mythology.

Well, that’s where the good news comes in, because we may still get to see that. Jeff Sneider also mentioned that Blade will now be introduced in a Midnight Sons movie instead, but didn’t mention any further details about it. Assuming this information is accurate, while it’s disappointing that Marvel Studios won’t make that solo Blade movie that got many fans pumped at the end of the 2010s (I would have especially liked to see the 1920s-set version), it hasn’t entirely abandoned the character.

Created by Howard Mackie, Andy Kubert and Bobbie Chase, the original Midnight Sons team made its first full appearance in 1992’s Ghost Rider #31. The first lineup consisted of Blade, Morbius, Johnny Blaze and Danny Ketch, with the latter two being Ghost Riders. The team has primarily consisted of supernatural and darker Marvel characters, including Wolverine, Doctor Strange, Magik, Iron Fist, Man-Thing, Moon Knight, Scarlet Witch and Werewolf by Night, among many others.

Outside of the comics, the team has only headlined the video game Marvel’s Midnight Suns (notice the altered spelling), which came out in 2022 and earned positive critical reception, but failed to sell well. So this rumored Midnight Sons/Suns movie would be the group’s biggest introduction to the general public, and Mahershala Ali would play Blade as part of an ensemble rather than as the lead character. I’d be ok with this, especially if it means we would see him team up with established MCU characters like Ghost Rider (this time the Robbie Reyes version), Moon Knight and Man-Thing.

However, until Marvel Studios announces that Blade is dead and/or that Midnight Sons has gotten the greenlight, take all this with a grain of salt. What we can count on is that Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday are the next MCU movies coming up, arriving July 31 and December 18, respectively, on the 2026 release schedule.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is constantly expanding, thanks to exciting new projects hitting theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. But a few upcoming Marvel movies have had an especially long development process, especially Mahershala Ali's Blade. But despite how exciting that title is, it's been delayed a number of times. Luckily actor Mia Goth spoke about what's going on behind the scenes.

What we know about Blade is super limited, but fans are hyped to see the vampire superhero finally appear in the MCU in live-action. Despite Ali having a voice cameo in Eternals and the character appearing in Marvel Zombies, the next Blade movie hasn't shown any signs of picking up speed. Goth appeared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, where she shared what's going on with the Marvel flick. She offered:

That was a surprisingly honest answer. While it seems like Marvel is still interested in giving Blade his own solo movie, not even Mia Goth knows what's really happening behind the closed doors of the studio. But she seems to be passionate about eventually making her MCU debut in the long gestating blockbuster.

Fans who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order will recall how long the Blade movie has been stuck in the development stage. The project was first announced back in 2019, with Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali attached to play the title character. Unfortunately it's been hit with a ton of setbacks since.

So how much has Goth actually gotten involved in Blade so far? The star of Frankenstein (which is streaming with a Netflix subscription) offered some details about how she landed her mysterious role as Lilith, saying:

Well, I'm fascinated. Not only did Mia Goth audition and land her role opposite Mahershala Ali, but she was even fitted for wigs and costumes by the Marvel designers in Atlanta. This makes Blade's years-long delays even more noticeable; exactly what went wrong here?

Hopefully the Blade movie actually comes together one day, and we get some good news sooner rather than later. The next MCU movie hitting theaters is Spider-Man: Brand New Day on July 31st as part of the 2026 movie release list.

Ah, the ‘90s. While there wasn’t the boom of comic book movies like we had in the 2000s, there were still some noteworthy standouts, such as the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Crow, and of course, Blade (which is still just as good as you remember it being).

However, one comic book movie that I think way too many people sleep on these days is 1994’s Timecop, starring the Muscles from Brussels himself, Jean-Claude Van Damme. The story of a government-endorsed time travel police force, and the problems that occur once the wrong people are control of it, Timecop was a hit in the ‘90s, but it has seemingly fallen into obscurity these days (even though there have been talks about a reboot for years).

So, why does Timecop still kick ass? Well, you’re about to find out.

I'm Sorry, But This Is Arguably JCVD's Best Movie Ever

You know what? Some people love the Street Fighter movie (which also came out in ‘94), while others might point to Kickboxer, or Bloodsport as Van Damme’s best movies. However, for me, there’s a clear winner, and that movie is Timecop.

Based on a three-part Dark Horse comic story called, “Time Cop: A Man Out of Time,” the movie version stars JCVD as a time traveling cop who is out to save his wife (Mia Sara) who gets killed in an explosion. You might be asking, “How is he able to save his wife if she was blown up?” But, that’s where the time travel aspect comes in, which I’ll get into soon. The rest of the story follows our hero, Max Walker (Van Damme), as he tries to stop a corrupt politician (Ron Silver) who is going back in time to rise to power.

And, it's awesome. As a ‘90s kid, Van Damme was like the alternative action hero. He wasn’t buff like Schwarzenegger, or Stallone. Instead, he was a martial artist who really shined in martial arts movies. However, Timecop is not that. It's the kind of film that would be cool even if it didn’t have martial arts in it, but is all the better for it. The movie kind of reminds me of the Highlander series with its time component, but sci-fi rather than fantasy (and let us never speak of the sci-fi inspired Highlander II: The Quickening).

The time travel aspect in this movie is just so cool, and JCVD is the cherry on top. But, about that time travel…

The Time Travel Concept In This Movie Is Really Cool

I like time travel movies, but the one thing I especially like are the different “rules” in each one. For example, time travel in the Terminator movies isn’t the same as time travel in a movie like, say, The Butterfly Effect. The same goes for a comedy like Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, which plays fast and loose with the rules, as opposed to a hard sci-fi film like Primer, which is so thought out that you likely have to watch it a few times to even catch what the heck is going on.

Well, Timecop has its own rules of time travel, and I must say, I think they’re really cool. In this universe, you can only go backward in time rather than forward. That said, kind of like the Time Variance Authority (TVA) in Loki that is meant to prevent time altering shenanigans from occurring, there is a police force called the TEC, which stands for the Time Enforcement Commission (I know the TVA came before the TEC in the comics. I’m aware of this).

Like many time travel stories, going back in the past and changing things can alter the present. But, one thing that’s novel here is the idea that your present version and your past version can’t touch. Otherwise, they’ll have a face-melting disintegration that still looks pretty cool today.

I love this concept. It’s kind of like trying not to cross the streams in Ghostbusters, but gruesome. Honestly, does it get any better than this?

The Story Genuinely Feels Comic-Booky

I’m going to be real with you. Sometimes, I don’t like when my movies are too comic booky. For example, I honestly do not like Batman Forever because I think it feels way too silly (which is strange, since I love Batman & Robin…but mostly because it leans so heavily into the cheese). That said, I think it really all depends on the character, since I have a major soft spot for the first Judge Dredd movie with Sylvester Stallone, and that’s as comic booky as you can get.

What I’m trying to say is, I’m super inconsistent. I guess that’s why I really like the silly, comic book-like vibe of Timecop, because I think it works in its favor. The movie starts off during the Civil War, and we see some Confederate soldiers get blasted away by some futuristic weaponry, and like, okay. Cool. That feels like something straight out of a comic book.

Now, as somebody who never actually read the comic, I can’t tell you if this movie stays true to the overall tone of the source material. I also can’t tell you that the movie works outside of being a comic book flick, since I think there are probably better Van Damme action movies out there (The Quest might be my favorite).

That said, when viewed as a comic book movie, I think it really works. The story is a bit predictable, but I want it to be. The important thing is, it feels like it came right off the page, and that’s why I love it.

And The Action, Oh Baby

Okay, so like I just said, there are probably better JCVD action movies out there (Like Universal Soldier. That’s another good one). However, the thing I really like about Timecop is that the action feels more varied than many of Van Damme’s other ventures, and mostly because the time periods play such a large part in this film. For example, when Van Damme goes to the 1920s, he’s fighting these old-timey dudes, but he’s still doing martial arts, which is a really interesting visual.

And then you have the scene where he's in his underwear fighting people with knives (This is also where we get the iconic leaping split scene on the counters). There’s a real sense of danger in this moment, and I just love that it fits into a movie that also has somebody shooting Confederate soldiers with futuristic firepower.

What I’m trying to say is, all of the action in this movie fits. Even though I’ve seen Van Damme kick people in the face in countless other movies, it just feels so right in this one. Traveling back in time and kicking ass will have consequences in the future, and I just love the idea of somebody’s offspring being messed up because Van Damme kicked their ancestor’s ass decades ago in the past.

It just all works. So, while it might not be the best Van Damme action movie, it’s still definitely my favorite. It’s for this reason that I think Timecop deserves more love and attention than it often gets these days.

But, what do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Marvel’s Blade may soon reach the point where its existence seems less likely and less realistic than the existence of actual vampires, given just how long it’s taking to bring the horror-leaning character into MCU’s Phase 6 projects. After reports pointed to Marvel execs showing less urgency for Blade, hopes for Mahershala Ali’s arrival as the daywalker sank arguably lower than ever. But wait! There’s some actual optimism to shine a light on! (Not direct sunlight, though. Never that.)

MaXXXine and Infinity Pool co-star Mia Goth was announced as part of Blade’s cast back in April 2023, not long before the WGA strike put all of Hollywood on pause, and while some details have surfaced about her character from a no-longer-viable version of the screenplay, not much else is known about Goth’s involvement. But it doesn’t sound like she’s given up hope or interest, as she told ELLE while promoting Guillermo del Toro’s critic-splitting Frankenstein that she is indeed still attached, and that she supports the reason for the extended delay, saying:

Assuming someone actually does get it right to the point where Kevin Feige & Co. actually give the project the green light to film, I will be able to agree with the notion that taking this long is a net positive. But if nothing ever comes of this, will that make all the waiting worth it? I don't necessarily think so.

That said, I can't hate on Mia Goth keeping the good feelings going by addressing the project as if it's something that will definitely still happen, as opposed to being a likely impossibility. Even Mahershala Ali has made it sound like nobody ever talks to him about it, and he's the one dude who should be hearing back from everyone.

Then again, maybe this isn't entirely a case of good-natured positivity, so much as a case of Mia Goth echoing her own past comments on the unrealized project. Here's what she told Deadline in June 2024:

Whether or not we'll see her appear in any upcoming superhero movies, Mia Goth is making good on her past comments to showcase her talents in projects outside her "scream queen" range, even counting her role in Frankenstein, which is not being touted as a horror movie, but as more of an emotional drama. She's also joining the Star Wars universe for Ryan Gosling's Starfighter movie, which will likely rocket her star power to new levels, while also keeping her in close company with Marvel's parent company Disney, just in case anyone ever does get Blade up and running.

For now, the movie remains in creative limbo, which Delroy Lindo spoke about earlier in 2025, four years after he was first cast in the movie. He told Collider that despite everything going in a forward direction early on in the project, things "went off the rails" soon after, leading to various changes in director and more.

Goth may be too famous to star in an MCU film before much longer, so here's hoping everyone behind the scenes realizes how high the stakes are (about chest-level) and doubles down on getting it all figured out.

The summer movie season is here, and as usual Walt Disney Studios has some heavy-hitters to bring audiences to the movies during the warm months – and to infinity and beyond! The company just came off a huge box office slay with the release of The Devil Wears Prada 2 and Pixar’s Toy Story 5 has been breaking box office records. So, what’s next for the House of Mouse? You can take a look below and find out!

Before you continue, we should note that The Walt Disney Company also has a bunch more than you’ll see here: there’s upcoming Marvel movies like Avengers: Doomsday on the way this holiday season and more Star Wars movies after The Mandalorian & Grogu such as Starfighter coming next summer. Here’s a look at everything Disney has announced for the rest of this year and all the years to come.

Moana (Live-Action)

Release Date: July 10, 2026

Knowing how successful live-action remakes of Disney movies are, we probably could have guessed that a live-action Moana would happen someday, but few might have expected it to happen so fast. Just about a decade after the animated hit was released, the live-action version is set to debut from Walt Disney Studios. Dwayne Johnson will reprise his role in the flesh as Maui. Catherine Lagaʻaia will debut as the new Moana.

Super Troopers 3

Release Date: August 7, 2026

The Broken Lizard team is back with what is sure to be another incredible comedy with Super Troopers 3. Exactly what this movie will be about is unclear, but I can't imagine that anybody excited for it is going to care.

The Dog Stars

Release Date: August 28, 2026

When Ridley Scott makes a new movie, everybody should take notice. The Dog Stars is one of the upcoming book-to-screen adaptations on the way, as it is based on a bestseller from Peter Heller. The Dog Stars is a post-apocalyptic story that follows characters played by Josh Brolin and Jacob Elordi in the aftermath of a pandemic that has wiped out most life on the planet. The movie comes from Disney’s 20th Century Studios.

Whalefall

Release date: October 16, 2026

Another 20th Century Studios film, Whalefall is based on a novel by Daniel Kraus. It’s about a man scuba diving in search of his fathers remains, who is accidentally swallowed by a whale, and must find a way to escape. It stars Austin Abrams, Josh Brolin, and Elisabeth Shue and is written and helmed by Brian Duffield.

Wild Horse Nine

Release Date: November 6, 2026

Searchlight Pictures has a black comedy starring the likes of John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, Tom Waits and Parker Posey coming out just in time for awards season. It’s about two longtime CIA officers living in 1973 who get stationed in Easter Island. The movie is written and directed by In Bruges and The Banshees of Inisherin filmmaker Martin McDonagh

Hexed

Release Date: November 25, 2026

Announced during Disney’s Destination D23 event in August 2025, Hexed is an original story from Walt Disney Animation Studios that follows a teenager named Billie and his “Type-A” mother who discover she has magical abilities. This discovery leads them to a world where magic can run free. Hailee Steinfeld plays Billie and Rashida Jones voices her mom, Alice.

Ice Age: Boiling Point

Release Date: February 5, 2027

After Blue Sky Studios shut down in 2021, there was a time when more Ice Age movies seemed out of the realm of possibility. However, when it was acquired by The Walt Disney Company as part of its acquisition of 20th Century Fox that soon changed. The new movie brings back all our favorite characters from the series: Ray Romano’s Manny, John Leguizamo’s Sid, Denis Leary’s Diego, Queen Latifah’s Ellie and Simon Pegg’s “Buck” Wild.

Gatto

Release Date: March 5, 2027

The upcoming original Pixar title is set in Venice and focuses on a cat named Nero who needs to pay back a debt to a feline mob boss. This leads Nero into an unlikely partnership with a street musician. It comes from the filmmaker of Luca, Enrico Casarosa, and stars Mark Ruffalo as the leading kitty.

Bluey

Release Date: August 6, 2027

Bluey, the Australian animated kids show, has proven to be a hit for all ages and is regularly among the most-watched shows on Disney+. Disney will also distribute a feature-length Bluey movie in 2027 directed by the show’s creator Joe Brumm and giving the show’s beloved characters a big-screen debut.

The Simpsons Movie 2

Release Date: September 3, 2027

20 years after their last big screen endeavor The Simpsons will once again hit the big screen thanks to Disney’s 20th Century Studios. We don’t have many details about the plot of this one yet.

Frozen III

Release Date: November 24, 2027

Frozen is too big of a phenomenon to not receive another sequel, and it’s on the way for next fall. We know the third movie will feature Anna and Kristoff having a royal wedding and a mysterious adventure will once again have Elsa using her magical abilities to save her family and kingdom. The Frozen 3 release date for November 2027. Jennifer Lee previously confirmed that the story is so big it will require two movies, though when we’ll see the second one has yet to be officially announced.

Untitled Disney Movie

Release Date: February 18, 2028

Disney is holding this date on the release calendar for an as yet unnamed movie.

Lilo & Stitch 2

Release Date: May 26, 2028

The sequel to the live action Lilo & Stitch was announced quickly after the first film's success, and the release date has already been set, indicating this movie is on the fast track. We expect to see Maia Kealoha’s Lilo, Sydney Agudong’s Nani and the voice of Stitch, Chris Sanders back, but details about the sequel are currently under wraps.

Incredibles 3

Release Date: June 16, 2028

Officially announced as being in development at D23 2024, Incredibles 3 has a summer release date which places its release at exactly a decade since the last one came out. Life moves as fast as Dash does!

Untitled Disney Movie

Release Date: November 10, 2028

Disney is holding this date on the release calendar for an as yet unnamed movie.

Untitled Disney Movie

Release Date: February 16, 2029

Disney is holding this date on the release calendar for an as yet unnamed movie.

Untitled Disney Movie

Release Date: March 9, 2029

Disney is holding this date on the release calendar for an as yet unnamed movie.

Untitled Disney Movie

Release Date: May 25, 2029

Disney is holding this date on the release calendar for an as yet unnamed movie.

Untitled Disney Animation

Release Date: June 15, 2029

Disney is holding this date on the release calendar for an as yet unnamed animated movie.

Untitled Disney Movie

Release Date: August 3, 2029

Disney is holding this date on the release calendar for an as yet unnamed movie.

Untitled Disney Movie

Release Date: October 5, 2029

Disney is holding this date on the release calendar for an as yet unnamed movie.

Untitled Disney Movie

Release Date: November 9, 2029

Disney is holding this date on the release calendar for an as yet unnamed movie.

Untitled Pixar Movie

Release Date: November 21, 2029

As of now, the movie set for this date is officially untitled, but since we know Coco 2 is in development, and the original film was also a November release, it's a safe bet that the movie is at least planned to go here.

Avatar 4

Release Date: December 21, 2029

James Cameron has said that parts of Avatar 4 were filmed alongside Avatar: The Way of Water and Avatar: Fire and Ash, but another massive production will need to get underway to finish out the five-movie cycle. Cameron had hinted the last two films may not actually happen, but thus far, we still expect them.

Avatar 5

Release Date: December 19, 2031

The final Avatar movie will finally arrive in 2031, assuming there are not more delays, or plans change for James Cameron.

Recent Releases

Are you looking for a recently released Walt Disney Company movie that already came out that you may have missed? Check out how you can watch the latest movies that came out within the past year below:

Now In Theaters

Toy Story 5

Now Streaming On Disney+

Avatar: Fire And Ash
Hoppers
Zootopia 2
Tron: Ares

Now Streaming On Hulu

Psycho Killer
Send Help
Is This Thing On?
Rental Family
Predator Badlands

Available To Buy Only

The Devil Wears Prada 2 (Coming To Digital June 30, Disney+/Hulu on July 29)
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come

Marvel's long-delayed Blade reboot, which was removed from the 2025 movie schedule, continues to be a topic of discussion. Considering the setbacks, the production has kept Mahershala Ali, who's still attached to lead the film, on standby. However, it seems the delays also had an impact on another production -- the upcoming Marvel Zombies animated series. With that, the creative team behind the show recently revealed the alterations that needed to be made.

Ahead of Zombies' debut, Marvel Television head Brad Winderbaum and showrunner Bryan Andrews laid out how the live-action shuffle triggered their pivot for the animated version of Ali's character. The pair provided this clarity to ComicBook.com, explaining that due to delays, they weren't in a position to go with a straightforward variant of the Daywalker. Winderbaum explained:

The fix? Promote the vampire hunter into something new amid the undead apocalypse. He continued:

For those of us who might need a quick primer: in Marvel comics, the Fist of Khonshu is traditionally Moon Knight’s mantle, and is the earthly avatar of the Egyptian moon god, charged with meting out vengeance on their behalf. Depending on the era, that role comes with moon-touched boosts (strength, stamina, faster healing), prophetic nudges and consecrated gear.

Recasting Blade as Khonshu’s fist in Marvel Zombies gives the Daywalker a supernatural upgrade that’s distinct from his usual vampire-hunter toolkit. As a result, the show's creative team was able to craft fresh lore and a cleaner, standalone power set for the apocalypse.

That character change does more than sidestep scheduling chaos. It officially makes Marvel Zombies Blade’s first on-screen Marvel Cinematic Universe appearance— during which he's voiced by Todd Williams instead of Ali. It's ironic that after years of false starts for the movie (and a brief, separate-universe Snipes' cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine), this show ushers Blade into the MCU. Andrews calls it a “surprise privilege,” and chatter about trailer (which you can watch below) suggests fans are already locked in on the Daywalker’s big set piece.

Zoom out and the production logic tracks. Animation works years ahead, while live action can pivot mid-shoot if need be. If the cartoon kept chasing updates, it would never have made the 2025 TV schedule. By creating a Khonshu-blessed Blade (who, according to the trailer, they’re calling Blade Knight, which I love), the team could lock storyboards, action beats, and character rules without tripping over whatever draft the film lands on next. (That is, if the movie ever gets off the ground, of course.) It’s a clean Marvel multiverse move and frankly, a cooler hook for a TV-MA zombie romp.

The status of the live-action Blade reboot remains… complicated. Since the 2019 announcement, the project has cycled creatives and slipped off Marvel’s dated slate entirely, fueling chatter about alternate paths (hello, Midnight Sons?) while Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige insists the movie is still in play. Regardless of where the film lands, the animated side has stopped waiting and turned a delay into a fresh take on a beloved character.

The Moon Knight–christened Daywalker arrives in animation when Marvel Zombies premieres September 24, 2025, so grab a Disney+ subscription if you aim to check it out.

To our knowledge, David S. Goyer isn't working on any massive upcoming superhero movies, though he's long worked within the genre. In fact, Goyer has worked on them long enough to have seen (and written) both Marvel and DC characters. However, even he wasn’t prepared for one of Deadpool & Wolverine’s wildest surprise cameos. The original Blade trilogy’s writer (and director on one installment) says he went out of his way to dodge promos… and still got floored when a certain Daywalker showed up in the MCU.

In an exclusive chat with Brandon Davis on his YouTube channel, Goyer explained why he kept his expectations in check before heading to the theater with his sons, despite all the rumours he’d heard. As he tells it:

David S. Goyer’s reaction tracks with many of us who cheered when Wesley Snipes’ Blade joined the cameo parade. According to the Batman Begins scribe, there was also meta joy of that reveal. How the writers leaned into the fourth wall of it all as Snipes' character talks about there only ever "being one Blade." wasn’t just nostalgia, but also a nod at the long, messy road Marvel has traveled trying to reboot Blade for the MCU. The iconic screenwriter continued:

If you’ve been following the saga, you know the reboot has cycled through creative teams and release dates since it was announced with Mahershala Ali. The Foundation series writer recently said he was “baffled” the restart has been so hard to land, arguing the character works best with a lean, scary, action-forward approach—and, ideally, an R rating. Regardless of when that film finally arrives, and based on recent rumors, it could be delayed far longer than anyone had expected, but Deadpool & Wolverine’s tip of the sword reminded audiences why the vampire hunter remains one of Marvel’s coolest big-screen icons.

It’s also a full-circle moment for Ryan Reynolds, whose own Marvel journey runs through 2004’s Blade: Trinity—the Godfather III of the trilogy, if you will. Goyer wrote and directed that much-maligned third installment. Now, two decades later, Reynolds is steering the Merc with the Mouth inside the MCU, bringing back Wesley Snipes not as empty fan service, but as connective tissue linking Marvel’s pre-MCU era to its present.

And, of all those releases from the early aughts, Blade is arguably the most influential in kickstarting the surge of modern new Marvel films and the comic-book genre as a whole. That's something fans should definitely be thankful for.

Between a still-developing MCU Blade and Wesley Snipes’ crowd-pleasing return, the Daywalker is back in pop culture’s bloodstream—where it goes from here is anyone’s guess. Until we have answers, you can revisit David S. Goyer’s trilogy of Blade flicks; all three OG entries are streaming with a Paramount+ subscription. Also, if you want to revisit Snipes’ return as the character, Deadpool & Wolverine is streaming with a Disney+ subscription.

Let’s all agree to keep our fangs checked and behind closed lips throughout the duration of this story, no matter how much we might want to go into a rage. Yet another Blade-related update has surfaced within the MCU, and while it isn’t an additional nail in the coffin of Mahershala Ali’s standalone Blade movie, it is a another big blow to fans desperately waiting for Marvel to actually give the talented actor something to do.

In the aftermath of Marvel rumors pointing to a lack of urgency regarding the daywalker’s long road to reboot, the one strand of hope some fans remained attached to surrounded Ali potentially voicing Blade for the upcoming MCU TV show Marvel Zombies, which will be available to stream in October via Disney+ subscription. Unfortunately, that won’t be the case at all.

According to ComicBook.com, the upcoming R-rated MCU series will feature an iteration of the dhampir, with voice-acting duties delivered by The Chicago Code and Good Behavior vet Todd Williams.

Williams will be providing his talents to play Blade Knight. No not the Kirby character, but a What If...? interpretation that mashes up Eric Brooks with Moon Knight Marc Spector. Williams will, perhaps unsurprisingly, also be the voice of Spector and MK.

Given this update wasn't shared with any direct relation to Mahershala Ali, it's unclear exactly why we're getting yet another on-screen Blade that won't feature the actor cast to play him. (With the other one being Wesley Snipes' reprised character in Deadpool and Wolverine.) Given how many live-action MCU actors do lend their voices to animated projects, there's always a minimal amount of curiosity anytime a hero or villain is recast. The same definitely goes here, considering the only time Ali and Blade actually dovetailed was in the Eternals post-credits scene.

Interestingly enough, and also not connected, Todd Williams provides the voice for the Invincible character Titan in Season 2, having replaced the actor who starred in Season 1. That actor? Mahershala Ali.

The OG Blade screenwriter David Goyer shared his own confusion about Snipes reprising the daywalker for D&W, and shared that he's asked Marvel if they want his help in scripting Blade's official MCU debut, but to no avail. Maybe after this animated version dies, THAT'S when Ali's version can officially rise up. Or, you know, not.

Marvel Zombies is set to debut all four episodes on Disney+ starting on September 24, 2025.

If there’s one thing that fans who’ve enjoyed the Marvel movies in order have known for a long time now, it’s that the studio behind 2025 movies like Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and recent hit The Fantastic Four: First Steps always has lots of creative irons in the fire. As such, there are several films that were announced as being in the planning stages years ago, but which have been slow to take root. Now, though, we’ve gotten an update on the Blade reboot, Black Panther, and Deadpool, as superhero franchises experience a “pullback.”

What’s Been Said About The Current Plans For Blade, Deadpool And Black Panther?

It was roughly six years ago (during San Diego Comic-Con 2019) that a Blade reboot starring Oscar winner Mahershala Ali was announced with much fanfare. Numerous delays have hit the upcoming Marvel movie since then (even with some potential good news about the story involving Wesley Snipes, as well), and we still don’t have any idea when things will get rolling.

Meanwhile, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is doing well in theaters, and with major hits in the studio’s rearview like Deadpool & Wolverine and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, many are wondering where things stand with the long-awaited reboot and new appearances for old faves like Deadpool and Black Panther. According to a report from Variety, fans should be prepared to wait even longer in at least two cases, as the outlet notes:

As everyone who pays close attention to the world of superhero movies will likely realize, we are hardly in the pre-pandemic boom times that kept all of our excitement levels at 100. This means that things have changed across the board when it comes to spending mega-bucks on every potential superhero blockbuster, especially when one of the biggest markets for those movies, China, has begun to turn its attention elsewhere and business for new superhero movies is way down in that country.

While we can look forward to Spider-Man: Brand New Day on the 2026 movies schedule, as well as the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday (with both currently filming), those two will be exceptions to the new rule of doing everything possible to “keep the cost down,” which includes not loading up casts with A-list talent who command major salaries. Because of that, the Ryan Reynolds-starring Deadpool franchise, as well as the Ali-led Blade update, are still in a holding pattern for now.

However, with Ryan Coogler still riding the high of Sinners, his early 2025 horror hit starring Marvel favorite Michael B. Jordan, things are percolating at a much higher level for a third Black Panther film, particularly with Denzel Washington rebelling against MCU secrecy and revealing he’s going to be in the movie.

Obviously, lots of folks will be disappointed by this update, but remember that some good news is better than none.

Before penning DC movies like Batman Begins and Man of Steel, David S. Goyer sunk his teeth into the superhero genre over at Marvel with the Wesley Snipes-led Blade movies. It’s been 21 years since that film series came to an end, and six years since it was announced that Mahershala Ali would be leading a Blade reboot set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And yet, this new take on Blade continues to deal with setbacks and obstacles. Goyer even reached out to Marvel Studios a little under a year ago about the project and has shared what came of that.

While speaking with Variety, Goyer recalled how he had his agent reach out to Marvel Studios towards the end of 2024 to see if they required any assistance with putting the Blade reboot together. Evidently they didn’t given the answer he received back, with Goyer sharing:

The “latest thing” David S. Goyer is referring to is likely how Blade was removed from the upcoming Marvel movies calendar after having previously been set for November 7, 2025. That was one of several release dates it had held since Mahershala Ali walked out onto San Diego Comic-Con’s Hall H stage in 2019 to announce to the world with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige that the MCU was getting its own Blade. Ali later vocally cameoed as the Daywalker in the Eternals end-credits scene.

Maybe Marvel was in a better place with Blade when David S. Goyer had his agent contact the powers-that-be over there, but I’m doubtful that’s still the case. Blade remains undated, and even if its progress suddenly started accelerating, the earliest it could come out is in 2027. Although Goyer isn’t privy to behind-the-scenes goings on with the project, he would still entertain working on its script if approached, explaining:

Actors like Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre and Delroy Lindo were all attached to Blade at one point or another, but the latter two eventually departed, and Mahershala Ali remains the only star officially still attached. The reboot has cycled through the directors Bassam Tariq and Yann Demange, and as of November 2023, Michael Green was handling rewrites. So the future of Ali’s Blade remains shrouded in uncertainty, but at least Wesley Snipes reprised his Blade last year in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, although Goyer was confused by his appearance.

Meanwhile, David S. Goyer continues to keep busy with TV shows like The Sandman, Murderbot and Foundation. The former series, which is ending after two seasons, can be viewed with a Netflix subscription, and the latter two are accessible with an Apple TV+ subscription.

Last summer’s Deadpool & Wolverine was packed with special cameos, most of whom were tied to Fox’s X-Men franchise and other superhero movies the film studio, which is now merged with Disney, released back in the day. One of the exceptions, however, was Wesley Snipes reprising Blade, as the Daywalker’s movies from the late ‘90s and early 2000s hailed from New Line Cinema. David S. Goyer, who penned the Blade trilogy, recently admitted that he was confused by Snipes being in the MCU movie, but he did share an interesting theory about why it happened that’s tied to the long-awaited Blade reboot.

Goyer addressed this topic while appearing on Happy Sad Confused to talk about the 20th anniversary of Batman Begins, which he co-wrote. Towards the end of his conversation with host Josh Horowitz, he briefly talked about how he doesn’t understand why Marvel Studios is having such a hard time cracking Blade, especially with Mahershala Ali attached to play the vampire slayer. Then when Horowitz speculated about if the positive reception to Snipes’ appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine might have complicated development of the reboot even more, Goyer said:

I don’t necessarily agree that it didn’t make sense for Wesley Snipes’ Blade to appear in Deadpool & Wolverine if Marvel is trying to introduce Mahershala Ali’s version. After all, Chris Evans reprised Johnny Storm, a.k.a. The Human Torch, and we’ll soon meet Joseph Quinn’s version of that character in next month’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Besides, given how poorly Blade: Trinity was received, with David S. Goyer once calling it the “worst experience” of his career, I’d say Snipes deserve to reprise Eric Brooks and leave him in a better place than where he was left.

As for Goyer theorizing that Wesley Snipes was included in Deadpool & Wolverine as a way to indirectly acknowledge the Blade reboot’s troubles, I’d buy that as a possibility. It would certainly make Snipes saying, “There’s only been one Blade. There’s only ever going to be one Blade” even funnier, as that line prompted Deadpool to knowingly look at the camera. In that sense, the Merc with the Mouth is silently confirming Snipes is correct, but the joke still works the other way if we get to meet Mahershala Ali’s Blade someday, thus proving his predecessor wrong.

The Blade reboot remains undated on the upcoming Marvel movies schedule, and development on it was reportedly paused in March. While we await any significant update on its status, remember that Deadpool & Wolverine can be revisited at your convenience with a Disney+ subscription.

I think I speak for many when I say audiences love it when characters from two (or more) different movies or TV series come together in one special event, such as the epic monster movies featuring both Godzilla and King Kong, or when Scooby-Doo and Mystery Inc. appeared on Supernatural. Of course, for all of the mind-blowing crossovers we have been blessed with, there is still much to be desired in the realm of bringing two big-screen or small-screen franchises together.

In that respect, let’s let our imaginations run wild and dream up the movie or TV crossovers that would be incredible to see. Now, I cannot promise that many (or all) of these ideas are legally or even humanly possible, but why should we let that get in the way of the fun?

Toy Story And Small Soldiers

The first, and still one of the best, Pixar movies, Toy Story, showed us the world from the point of view of sentient toys in 1995. Three years later, Small Soldiers offered the same perspective, but with more of an edge and a more realistic approach. Seeing Woody (Tom Hanks) and other innocent children's playthings crossing paths with Major Chip Hazard (Tommy Lee Jones) and his AI-powered, militaristic action figures sounds like one wonderfully warped animated flick, if you ask me.

The Office And Parks And Recreation

As recalled by MovieWeb, co-creators Michael Schur and Greg Daniels initially conceived Parks and Recreation as a spin-off of The Office before it turned into its own separate and equally beloved TV sitcom. Still, there is no reason why Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and his former Dunder-Mifflin co-workers could not somehow cross paths with Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and other Pawnee residents in a mockumentary-style special.

Drive And Fast And Furious

A famous example of misleading movie marketing is 2011's slow-burn, Neo-noir thriller Drive, which one woman assumed would be more of a high-octane action thriller like the Fast and Furious movies, inspiring her to file a lawsuit, according to The Guardian. Honestly, I see this as a reason to give the people what they want and release a movie that sees Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew facing off against Ryan Gosling's Driver.

Succession And Yellowstone

Having both premiered in 2018, Jesse Armstrong's Succession and Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone would become subjects of comparison, with some even calling the Paramount Network hit "Succession with cowboy hats." I think seeing the wealthy and vindictive Roys indulging in a rivalry with the also wealthy and vindictive Duttons would make for one epic feature-length special or miniseries.

21 Jump Street And Men In Black

Among the hypothetical crossovers presented here, not all are too much of a stretch from the realm of possibility. In fact, there were actual plans for a film called MIB23, which would have brought Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) from the 21 Jump Street movie into the world of the Men in Black franchise. Unfortunately, plans were scrapped in 2019, but I still have hope this insane sci-fi/comedy mash-up could work.

Poker Face And The Thing

Imagine if human lie detector Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) from the Peacock original TV show Poker Face was trapped in one place with a group of people who may or may not be shapeshifting extraterrestrial organisms in disguise, like the 1982 horror movie classic, The Thing. She would be the only one who could suss out the imitators, but the rest of the group might be too paranoid to confidently trust her judgment. I think Rian Johnson should give John Carpenter a call.

Star Wars And Marvel Cinematic Universe

As a fan of both the Star Wars movies and of Guardians of the Galaxy, I love the idea of seeing the cosmic warriors from the Marvel Cinematic Universe visit George Lucas' galaxy far, far away. Considering both Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm are owned by Disney, this intergalactic epic is entirely possible, as long as the timeline is respected, of course.

RoboCop And Terminator

Omni Consumer Products' half-man, half-machine crime-fighting tool has crossed paths with Skynet's mechanical killer before, but only on the pages of a Dark Horse comic book series from Frank Miller. Why Hollywood has not yet tried its hand at a movie that pits the hero from RoboCop against any of the antagonistic cyborgs from the Terminator franchise is beyond me.

James Bond And Jason Bourne

The Matt Damon-led Jason Bourne movies are often cited as the inspiration for the James Bond franchise's grittier tone, especially after Daniel Craig took over as 007. If there could be a way to get the American amnesiac assassin and the suave MI6 agent together in a room (which would likely be destroyed by the end), that could make for one of the best spy movies ever.

Sherlock And Doctor Who

Two of the BBC's most popular series, Sherlock and Doctor Who, both involve a highly intelligent, fashionable, and sometimes arrogant protagonist who is accompanied by a reliable companion. For that and many other reasons, I think it would be amazing to see them come together in a special or miniseries in which Holmes, hitting a wall with a case that defies logic, finds unexpected help from The Doctor.

DC Universe And Marvel Cinematic Universe

The two biggest comic book publishing companies in the world have not always been rivals and have indulged in creating stories that see DC heroes and Marvel heroes fighting side by side. Considering his strong ties to the MCU, it can't be out of the question for DC Studios head James Gunn to at least call a meeting with Kevin Feige to discuss bringing this kind of crossover to the big screen, which might end up being the greatest superhero movie ever made.

John Wick And Kill Bill

While largely differing in tone, the John Wick movies and Quentin Tarantino's two-part Kill Bill saga are pretty similar in concept, following two retired, legendary assassins waging a vengeful war on those who wronged them. Who is to say that Keanu Reeves' gun-fu master and Uma Thurman's The Bride never crossed paths in their deadly heyday?

The Evil Dead And The Exorcist

Two of the most popular franchises of demonic possession movies, The Exorcist and The Evil Dead, could not be more different from one another, which is exactly why I want to see them converge. In my pitch, grown-up Regan MacNeill's (Linda Blair) expertise in devilish activity is enlisted to help with a new case, but when it spirals out of control, the only one who can help is chainsaw-headed Deadite hunter, Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell).

Inception And A Nightmare On Elm Street

When you think about it, Leonardo DiCaprio's Dom Cobb from Christopher Nolan's Inception essentially has the same job as Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street. Just imagine how much more challenging his team's adventures through the subconscious would be with Robert Englund's sadistic, badly burned boogeyman invading the same dream.

Alien, Predator, And Jurassic Park

You know what I think the Alien vs. Predator movies were missing? Dinosaurs. Putting these two fearsome extraterrestrials in yet another battle, but while trapped on one of the prehistoric animal-infested islands from the Jurassic Park films, could result in one of the most exciting entries from any of these franchises. You would not even need human characters to make it work because seeing both the Predator and the Xenomorph knocked down a peg by the T-Rex as a common enemy would be more than enough.

Ghostbusters And Casper

We already know that Casper and the Ghostbusters exist in the same universe, thanks to Dan Aykroyd's cameo as Ray Stantz in the Friendly Ghost's 1995 live-action feature adaptation of the animated series. I am sure Casper would happily help the paranormal exterminators take on a few evil spirits, even after an awkward misunderstanding were to happen when they first meet.

Mad Max And Dredd

The great thing about post-apocalyptic movies is that each has a different, intriguing interpretation of what a dystopian society would look like. However, what if the Wasteland from George Miller's Mad Max movies existed just across the (dried up) pond from Mega City One in Dredd? The gritty, visually stunning possibilities are endless.

Blade And Twilight

Allow me to make one thing clear: I am not suggesting that Marvel Comics' vampire hunter, originally played on the big screen by Wesley Snipes, should show up in the Twilight movies just to see Robert Pattinson's Edward, Kristen Stewart's Bella, and other bloodsuckers get slaughtered. I actually think Blade's presence could give the persistent haters of the films based on Stephanie Meyer's YA novel series a reason to treat the franchise with a little more respect.

Indiana Jones And Marvel Cinematic Universe

Since Disney owns both Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm, I wonder if anyone there has ever tinkered with the idea of putting a character like Indiana Jones in the MCU. I mean, he and Steve "Captain America" Rogers would have been alive around the same time and, as staunch anti-fascists, probably would have gotten along great. I doubt Harrison Ford's casting as Thunderbolt Ross in Captain America: Brave New World would cause much confusion, either.

Monk And Psych

The USA Network used to run promos bringing characters from their respective series together, including one in which Tony Shalhoub's eponymous detective from Monk suspects that Shawn Spencer (James Roday Rodriguez) is not a real psychic. It makes me wish that we could have seen an official crossover episode that would have seen plenty of funny bickering between the carefree Shawn and someone as neurotic as Adrian Monk, who at least might have gotten along with Gus (Dulé Hill).

Power Rangers And Godzilla

By combining their respective, animal-shaped vehicles into one large Megazord, the Power Rangers have managed to face off against bizarre creatures of all sizes, which means they could realistically take on Godzilla. However, if I were to pitch this crossover, the rangers would eventually have to join forces with the King of the Monsters after an even larger creature emerges to wreak havoc on Angel Grove.

Bill & Ted And Wayne's World

Perhaps we never saw Bill S. Preston Esq. (Alex Winter) and Ted "Theodore" Logan (Keanu Reeves) take Wayne Campbell (Mike Myers) and Garth Algar (Dana Carvey) on a trip through time because we are not worthy of such an excellent idea. Then again, if Myers and Carvey can still get together for Wayne's World reunions on SNL and Reeves and Winter could come back for 2020's Bill & Ted Face the Music, who says it doesn't have potential?

Dirty Harry And Death Wish

I think the greatest Dirty Harry movie we never saw would have put Clint Eastwood's Lt. Callahan on the case of a murderer targeting the most vicious gangs in San Francisco, which would turn out to be Charles Bronson's Paul Kersey from Death Wish. Inevitably, I think Harry would be lured into an alliance with the vengeful vigilante, coming to believe that his more permanent methods of justice align with his own.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer And Sabrina The Teenage Witch

It's a shame that there was never any attempt to make an official crossover between Buffy the Vampire Slayer with Sarah Michelle Gellar and the Melissa Joan Hart-led Sabrina the Teenage Witch while they were still on the air. The coming-of-age supernatural series may have differed dramatically in tone, but that is just what would have made the collaboration such a blast.

Harry Potter And The Dresden Files

If fans of the Harry Potter movies have ever been interested in trying out something a bit darker and grittier, there is another literary modern-day wizard with the same first name: Harry Dresden, played by Paul Blackthorne on the SyFy series, The Dresden Files. I think it would be fun to see J.K. Rowling's The Boy Who Lived helping author Jim Butcher's Chicago-based P.I. solve a grisly mystery in which magic is involved.

The Munsters And The Addams Family

They may have been on different networks and produced by opposing studios, but how in the world has there never been an attempt to introduce the Munsters to the Addams Family? I would even be open to getting the actors from Rob Zombie's reboot movie to star alongside the cast of Netflix's Wednesday if it meant getting just a glimpse at these creepy, kooky families finally coming together.

It And Terrifier

There are no two villains in the subgenre of creepy clown movies more iconic than Pennywise from It and Art the Clown from Terrifier. I can't imagine a horror fan being against the idea of bringing Bill Skarsgård's shapeshifting fear demon from Andy Muschietti's blockbuster adaptation of Stephen King's novel and David Howard Thornton from Damien Leone's shocking indie slashers together for one brutal showdown that would have blood and white face paint smeared across the screen.

Hocus Pocus And Trick 'R Treat

In Disney's cult favorite, family-friendly witch movie, 1993's Hocus Pocus, our young protagonists go through a lot of trouble to defeat the Sanderson Sisters (played by Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker). I cannot help but wonder how easily those sinister spellcasters could have been taken care of by the mischievous Sam from the 2007 anthology horror movie favorite, Trick 'r Treat.

Hoarders And Storage Wars

You know those people on the show Hoarders who compulsively keep hold of any item they possess, no matter how unnecessary or even unhealthy it may be? I have a potential idea to help them: put them on another A&E reality show called Storage Wars and tell them that they must outbid other experienced collectors if they want to maintain ownership of their junk.

Johnny English And The Pink Panther

While it barely held a candle to Peter Sellers, I cannot deny that I enjoyed Steve Martin's portrayal of Inspector Jacques Clouseau in his Pink Panther reboot. I even more enjoyed Rowan Atkinson as a bumbling Bond-wannabe in the Johnny English movies. I imagine that having the clueless French detective and accident-prone British spy cross paths on a case would result in some real comedic dynamite (especially if real dynamite is involved).

Sister Act And The Nun

After watching Whoopi Goldberg's Academy Award-winning performance in Ghost, I am convinced that a sequel to Sister Act in which Deloris Wilson-Van Cartier must contend with the habit-wearing demon Valak (Bonnie Aarons) from the Conjuring movies would be a riot.

Big Brother And Survivor

Big Brother and Survivor are both competitive reality shows that make social interaction a key element to winning, with the biggest difference being the setting. If I ran CBS, I would send the most famous all-stars from Big Brother to a remote island, bring Survivor champs to the Big Brother house, and see what happens.

The biggest movie out in theaters right now is a vampire movie called Sinners starring Michael B. Jordan. Apparently, its release is giving Marvel fans FOMO over the Blade movie starring Mahershala Ali that we’re still waiting for. One digital artist just replaced Ali with Jordan on a piece of fan art that people are loving.

Michael B. Jordan Has Been Imagined As Blade In New Sinner-Inspired Fan Art

How would Michael B. Jordan look as Blade? We likely will never find out for real considering the actor has already played one of the best Marvel movie villains, Killmonger, in the Black Panther movies and The Human Torch in the last Fantastic Four movie, but here it is:

OK, I have to say it: this slays. Michael B. Jordan looks awesome with Blade’s sunglasses and leather getup in this reimagining of the Sinners poster. This could absolutely pass off as a Blade poster without question if so many of us weren’t already familiar with and loving Sinners this past weekend.

What’s really funny about the poster by @arifinity_ on Instagram is how they made the tagline of the new poster “Only In Theaters At Some Point…” Considering how long we’ve been waiting for Mahershala Ali to play the vampire slayer, it’s a fair dig.

What’s Going On With Blade Anyway?

It’s not like we’re keeping count or anything, but Mahershala Ali’s Blade movie has been among upcoming Marvel movies on the way since it was announced back in 2019 at San Diego Comic-Con. It’s been almost six years, and there is currently no director attached to the movie and a release date has been taken off the calendar for now.

So far, Mahershala Ali has only made a voiceover cameo during the end-credits scene in Eternals, and tons of behind-the-scenes shakeups have been stressing fans out about whether a movie is ever going to actually come out. Blade was initially going to be helmed by Basam Tariq, but the director left the project in late 2022 before Yann Damange took over a couple of months later. But then Damange also lost out on the movie last summer.

The latest update from Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige came in November 2024 when he said he’s still “committed” to Blade and the half-vampire is indeed set to “make it to the MCU.” There's also been recent rumors that John Wick’s Chad Stahelski could be the next director involved, but we’re at the point where we won’t believe it until Ali is on set in his Blade costume.

While Blade is still in the works, it was certainly nice to see a good vampire more from Black Panther director Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan. And of course, we can always stream the original Blade movies with Wesley Snipes in the meantime.

Chad Stahelski has been one of my favorite directors for the past decade now, as he’s a filmmaker with a lot to bring the to table. Responsible for the John Wick franchise, which comprises some of the best action movies of all time, the stuntman-turned-filmmaker has a great eye for action, an attention to detail that is pretty much unmatched, and a knack for storytelling. So when I started hearing rumors that he’s being eyed to direct the long-in-the-works Blade reboot, you think I’d be excited and turn into the “shut up and take my money” gif. Right? Well, not so much…

As a huge fan of both Stahelski and the Blade movies (is their ay better opening scene than the blood-soaked club sequence?), I don’t know if this is the best idea for either side. Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to see the upcoming Marvel movie the night it drops, I just don’t know if this is the best route.

Don't Get Me Wrong, I Think Chad Stahelski Would Be Perfect For Blade

When I first read rumors about Chad Stahelski possibly directing Blade on sites like World of Reel and ScreenRant a few weeks ago, my immediate reaction was, "Yes, Kevin Feige, make this happen and let it happen soon!" I mean, the thought of the man who crafted all those absurdly violent and intense John Wick fight scenes making a movie about Marvel Comics’ premier Daywalker, this time played by Mahershala Ali, seems like a match made in action movie heaven. It’d be like George A. Romero making a Resident Evil movie.

Over the years, Stahelski has proven time and time again that not only can he direct impressive action sequences or shootouts like nobody’s business, but he can also build worlds with deep lore and all kinds of intertwined stories set in the same universe. With the MCU getting larger every single day (we are building to the Russos’ Avengers: Doomsday after all), this is something that could work really well if the rumors end up being true and the movie actually gets off the ground.

But that brings me to my first major sticking point…

It's Just That The MCU Project's Development Has Had One Obstacle After Another

The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s version of Blade was first announced back in 2019, and since then, it’s been a “start and stop” affair that has seen all kinds of obstacles, delays, and other problems along the way. The highly-anticipated comic book adaptation was supposed to be coming out near the end of the 2025 movie schedule with a November 5th debut, but Marvel brass later decided to take it off the calendar entirely with no new date announced. Numerous other Marvel projects have been announced and released during that same nearly-six-year stretch, but we still have nothing concrete in terms of story for Blade.

The only real updates we have received over the years are those about the movie being in development hell or details about plans that were long ago scrapped. Kevin Feige will come around every few months to update on why Blade’s taking so long or address rumors, but nothing ever seems to come from it. I don’t want to give up on this entirely like it’s the ill-fated El Muerto starring Bad Bunny, but I honestly don’t have high hopes at this moment.

And It Seems Like The Can Would Have To Be Kicked Even Further Down The Road With All The John Wick 5 Talk

Another reason I’m on the fence about Chad Stahelski directing the Blade movie is the fact that he’s going to be helming the recently announced John Wick: Chapter 5, which will also see the return of Keanu Reeves’ titular hitman. With the franchise alive and well – the highly anticipated Ballerina hits theaters this summer and more projects are on the way – I can’t imagine Stahelski wanting to turn his attention away from a property that is clearly near and dear to his heart. With Blade having no release date, and opening spots on the MCU calendar getting further and further out, this could be another “kick the can” situation on our hands.

I still don’t know much about the fifth John Wick movie or how it will handle the return of its main character after he presumably died after the onslaught of bullets, knives and other weapons in John Wick: Chapter 4, but I’m sure the franchise’s major players are working on all that right now. That means that Stahelski will most likely be spending a considerable amount of time in the coming months and years finding a story worth telling.

Stahelski Is Also Working On Highlander And Ghost Of Tsushima, And I'm Worried About His Bandwidth

If you’ve followed Chad Stahelski for the past couple of years, you know that he has seriously become one of the busiest people in show business. I have, and now I’m starting to get kind of worried about his bandwidth. Since 2023, he’s been attached to direct a few different projects and produce even more, which is absolutely wild. While there are a lot of projects in the works from the John Wick director, there are two that I’m most excited to see: his Ghost of Tsushima live-action adaptation and his remake of Highlander starring Henry Cavill.

Stahelski has been working on Highlander for a few years now, and it remains to be seen how much him jumping in to help Ballerina’s reshoots impacted the fantasy remake, but hopefully this is something that happens. This also applies to Ghost of Tsushima, a big-screen take on the popular PlayStation game of the same name. He revealed a ton of details about the upcoming video game adaptation when I spoke with him back in late 2023, but I haven’t heard anything since.

Hopefully my concerns end up being meaningless and Chad Stahelski not only makes Blade, but also gives us one of the best Marvel movies of all time. If anyone can do it, I think he can.

Anyone who’s looking forward to Mahershala Ali’s debut as Marvel Studios’ new Daywalker has been living in a multiverse of sadness. I count myself among those folks, as the removal of the Blade reboot from the 2025 movie schedule still stings - considering the project was announced back in 2019, and all we’ve had to show for it is that Eternals post-credits tease.

So while I’m not here to tell you that of any news that definitively changes what we know about Blade’s reboot, because Marvel doesn't ever get definitive about projects that fail to come together, here are some whisperings of good news. Namely a rumor surfaced that ties into one of my underlying hopes during yesterday’s Avengers: Doomsday casting-with-chairs event. Social media scooper MyTimeToShineH (via CBM) has shared a tip that the “indefinite hold” we’ve seen put on director-less feature is thanks to all things Multiverse taking precedent at Marvel Studios.

Oh yes True Believers - Deadpool & Wolverine’s huge cameo from Wesley Snipes has supposedly made waves, and the rumored play is to now make Mahershala Ali’s proper Marvel Cinematic Universe debut into an adventure including Wesley Snipes’ OG Variant.

Flipping back to yesterday's Avengers: Doomsday cavalcade, this already makes a lot of sense. Since Channing Tatum's Gambit was announced as part of the lengthy line up promised to take on Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom, allowing Wesley Snipes’ Marvel character record to grow makes sense.

Not to mention having him finally introducing us all to the next generation of vampire hunter, is something that’s worthy of celebration. Pretty much everyone who heard the words “There’s only been one Blade, there's only ever gonna be one Blade.” be it in a movie theater or streaming through a Disney+ subscription, felt that claim to their core.

That’s not a sign that Mahershala Ali’s fresh take is unwanted, but rather a sign that the revamp should keep in mind Blade’s place as one of the handful of non-MCU success stories at the movies. Adapting creator Marv Wolfman’s character has probably never seemed easy, and Blade’s removal from Disney/Marvel’s release slate only highlights the increased difficulty in a post-Iron Man culture where PG-13 juggernauts have called the tune.

Marvel Studios has always intended for Wesley Snipes’ immortal words in that Deadpool & Wolverine storyline to be eaten, as their writing was more aimed at entering another quotable quote into Eric Brooks’ lexicon. As seen in Kevin Feige’s Blade delay comments, the preparation of that meal needs to be just right, with increased importance now included after Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman’s epic team-up.

Now with the Multiverse story in full effect, and the door to more R-rated comic movies being properly opened, Blade’s time to shine may have finally arrived. It's a development that couldn't have arrived at more opportune moment, as at the time of this story’s publication, the MCU’s Blade has gone through a director departure, as well as six writers and almost as many years in development.

Normally a delay in the face of such an interminable wait would be disastrous. However, if this rumor happens to be true, seeing Wesley Snipes pass Mahershala Ali his spiked sword of suckhead justice will have made it all worth it in the end. And why not…it’s apparently working for the X-Men!

The holidays can be a stressful time due to all the decorating, gift-buying, schedule-shifting and more, so it’s a good thing there are so many Black Friday entertainment deals to take advantage of, so that overspending doesn’t need to be one of those stress factors.

Since there are few better ways to achieve escapism than through movies, what better way to balance the holiday rush than by kicking back with a lineup of Hollywood’s golden age goodies, modern favorites, cult classics, and more. (For those who enjoy putting things together while the TV’s on, these LEGO Black Friday deals are winners.) The following list of steep Blu-ray and DVD discounts is a perfect fit for movie buffs like myself who trust in permanent physical media more than the temporary nature of streaming services.

[Counterpoint: there are plenty of excellent Black Friday streaming deals and Black Friday VPN deals for those who prefer that route.]

For anyone who enjoys watching high-octance action sequences, criminal operations, and guys who quite enjoy zipping around the city in a customized batsuit, check out these A+ action and drama movie discounts. (And be sure to check out our curated list of Black Friday TV deals for the best way to watch all the movies you end up buying.)

Action And Drama Movie Fans' Black Friday Blu-Ray Deals

• The Batman [4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital]:
• Jurassic Park [4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital]: $10.99 (Was $29.98)
• King Kong [4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital HD]: $10.98 (Was $22.98)
• Godzilla [4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray]: $10.99 (Was $34.98)
• Godzilla x King: The New Empire [DVD]: $7.99 (Was $24.98)
• Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 [Blu-ray + Digital]: $9.99 (Was $24.95)
• A Clockwork Orange [4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray]: $10.99 (Was $33.99)
• No Time to Die [4K UHD + Blu-ray]: $10.99 (Was $22.98)
• The Matrix Resurrections [4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray]: $10.99 (Was $33.99)
• The Northman [Collector's Edition 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital]: $11.99 (Was $24.98)
• The Green Knight [Blu-ray]: $11.49 (Was $22.99)
• Alfred Hitchcock: The Ultimate Collection [Blu-ray]: $54.99 (Was $99.98)
• Blade [4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray]: $14.99 (Was $34.98)
• The Equalizer 3 [UHD/BD Combo + Digital]: $16.49 (Was $49.99)
• Scarface [Gold Edition 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital]: $10.99 (Was $29.98)

If heists, drug running and taking down vampire gangs is still too much havoc to contend with alongside all the post-Thanksgiving festivities, then why not hop into a fun coming-of-age adventure, take a few classes in magic spells or get schooled by Mr. Miyagi? Those experiences and more can be found among the various comedies and family film deals below!

Comedy And Family Movie Fans' Black Friday Blu-Ray Deals

• Harry Potter: 8-Film Collection [4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray]: $55.99 (Was $88.72)
• The Goonies [4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray]: $10.99 (Was $34.98]
• Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory [4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray]: $10.99 (Was $34.98)
• $16.99 (Was $38.99)
• Fantastic Mr. Fox [The Criterion Collection Blu-ray]: $19.98 (Was $39.95)
• Back to the Future: The Ultimate Trilogy [4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital]: $29.99 (Was $42.08)
• Beetlejuice [4K UHD]: $12.99 (Was $34.98)
• Shrek [6-Movie Collection Blu-ray + Digital]: $33.99 (Was $69.99)
• Puss in Boots [2-Movie Collection Blu-ray + Digital]: $16.99 (Was $39.99)
• Some Like It Hot [The Criterion Collection Blu-ray]: $19.98 (Was $39.95)
• The Three Stooges [Blu-ray Collection]: $128.21 (Was $230.99)
• The Breakfast Club [The Criterion Collection Blu-ray]: $19.98 (Was $39.95)
• Fast Times at Ridgemont High [The Criterion Collection Blu-ray]: $19.98 (Was $39.95)
• The Graduate [The Criterion Collection Blu-ray]: $19.98 (Was $39.95)
• Broadcast News [The Criterion Collection Blu-ray]: $19.98 (Was $39.95)

We all know Black Friday is more or less the official starting point for the Christmas season to begin, just under a month beyond spooky season's conclusion with Halloween. But true blue horror fans definitely don't just wait for the fall to embrace being frightened and disturbed. Thankfully, there's nothing scary in the slightest about all of the horror and sci-fi blu-ray discounts seen below, which include a few of the best scary movies of all time.

Horror And Sci-Fi Movie Fans' Black Friday Blu-Ray Deals

• Thanksgiving [Blu-ray + Digital]: $14.99 (Was $38.99)
• Universal Classic Monsters [Limited Edition Collection 4K Ultra HD + Digital]: $96.98 (Was $129.99)
• Abigail [Collector’s Edition Blu-ray + DVD + Digital]: $9.99 (Was $29.98)
• Saw 1-8 Film Collection [DVD]: $9.49 (Was $19.98]
• The Watchers [Blu-ray + Digital]: $9.99 (Was $22.95)
• Eyes Without a Face [The Criterion Collection Blu-ray]: $19.99 (Was $39.99)
• The Devil's Backbone [The Criterion Collection Blu-ray]: $19.98 (Was $39.95)
• Videodrome [The Criterion Collection Blu-ray]: $19.99 (Was 39.95)
• Don’t Look Now [The Criterion Collection Blu-ray]: $19.98 (Was 39.95)
• Star Trek [10-Movie Stardate Collection Blu-ray + Digital]: $39.49 (Was $55.99)
• Terminator [6-Film Collection Blu-ray]: $24.49 (Was $44.99)
• Akira [Blu-ray/DVD Combo]: $11.99 (Was $34.98)
• The Night of the Hunter [Blu-ray]: $24.98 (Was $49.95)
• Häxan [The Criterion Collection Blu-ray]: $19.98 (Was $39.95)

Just because Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales necessarily have to end, that doesn't mean other new deals and offers won't be there to take their places, so be sure to keep checking back in with CinemaBlend for maximum entertainment that doesn't result in empty wallets.

Anyone who just can't justify buying up more Blu-rays or DVDs should definitely check out the latest Roku Black Friday deal, as well as Amazon's best Fire Stick deal.

Of all the upcoming Marvel movies, there’s one that’s arguably been gestating longer than the others. The Blade reboot – starring Mahershala Ali – was announced in July 2019 and, since then, the project has been hit with various delays for one reason or another. A number of fans have been eager for updates on the Daywalker’s next solo film, and producer Kevin Feige just provided an update. Some people who read the exec’s sentiments may be left wanting more, though I honestly appreciate the comments he shared.

What Did Kevin Feige Have To Say About The Blade Movie?

The head of the Disney-owned Marvel Studios was present at the company’s D23 Brazil expo this weekend, during which he showed off some of his company’s upcoming productions. Amid the festivities, he also took some time to speak with Brazilian outlet Omelete, with which he shared details on his company’s release schedule for TV shows and movies, Miles Morales and more. When the seemingly troubled vampiric superhero movie was mentioned, the filmmaker was diplomatic, conveying his dedication to the film and its star:

This Marvel Cinematic Universe film’s road to the big screen has definitely been long. After it was announced in 2019, Bassam Tariq was hired as director around September 2021. The reboot would later receive a new director in the form of Yann Demange, who was hired in November 2022 after Tariq exited the project due to scheduling issues. But, in June 2024, Demange left, marking another setback for the film. All the while, various writers – from Watchmen’s Stacy Osei-Kuffour to Black Widow’s Eric Pearson – have been brought in.

Despite all of that, Kevin Feige seems to be staying upbeat in regard to the movie’s development. Yes, someone could definitely argue that he’s merely being a good executive trying to keep fans’ hopes alive, and that’s certainly valid. However, I’m not disappointed in what he said.

Why Do I Appreciate This Latest Blade Update?

Anyone who’s followed Marvel Studios over the years knows that the company does indeed make an effort to keep fans up to date on what they’re cooking up. They definitely did that in a big way this past summer when announcing that the fifth Avengers film had been retitled Doomsday and that Robert Downey Jr. would return to the MCU in the role of Doctor Doom. While updates may not come as quickly as we desire them, I truly believe Marvel would and will inform the public if there's a major change with Blade, which is currently not on Disney’s company-wide release schedule.

On top of that, Kevin Feige has more than proven himself to be a fan, so I believe he’s devoted to making this movie happen. I may come off as a naive optimist in this case, which is fair, but I’m willing to give Feige, Mahershala Ali and co. the benefit of the doubt. I mean, given that they’ve stuck with the production this long, they must see the potential of it. And, let’s be honest, if they succeed, the House of Mouse could have a top-tier horror-action franchise on its hands.

While you wait for news on the movie, stream the original Blade movies, which star Wesley Snipes. You can also see Snipes reprise his role as the character in Deadpool & Wolverine, which will be available to stream with a Disney+ subscription starting on November 12.

It’s kind of crazy how the rundown of upcoming 2025 movies has changed for the MCU. As Blade has been delayed yet again, the long in development reboot starring Mahershala Ali feels like it’s never going to happen at this point. At least, that’s how some may have taken the news before a new, and very promising Marvel rumor surfaced in the wake of that news. Apparently, there may be a very good explanation for why the Daywalker’s return has been postponed, and it could be huge for fans of horror in the MCU.

Another Marvel Project May Be Behind Blade’s Removal From The 2025 Schedule

Per rumblings coming from internet scooper Daniel Richtman (via ComicBookMovie), Blade may have been shelved for the moment to make way for another project that’s been whispered about with recent intensity. That potential film is, of course, the team-up adventure Midnight Sons, which is apparently being “fast-tracked” and already hunting for a director to head up the project.

What makes this rumor even more interesting is that there have been some other clues to why this sort of scheduling switcheroo may have happened in the first place. During the Deadpool & Wolverine press tour, own Sean O’Connell was on hand to grab Kevin Feige’s recent update on Blade , which stated that “Sometimes you need that magic thing that falls into place.” It wouldn’t be a total surprise for Midnight Sons to be that speculated “magic thing,” as this isn’t the first we’ve heard of the production.

Another Daniel Richtman scoop (via ComicBook.com) alleged that Fantastic Four: First Steps composer Michael Giacchino was in the running for helming duties. That would make absolute sense considering his success with the Marvel horror special Werewolf by Night, as well as his prior experience with the MCU machinery as a frequent musical contributor. Speaking of which, the existence of that project brings up another huge point as to why Midnight Sons could be just the thing to set up Blade for future success.

Why Midnight Sons Could Be Huge For Fans Of MCU Horror

The Midnight Sons crew has been known to be composed of Marvel horror icons like Moon Knight, Doctor Strange, and Blade, all serving as a supernatural flavored fighting force. In other words, it’s basically the MCU’s Justice League Dark, with a collection of darker themed superheroes who are just waiting to get into mischief you might not find in a PG-13 movie.

Seeing as Blade already has an R-rating, and Deadpool & Wolverine turned that former no-go into a record breaking path for the future, a more mature skewing storyline could take center stage. Serving audience members who’ve been more into Terrifier than Ant-Man in recent years, the bloodletting and F-bombs could fly freely, and potentially even make for a Halloween tradition the MCU can earmark on its annual calendar.

What’s more, some of the projects that seem like loose threads in Marvel Studios’ past can finally pay off. This is where Michael Giacchino’s directing experience would once again come in handy, as this picture could become the potential Werewolf by Night follow-up we’ve all been dreaming of. Also, Oscar Isaac’s wishes to return to Moon Knight make for another promising building block for a frightful future in Marvel’s cinematic canon.

Though the Marvel Cinematic Universe is known for mixing it up with its team rosters, the Midnight Sons already has some promising figures established to form its foundation. And as the report cited above noted, Mahershala Ali could make an effective entrance with his Blade that’d be similar to that of Chadwick Boseman’s Marvel debut in Captain America: Civil War.

It a hypothesis that'd most likely help in jump starting Eric Cross Brooks' big screen resurgence. A fresh perspective via a starter adventure could cut through the slog of numerous script revisions that have taken place, as well as revive interest in other Marvel Studios properties that haven't seen much love as of late.

At the moment, this is of course all rumored, with no confirmations except for the fact that Blade is no longer on the 2025 release schedule. To keep up with what future four-paneled fun is heading down the line, check out the upcoming Marvel movies guide we have on hand! And as always, if you want to revisit the MCU’s finest entries, with or without a side of scares, a Disney+ subscription will grant you access to most of the titles in that ever-extending lineup.

During Marvel Studio’s Hall H panel at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con, it was announced that Mahershala Ali would play Blade in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Five years later, the Blade reboot continues to be plagued with setbacks and behind-the-scenes issues, and until today, the plan had been for the upcoming Marvel movie to be released in November 2025. That’s no longer happening, but what’s bad news for Marvel fans is good news for those of you who like the Predator franchise.

A new wave of updates has come in regarding release dates for upcoming Disney movies, and among them is Blade being removed from the November 7, 2025 slot and being replaced by Predator: Badlands. Considering that Blade would have needed to be filming now, if not finished with principal photography, in order to make that November date, this move is hardly surprising. Badlands, on the other hand, began filming in late August in New Zealand, so it taking over that slot makes complete sense.

So rather than give Blade yet another date, Disney has opted to remove it from its schedule entirely. This news comes three months after Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige that the creative minds at the company were still trying to “crack” the movie, and that it was important to make sure that the script writing process wasn’t being rushed. Feige also told our own Sean O’Connell that “sometimes you need that magic thing that falls into place.”

Meanwhile, Predator: Badlands will bring the Predator franchise back to the big screen following the streaming-exclusive release of the prequel Prey, which can be accessed with a Hulu subscription. Elle Fanning, who will next be seen in the 2024 movie release A Complete Unknown, is playing the lead role, and Prey’s Dan Trachtenberg will reprise his helming duties for this sixth installment in the franchise; eight if you count the Alien vs. Predator movies. No official plot details have been disclosed yet.

So things are looking good for Predator fans a little over a year from now, but those who are eager to see Mahershala Ali bring Blade to life following Wesley Snipes’ time with the character (including in Deadpool & Wolverine) will have to keep waiting for that indefinitely. Frankly, with all the obstacles the Blade reboot has faced, I worry that this project will end up going the way of Inhumans, which was once supposed to follow the fourth Avengers movie, but was ultimately scrapped and later adapted into a critically-panned TV series. If that happens with Blade, then all we’ll get from Ali in the MCU is his vocal cameo in Eternals.

At least MCU enthusiasts don’t need to worry about being devoid of any movies in 2025, as Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps are all slated between next February and July. You’re also welcome to use your Disney+ subscription to revisit almost the entirety of the MCU continuity.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is always growing, both in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. And there are a number of upcoming Marvel movies which fans have been waiting on information about, leading to rumors online. One of those projects is Mahershala Ali's Blade movie, and after rumors swirled, The Harder They Fall’s director weighed in on the speculation.

What we know about Blade is limited, especially since the developing blockbuster has been delayed so many times. Fans are curious if its still going to happen, or the studio will scrap its plans altogether. Filmmaker Jeymes Samuel aka The Bullitts herd chatter about him directing the project, and took to Twitter to set the record stright. As he put it:

There you have it. It sounds like you can count Samuel out as director of the new Blade movie. Exactly who is behind the camera is a mystery, but the studio will have to move forward quickly with development if the movie is going to arrive in theaters in November of 2025 as currently planned. We'll just have to wait for information.

While Kevin Feige is still optimistic about Blade, fans have been a bit worried about the project for some time. The movie has lost multiple directors, which definitely gave fans reason to pause. And while Eternals' credits scene briefly featured Mahershala Ali's voice as Blade, there's no plans for that story to continue with a sequel. So exactly how/when the vampiric hero will get his big debut is a mystery at the time being.

One big question mark is how invested audiences are going to be with a new Blade. Fans who have spent years watching the Marvel movies in order remember Wesley Snipes' trilogy of movies, and the actor recently reprised his role in epic fashion during Deadpool & Wolverine. I have to wonder if having Snipes back in the role will hurt or help the new Blade movie, which will feature Mahershala Ali taking on the mantle.

While Jeymes Samuel shut down rumors about directing Blade for the MCU, it's still unclear exactly who will be behind the camera for the film. But Kevin Feige and company will presumably have to ink a deal with a filmmaker soon.

Blade is currently expected to arrive in theaters on November 7th, 2025. For now, check out the 2025 movie release dates to plan your trips to the movies in the New Year.

Even though Wesley Snipes and Kris Kristofferson’s collaboration on the Blade movies predates the 2024 movie schedule by a healthy margin, the pairing is still an iconic part of comic history. Upcoming Marvel movies will have to live up to the duo that were once Blade and Whistler, and the world was reminded of that fact in a bittersweet fashion, thanks to Kristofferson’s passing this past weekend, at age 88.

That event has prompted Snipes to pay sweet tribute to his previous co-star, and the Deadpool & Wolverine star did so by sharing some photos of himself and Kris Kristofferson in the New Line Cinema saga of comic adaptations. With those images came a beautiful caption addressing the family of the country music star/actor, per this post made by Wesley Snipes on social media:

Sharing the wisdom that Kristofferson shared with him in life, Mr. Snipes’ post is a firm reminder of just how far spanning his Blade mentor’s legacy stretched. With an acting career that included and inspired some great country music movies, the Texas-born musician crossed genre borders throughout his career on the silver screen.

Some notable entries in Mr. Kristofferson's cinematic resume include the 1976 version of A Star is Born, which co-starred Barbara Streisand, as well as the action-comedy Convoy and the sci-fi thriller Millennium. And that's all on top of continuing his work as a country singer, up until his retirement in 2001.

Both Marvel and horror fans would see Kris Kristofferson burst into the comic movie world in 1998, as Blade used a comic book adaptation to become one of the best ‘90s movies ever. Playing that role until 2004’s Blade: Trinity, there hasn’t been another Whistler yet, making the job of Marvel’s upcoming Blade reboot all the harder.

As this summer’s Deadpool & Wolverine saw Wesley Snipes’ MCU character record eclipse that of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, this means that technically the same can be said for Kris Kristofferson’s Whistler. It’s a shame that we couldn’t get one more appearance from the legendary acting and singing talent who knew how to charm and threaten his co-stars in equal measure.

Here’s hoping that the next Whistler in the Blade legacy will make for a fitting mentor for Mahershala Ali’s titular MCU badass. The bar may be set high by Mr. Kristofferson’s perfect performance, but the right actor could meet that challenge in the near future. And if the upcoming 2025 movie's current release date manages to stay in place, we could see such efforts arrive at the movies sooner than later.

Much as Wesley Snipes is fondly remembered as the original Blade to rule them all, Kris Kristofferson is equally well regarded as Whistler, and will be for as long as movie history continues. We here at CinemaBlend would also like to offer our deepest condolences to Mr. Kristofferson's friends and family as they navigate this time of memory and grief.

To say that Deadpool & Wolverine has been successful would be an understatement. The latest Marvel flick has not only raked in the cash, but it’s also broken a few records in the process. For instance, it now stands as the highest grossing R-rated film of all time. Additionally, there’s another intriguing record that the behemoth of a blockbuster managed to earn, and not too many people seem to be chatting about it. Said achievement involves two of the movie’s key cast members – Wesley Snipes and Hugh Jackman.

Fans were ecstatic when learning that Wesley Snipes reprised his role as Eric Brooks amid the other major character appearances in D&W. The seasoned actor’s return as the iconic vampire hunter also earned him a significant distinction. With his latest turn as the comic book mainstay, Snipes now stands as the longest-tenured actor to play a Marvel character in the live-action realm. Snipes has now officially been playing the role for over 26 years and that puts him over Hugh Jackman’s record, which is 24 years.

It’s honestly hard to believe that it’s been nearly 30 decades since the White Men Can't Jump alum first donned those faux fangs. The legacy of the Blade movies (which are streaming) has remained strong and has arguably been bolstered by Deadpool & Wolverine. The Daywalker actor himself is also aware of his newly notched record and took to X to react to Guinness World Records’ write-up on the accomplishment:

As a fan, I’d argue that Wesley Snipes more than deserves this moment, as he was at the forefront of the modern Marvel movie craze. It could certainly be argued that if the original film in his horror/action franchise hadn’t hit the way it did in 1998, Marvel Entertainment may not have been so keen on making more theatrical productions. So I’m truly thankful that everything worked out accordingly and that Snipes is receiving his flowers today.

One of the reasons that people may not be talking about this record now so much is that the discussion has turned to what could lie ahead for the character’s future. It’s widely known that Marvel Studios’ long-gestating Blade reboot with Mahershala Ali is still in the works, and it has support from Wesley Snipes. However, after Deadpool & Wolverine, some are wondering if there’s more that can be done with Snipes’ iteration of the character. Ryan Reynolds even pitched an idea while hyping up Snipes for his latest turn as Brooks.

It’s hard to say whether any of that will actually come to fruition, especially considering the plans for the aforementioned franchise revamp. But even if the Coming 2 America alum isn’t able to build on his already-impressive record with another movie, he still has a lot to celebrate. He not only reprised his role and landed a record from the amiable Hugh Jackman, but he also gave a truly memorable performance in D&W.

You can still check out Wesley Snipes’ return as Blade now by heading out to see Deadpool & Wolverine in theaters. Aside from keeping tabs on the 2024 movie schedule, be sure that you continue to check the schedule of upcoming Marvel movies – on the off chance that another movie starring Snipes is greenlit.

Fans who have spent years watching the Marvel movies in order definitely noticed Deadpool & Wolverine's wild success, especially after a number of MCU missteps. The movie featured a number of exciting cameos, including the return of Wesley Snipes as Blade. Ryan Reynolds recently shared images of Snipes in Deadpool 3, and I’m sold on his idea for bringing him back for one more movie.

Deadpool & Wolverine's cast list included a number of familiar faces from 20th Century Fox's superhero projects, and Wesley Snipes' return as Blade thrilled fans. Reynolds shared some set photos and official images of Snipes on Instagram, as well as a killer idea for him to return: an emotional sendoff ala Logan. Check it out below:

Honestly, take my money. Snipes went the extra mile for Deadpool 3, making him the actor who has played a superhero for the longest time. And Ryan Reynolds had the brilliant idea of giving him an opportunity to take one final bow in the character. We'll just have to wait and see if the powers that be at Marvel take his advice.

Logan (which is streaming with a Disney+ subscription) was originally meant to be Hugh Jackman's final bow as Wolverine. Logan's ending offered an emotionally satisfying conclusion, where the title character sacrificed himself to save Dafne Keen's Laura/X-23. And it would be awesome to see Wesley Snipes get the same type of sendoff with another Blade movie.

Of course, there is something standing in the way of Wesley Snipes getting his own Logan-style sendoff to the vampiric hero. Namely the MCU's developing Blade movie, which will star Mahershala Ali as the title character. While that project has faced a number of delays over the years, the studio is seemingly still committed to bringing it to theaters. And as such, Kevin Feige and company might not be down to produce another Snipes Blade.

The MCU's Blade being in development is a big reason why Wesley Snipes' cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine was so shocking for folks in theaters. Although after seeing him alongside beloved returning characters like Jennifer Garner's Elektra, Ryan Reynolds' idea for a Logan-style finale movie sounds pretty incredible.

While Mahershala Ali hasn't physically shown up in the MCU yet, he was cast a number of years ago. His voice as Blade was briefly heard during the Eternals credits scene, where he was heard speaking to Kit Harington's Dane Whitman. Unfortunately, there's no plans for Eternals to get a sequel, and Blade has been stuck in development hell for yers.

Given the many years that Wesley Snipes played Blade, I do think it would be nice to see him get the Logan treatment for one more movie. Maybe it could even serve as a passing of the baton to Mahershala Ali? While we keep our fingers crossed, check the 2025 movie release dates.

Deadpool and Wolverine was released as part of the 2024 movie schedule, and it has taken over the world. Not only was Deadpool & Wolverine kings of the box office, but it also received good reviews from critics and had guests everywhere gasping and cheering for certain cameos that popped up on the screen.

And obviously, I was one of those people. Well, maybe not all the cameos—I did know some of the Deadpool and Wolverine cameos beforehand, but for a lot of them, I found myself chuckling and… actually enjoying them. In fact, I think the ridiculous amount in this film somehow worked.

Obviously SPOILERS for Deadpool & Wolverine are down below!

Many Of The Cameos Made Sense To The Story

The reason I tend not to like cameos that much is because they usually mean so little to the plot. Really, the only time I enjoyed cameos have been all those Stan Lee cameos in the Marvel films, but he was one of Marvel's main creative minds, so he's allowed to have that.

I'm just not a big fan of most other MCU cameos—and cameos in general. They're usually just there to make the audience go, "Oh wow! I know that person! They're hilarious!" And then we'll forget about them ten seconds later as we wait for the rest of the plot to develop.

That's why I tend to stick to more dramatic films or the best horror movies because the chances of there being a cameo are usually slim to none. However, I found myself really loving the cameos in Deadpool & Wolverine, and it's because they just made sense to the story.

A lot of the time, cameos are just shoved into movies with no genuine regard to the plot, but every one of these appearances in Deadpool & Wolverine was actually brilliantly done. From Hunter B-15 who appeared towards the end of the movie, to even including Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan (instead of the typical Samuel L. Jackson cameo we would usually get), everything felt like it had a spot, a place and a part in the story, even if they were only there for a few scenes. That's what I liked the most.

I Hadn't Expected Much From Elektra, Laura Or Blade, But They Surprised Me

I knew long ago that Jennifer Garner would be back as Elektra. I actually wrote an article about how I watched 2003's Daredevil and the spinoff and how much I enjoyed her character. So I was eager to see what they would do with her cameo and how much of the movie she would be involved in.

What I didn't expect was for her to be teaming up with Laura (X-23) from Logan, freaking Blade from Blade and Channing Tatum as Gambit – the character he never got to play during the Fox era. I sat in that theater watching all these people walk in like they were the epitome of badass, and you know what? They were!

I was nervous... so nervous that I didn't know if they would be there for just one scene and then stripped from my existence for the rest of my life. But thankfully, these supposed cameos basically turned into supporting roles. They weren't just there for people to go, "I remember Wesley Snipes as Blade!" Nah, we saw this man take down so many bad guys, and I was here for it.

You see, when cameos like this, hidden from the rest of the world, are used in such a great way, that's what makes them fantastic. I loved every second of it—even if at first I didn't realize who Tatum was, but a little Google search helped me afterward.

Even The Sheer Amount Of Deadpool Variants Didn't Shock Me As Much As Normal

One of the most significant moments of Deadpool & Wolverine is when the title duo are fighting through a ridiculous number of Deadpool variants who all come from the Void to fight them (thanks to Cassandra). And yes, this scene is littered with cameos.

Blake Lively (Ryan Reynolds' real-life wife) voices Lady Deadpool, Nathan Fillion is the voice of Headpool, and Matthew McConaughey is the voice of Cowboypool. Heck, even Reynolds' kids play Babypool and Kidpool, and most only have a few lines.

But they didn't feel forced. Nothing felt unnecessary, and it wasn't like they suddenly took off their masks and revealed to the world, "Haha, it's me! Bet you didn't know." All it took was hearing their voices, and we just knew. And if you didn't, well, you'd find out in the credits.

I love cameos like that, where you blink twice and miss it, but then you realize later how much it means to the actual story. I could go for more of those.

I Even Liked The Inclusion Of Chris Evans As Human Torch – Even If I Miss Him As Cap

I could talk for hours about how much I loved Chris Evans in the MCU and how much I miss him as Captain America – even though I am fully on board with Sam Wilson as the next Cap and can't freaking wait for the upcoming Captain America: Brave New World.

I also had a feeling he would show up, but I didn't really believe it until I saw Evans standing there, looking… a little less than buff from his time as Captain America. At first, I was expecting him to get a shield, but when he said, "Flame on!" as the Human Torch from the Fantastic Four films, I just about screamed. Of course Evan’s role in Deadpool & Wolverine was The Human Torch!

See, that is an effective cameo. Not only does it subvert the audience's expectations, but he is an essential part of the story for a few scenes. He wasn't just there and gone. He stuck around and had a few hilarious moments – and we got to see him curse so much in the Deadpool & Wolverine post-credit scene that I was crying laughing.

The Cameos, While Plentiful, Didn't Just Feel Shoved In The Film For Giggles

I suppose what I'm trying to say is that the cameos, while plentiful, weren't as bad as I thought they would be. I go into a lot of MCU films now cautiously because I'm not sure what I'm going to get and if cameos will just randomly be there, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Heck, even the surprise inclusion of Henry Cavill as a random Wolverine variant felt helpful because I can't tell you how often I've seen people picture him as Wolverine now that he's not Superman anymore. I was getting a kick out of it!

Overall, as a Deadpool lover, some things bothered me with Deadpool & Wolverine, even though I enjoyed the movie overall. Surprisingly, the cameos were not one of them, and I have a feeling from the audience reactions that this was the case for many, many viewers. MCU, take notes—this is how you do cameos.

Maybe we'll be seeing more cameos like this in all those upcoming Marvel movies, or maybe we just got lucky with this one. Either way, it makes me excited for what Marvel has coming out—and maybe we just might get to see Deadpool as an Avenger. That would be a riot!

Spoiler alert for Deadpool & Wolverine.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is always expanding in theaters and streaming for those with a Disney+ subscription, but certain projects stand out as fan favorites. Case in point: Deadpool & Wolverine, which has gone great in theaters and honored 20th Century Fox for those who spent years watching the Marvel movies in order. The movie featured a ton of shocking cameos, including Wesley Snipes' return as Blade. He thought he was done with the character, until he got a call from Ryan Reynolds.

The cast list of Deadpool 3 was filled with surprise cameos, which made for a delightful moviegoing experience. That includes the return of Jennifer Garner's Elektra, Channing Tatum's debut as Gambit, as well as Dafne Keen's X-23 and Wesley Snipes' Blade. The latter spoke to EW about his return as vampiric hero about how surprised he was to finally play that role again. He offered some background, saying:

Points were made. Leading a superhero trilogy is quite the accomplishment, especially when you acknowledge that the Blade movies were produced prior to shared universes like the MCU and DCU factored into studios' plans. So Snipes could have left that character behind knowing he definitely crushed the job at hand.

The likelihood of Snipes reprising his signature role felt even more slim once actor Mahershal Ali was cast as the MCU's Blade. Snipes has maintained he's the real Blade, and he even got to say as much during the runtime of Deadpool & Wolverine. During that same interview, he explained what it was like getting the call from Ryan Reynolds about the MCU threequel, offering:

Snipes once again crushed it as Blade, which was a nostalgic treat for fans of his trilogy. Luckily the third installment Blade: Trilogy included Ryan Reynolds, which likely helped to make this deal for his return happen.

In many ways Shawn Levy's acclaimed threequel felt like it was paying respect to all the work that came at 20th Century Fox prior to Disney's acquisition of the studio and its properties. Aside from all the cameos, Deadpool & Wolverine's credits also included BTS footage from projects like Blade, X-Men, Daredevil, and more.

Deadpool & Wolverine is in theaters now. Be sure to check out the 2025 movie release dates.

SPOILER WARNING: The following article will straight-up ruin just about all of the best cameos in the threequel, so if you have not seen the movie, maybe hop over to our Deadpool & Wolverine review and avoid spoiling yourself. 

For some fans, epic and even funny superhero movie cameos are the best part of any comic book flick. The new superhero movie Deadpool & Wolverine has them by the crapload thanks to a script that takes full advantage of the MCU’s recent experimentation with multiverse travel and allows Ryan Reynolds’ Merc with a Mouth and Hugh Jackman’s X-Man to interact with both new Marvel movie characters and favorites from the 20th Century Fox era. 

In case there are any character or celebrity sightings that slipped past you or went over your head, I will we cover the most crucial examples later in this article. However, first, I will take a closer look at the Deadpool & Wolverine cameos that made the most jaw-dropping impact to the Marvel timeline. You're welcome.

Deadpool & Wolverine's Biggest Cameos

Jon Favreau As Happy Hogan

Early on in Deadpool & Wolverine, we see a 2018-era Wade Wilson seeking a chance to become part of the Avengers in a meeting with Happy Hogan (Iron Man director Jon Favreau). Things do not go in the Merc’s favor, however, when Tony Stark’s former right-hand man points out that his request to join the world’s greatest heroes is more self-serving and should be selfless.

Henry Cavill As The Cavillrine

Deadpool’s search for a variant of Logan who could save his dying timeline brings him face to face with several unique versions of the adamantium-clawed mutant, who are all played by Jackman, of course… except for one. Previous rumors of Henry Cavill playing a Wolverine variant proved to be true, with the former Superman actor appearing extra bulky in the role of, as Deadpool dubs him “the Cavillrine.”

Chris Evans As Johnny Storm

Chris Evans’ cameo just might be the most surprising of all because we — and Deadpool — assume we are seeing his return as Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America. That is, until he shouts “Flame on!”, reveals his Fantastic Four outfit and confirms he is reprising his first Marvel movie character, Johnny Storm, a.k.a The Human Torch. Sadly, the reprisal also proves brief after Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin) takes his skin off for talking shit, which Deadpool proves was not his fault in Deadpool & Wolverine’s end-credits scene.

Aaron Stanford As Pyro

Johnny Storm is unable to defend himself after his incendiary abilities are absorbed by one of Cassandra’s lead henchpeople, Pyro. Aaron Stanford returns to play the fire-manipulating mutant whom he first portrayed in one of the best X-Men movies, X2: X-Men United.

Tyler Mane As Sabretooth

After playing Victor “Sabretooth” Creed in 2000’s X-Men, Tyler Mane was replaced in  X-Men Origins: Wolverine — which more deeply explored his and Logan’s relationship as brothers — with Liev Schreiber. For Deadpool & Wolverine, the former professional wrestler got to put the fangs back on for another, overdue showdown with Jackman’s Wolverine that sees him lose his head… literally.

Toad

Another X-Men movies alum serving Cassandra’s will is Toad, named for his inhumanly long tongue, who is portrayed by an unidentified actor this time. Had Ray Park reprised the character, that could have given Deadpool a perfect opportunity to poke fun at the actor’s more iconic role: Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.

Juggernaut

Another Fox-era Marvel version of an X-Men character showing up as a Nova henchperson is Juggernaut, whose helmet proves to be a vital instrument in helping Deadpool and Wolverine escape The Void. Vinnie Jones, who previously played the mutant in 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand, does not reprise the role here, but it was a fun callback, even if Reynolds previously voiced a CGI Juggernaut in Deadpool 2.

Jennifer Garner As Elektra

Deadpool and Wolverine eventually cross paths with another group of Fox-era Marvel movie characters, including Elektra Natchios, played by the already-confirmed Jennifer Garner. The actor previously portrayed the assassin in 2003’s Daredevil opposite her future ex-husband, Ben Affleck, in the title role — whose absence is mentioned in a cheeky bit — and in her own self-titled spinoff from 2005.

Wesley Snipes As Blade

Also part of Elektra’s group is Wesley Snipes as the title role from the original Blade movies, which — despite rumors Snipes would appear — was also quite a surprise, considering Reynolds told IGN there was tension between them on the Blade: Trinity set. The film also sees Snipes reference Marvel’s upcoming Blade reboot with Mahershala Ali by toutin himself as the one and only Blade there will ever be.

Channing Tatum As Gambit

Years ago, Fox attempted a movie starring Channing Tatum as X-Men character Remy LaBeau, a.k.a. Gambit, that never made it out of development hell. However, Tatum would finally portray the mutant card shark in a hilarious Deadpool & Wolverine appearance that sees him don a sometimes indecipherable Cajun accent.

Dafne Keen As Laura/X-23

Perhaps the one cameo with the most emotional heft is Dafne Keen, reprising her role from 2017’s Logan as Laura, otherwise known X-23, who is a young, clawed woman made from Logan’s DNA. She helps encourage the disillusioned mutant to step up and be the hero he failed to be in his own timeline.

Wunmi Mosaku As Hunter B-15

Outside of Happy Hogan, the one other major MCU character to appear in Deadpool & Wolverine is Hunter B-15, played by Wunmi Mosaku. It is nice to see her in her fully-fledged position as the leader of TVA, who thanks Wade and Logan for their help saving the Marvel Multiverse.

Deadpool & Wolverine Cameos You Might Have Missed

Psylocke

Another one of the classic X-Men movie characters employed by Cassandra in The Void is Psylocke, who is seen mostly in the background. In fact, we are not even sure who portrayed the telekinetic mutant, but we are pretty sure it was neither Mei Mleançon from X-Men: The Last Stand, nor Olivia Munn from X-Men: Apocalypse.

Lady Deathstrike

We are also not sure who dons the retractable fingernails to play Lady Deathstrike in Deadpool & Wolverine, but it does not appear to be X2’s Kelly Hu. Perhaps this version of the mutant is different from the one Logan killed in that film.

Blake Lively As Lady Deadpool

There were plenty of rumors about who would play Lady Deadpool, including Taylor Swift and Blake Lively. The latter turned out to be true and was confirmed in the film’s credits, but a part of us wishes we could have seen Reynolds’ real-life spouse in the Lady Deadpool suit rather than just voice her.

Matthew McConaughey As Cowboy Deadpool

We also never got to see who played a Western version of the Merc known as Cowboy Deadpool. However, audiences who listened closely enough to his few lines might have been able to recognize the voice of Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey.

Nathan Fillion As Headpool

Nathan Fillion can now add a third name to the list of multiple MCU characters he has played, following “Monstrous Inmate” and Karja in the first and third Guardians of the Galaxy movies, respectively. The former Firefly cast member voices Headpool, which also marks the second time he has played a disembodied head, following his role on Santa Clarita Diet.

Inez Reynolds As Kidpool

A younger, but still equally foul-mouthed variant of Wade Wilson known as Kidpool has a very close connection to Reynolds and Lively. She is played by the power couple’s oldest daughter, Inez.

Paul Mullin As Welshpool

Eagle-eyed viewers may have noticed a Deadpool variant bearing the flag of Wales on his outfit. This one is called Welshpool and, as Reynolds confirmed on X, he is played by Paul Mullin — a professional footballer from the Wrexham AFC, which is owned by Reynolds and Rob McElhenny.

We can’t remember the last time a great superhero movie blew us away with so many insane cameos like this. Catch Deadpool & Wolverine in theaters now!

Those of us who have spent years watching the Marvel movies in order know that the shared universe is always expanding, both in theaters and streaming with a Disney+ subscription. The next upcoming Marvel movie hitting theaters is Shawn Levy's Deadpool & Wolverine, and excitement is at a fever pitch. But there are also a few announced projects that are stuck in development, including Mahershala Ali's Blade movie. While speaking with CinemaBlend, Kevin Feige linked Marvel’s ongoing Blade delays to the current success of Deadpool, and his reasoning makes so much sense.

What we know about Blade is super limited, but the project has already faced years of delays. Kevin Feige previously said they were still trying to "crack" the movie, as well as land a new director. While some fans are getting frustrated, Feige recently spoke to CinemaBlend's Sean O'Connell about the wait, and linked it to Deadpool & Wolverine. As he put it:

Some serious points were made during CinemaBlend's interview with Feige about Deadpool & Wolverine. Like Blade, the development process for Deadpool 3 was a very long one, taking years after Disney acquired 20th Century Fox and its properties. Ultimately Hugh Jackman's return as Wolverine is what helped to put a fire under the blockbuster, and Feige is seemingly waiting for another linchpin creative choice for Mahershala Ali's debut as Blade.

While we wait for Marvel Studios to reveal more about what's happening with the reboot, some fans are figuring out how to watch Wesley Snipes' Blade movies on streaming. Those movies have aged quite well, especially as they came so long before shared universes and comic book flicks became commonplace. And as such, there are very big shoes to fill when bringing the vampiric hero to the MCU.

Feige's comments to CinemaBlend specifically reference the fact that an actor like Mahershala Ali is at the center of Blade, which adds extra pressure to get it right. He continues the line of Oscar-winning Marvel actors, and Kevin Feige seemingly wants to make sure that he's got the right material to shine. After all, the movie could be the start of a long tenure in the MCU for Ali, who was previously heard in Eternals' credits scene.

Blade is currently expected to arrive in theater on November 7th, 2025, so the movie is going to have to pick up speed if it's not going to be delayed again. In the meantime, check out the 2025 movie release dates.

Marvel Cinematic Universe fans were delighted back in 2019 when Marvel Studios revealed at San Diego Comic-Con that a Blade reboot with Mahershala Ali was in the works. Since then, a number of updates on the production have been reported but, unfortunately, not all of them have been positive. The highly anticipated upcoming superhero movie has seen its fair share of setbacks over the past several years, much to fans’ disappointment. Now, producer Kevin Feige has provided an update on the movie and, to be honest, I’m feeling somewhat more hopeful about the vampire flick. 

Rumors and reports have been swirling around the Daywalker’s MCU debut for years now, and fans have been eager for concrete answers. So it really isn’t all that surprising that Kevin Feige, the head of Marvel Studios, was asked about the project’s status while being interviewed by BlackTree TV. Feige, who was promoting his studio’s latest cinematic effort – Deadpool & Wolverine – at the time, didn’t go into specifics about where production currently stands. However, his sentiments (which can be checked out on YouTube) did seem to convey that he and his colleagues are taking this long-gestating project very seriously: 

After the Mahershala Ali-led film was announced nearly five years ago, it was reported that Bassam Tariq had been hired to direct in September 2021. Tariq departed the production in September 2022, though the reboot landed a new director in Yann Demange by that  November. However, the Marvel-produced reboot hit another setback when Demange parted ways with the project this past June. All the while, a revolving door of writers – like Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Beau DeMayo and Nic Pizzolatto – were attached to the movie at different points in time. So, needless to say, this film’s road to the big screen has been tough.

The wait for Mahershala Ali’s MCU superhero likely hasn’t been easy for a number of people, but these sentiments from Kevin Feige are somewhat comforting for me. Feige’s comments indicate to me that he and his team are committed to making this upcoming Marvel movie the best that it can be. I’d argue that it’s best for the creative team to take their time instead of rushing out a movie that doesn’t hold a candle to the original Blade movies, which are streamable and available for purchase on various platforms. 

People should also remember that this is far from the first superhero flick from the Disney-owned studio to remain in development for an extended period of time. Work on Doctor Strange commenced in earnest in 2009, with the writers being hired in 2010 – and that film ultimately didn’t hit theaters until 2016. The highly successful Black Panther, which opened in 2018, had also been in the works since the mid-2000s. One could argue that the situation with the MCU’s supernatural thriller is a bit different, given a star has been attached as well as multiple directors. But the main takeaway here should be that good films take time to make.

As it stands, a new Blade director has yet to be announced, and Eric Pearson (who’s written Thor: Ragnarok, Black Widow, Thunderbolts and more MCU fare) is rewriting the screenplay. Mahershala Ali and Mia Goth also remain the other two stars still attached to the project. There are definitely still plenty of elements that must be resolved when it comes to this movie, but I remain confident that the finished motion picture will be well worth the wait.

In the meantime, stream the Marvel movies in order using a Disney+ subscription. You can also see the latest entry in the Multiverse Saga, Deadpool & Wolverine, which  opens in theaters on July 26 and is one of the marquee titles on the 2024 movie schedule.

In 2019, Kevin Feige announced to the world at San Diego Comic-Con that Mahershala Ali would play Blade in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and then the actor joined the Marvel Studios president on the Hall H stage. Five years later, we know that Blade remains on upcoming Marvel movies schedule, but its numerous behind-the-scenes issues have kept it languishing in development hell, the latest setback being the departure of director Yann Demange. The wait continues for a new director to come aboard and for production to finally begin, but in the meantime, some scrapped story details for the Marvel reboot have been revealed that I wish hasn’t been tossed aside.

In a report details the reasoning behind Demange’s exit and how Ali has “exercised an inordinate amount of influence” over the project when it comes to picking directors and writers, THR mentions that when Blade was expected to begin filming in summer 2023, the story was set in the 1920s and starred Pearl’s Mia Goth as Lilith, a vampire villain introduced to the comics in 1974’s Giant-Size Chillers Featuring The Curse of Dracula #1 who was trying to get the blood of Blade’s daughter in this feature. Another “iteration” of Blade, specifically from when Bassam Tariq was attached to direct, Marvel built a “massive train set,” but it was never used, though the publication mentioned a different Disney project could incorporate it.

Although I’m not a fan of scary stories and don’t keep an eye on the upcoming horror movies, since I’m an MCU fan, I have to be invested in Blade to some degree or another. But when you tell me we could have seen Mahershala Ali’s Blade, a.k.a. Eric Brooks, slicing down vampires in the 1920s, my interest kicks up a notch. The MCU has played around with period pieces before, like Captain America: The First Avenger taking place during World War II and Captain Marvel being set in 1995, so having Blade take place just a few years after World War I concluded and as the Jazz Age raged on would certainly have been a good way to make it stand out both in this franchise and among the other Blade movies.

As for the train set, even with no context for how it would be used, that would have been another great hook for Blade. Captain America: The First Avenger, Ant-Man and Black Panther are among the Marvel movies in order that have used trails as part of major action sequences (although in the middle movie’s case, it was literally a Thomas the Tank engine toy), so it would have been interesting to see what Blade cooked up on this front. Bonus points if the train set had remained in the 1920s story.

Alas, both these story elements have now been scrapped, with THR saying that Blade is now said to be set in the present day. Eric Pearson, who wrote Thor: Ragnarok, Black Widow, Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four, is now penning the Blade script, and Mahershala Ali and Mia Goth are the only actors still attached, with Delroy Lindo and Aaron Pierre being let go. Earlier this week, Wesley Snipes poked fun at the reboot experiencing so much trouble by putting a twist on one of his iconic Blade lines.

Blade is still officially slotted for a November 7, 2025 release, but it’s a good bet that another delay for this reboot is coming up. Keep yourself entertained while waiting for more Blade updates by streaming MCU content with your Disney+ subscription.

Few movies have had as significant a cultural impact as 1998’s Blade. This flick arguably served as a precursor for all the upcoming superhero movies we still see, proving to producers and film executives that comic books could be both viable and cool. A key part of this shift in perception was Wesley Snipes' portrayal of the iconic vampire/daywalker, delivering some of the most memorable quotes in action cinema. In light of the recent news regarding another major setback for Marvel's reboot, the Demolition Man actor took to social media to playfully reference one of his most iconic lines.

More than 25 years after his starring role in the original Blade, Wesley took to X (formerly Twitter) to respond to the news that director Yann Demange has left the Marvel Cinematic Universe project. With Demange's departure, this reboot, still set to star Mahershala Ali as the lead human/vampire hybrid, has encountered yet another unfortunate development. Taking to his account to react, Snipes harkened back to his time as the vampire hunter:

It might not be a word-for-word match, but different words/same vibes. The White Men Can’t Jump star’s playful acknowledgment of the difficulties faced by the new production team, likening their struggles to "riding snowmobiles in traffic," seems hilariously reminiscent of one of Blade’s best quips. For those who might not recall, the  original line (which you can watch below) comes at a pivotal moment in the first film, where he says, "Some motherfuckers are always trying to ice-skate uphill":

In that iconic moment, the eponymous protagonist roundhouse kicks a serum vial into his nemesis Deacon Frost’s forehead. This line has since become one of the franchise's most quoted, symbolizing Blade's no-nonsense approach to dealing with his enemies.

The Blade reboot is still part of the Phase Six slate of upcoming Marvel movies, but it has continually faced hurdles. Yann Demange was actually the second director to step away from the production after Bassam Tariq did so in 2022. A slew of various screenwriters have also been taking different passes at the script. Wesley Snipes' comments offer a lighthearted yet poignant reminder of the challenges in reviving a beloved franchise. His playful nod to his past role and his apparent understanding of the pressures on the new team highlights the delicate balance between honoring a legacy and forging a new path. Snipes later shared the following comment as well, which was seemingly aimed at Mahershala Ali:

Fans of the franchise eagerly await any new developments on the reboot but, so far, most of the updates have been less-than-positive. Mahershala Ali, a two-time Oscar winner, expressed his excitement and commitment to the role when it was announced at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019 but, ever since, the production has been facing significant delays. The hope is that once these issues are resolved, the film will deliver the same blend of intense action and dark, brooding atmosphere that made the original films a hit. Thankfully, we are getting a confirmed R-rating, meaning once the movie finally hits cinemas, it will surely be worth the wait. 

When Wesley Snipes initially responded to the reboot, he congratulated Mahershala Ali, but that doesn’t mean he can't make a joke at the MCU’s expense. The New Jack City star's recent post has given fans something to smile about. His continued engagement with the original Blade trilogy and its legacy demonstrates his enduring connection to the character and his willingness to support the new team, even as they navigate a challenging production landscape.

If you want to relive all of Wesley Snipes' iconic lines and memorable moments from the original Blade, here’s how you can stream the Marvel trilogy. Also, check out our 2024 movie schedule to see what's coming to theaters near you soon.

It’s been nearly five full years since Mahershala Ali was announced to be playing Blade at San Diego Comic-Con, and yet we’re still waiting for him to make his onscreen Marvel Cinematic Universe debut following his voice cameo in Eternals. Although Blade is still rests in the Phase Six slate of upcoming Marvel movies, the project has suffered numerous setbacks over the years. Now yet another one has been revealed, and it’s getting to the point where I’m worried we’ll never see Ali’s version of Eric Brooks kill vampires.

The latest update on Blade’s progress comes from The Wrap, which reports that director Yann Demange has departed the reboot. The outlet states that his exit happened “a while ago” and that it was “entirely amicable.” An unnamed insider also said that “getting Blade right is much more important than getting the film out.” Demange, who boarded Blade in November 2022, is the second director to leave the project, with Bassam Tariq having previously bailed in September of that same year.

On the one hand, it’s good that that Blade isn’t being rushed out, with Marvel Studios giving writer Eric Pearson enough time to make his screenplay the best product possible. On the other hand, it’s somewhat baffling to me that there have been so many obstacles to getting this reboot off the ground. After all, Blade already showed off his cinematic chops when Wesley Snipes portrayed the character from 1998 to 2004. Why is it so difficult to get an MCU-set Blade off the ground?

To be clear, I’m not writing off Blade completely, but I can’t help wondering if this project might be scrapped one day. It wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened, as Inhumans was originally supposed to be a movie following what we now know as Avengers: Endgame, but then it was reconfigured into the critically-panned ABC series that only lasted one season. Unlike Inhumans though, Blade has at least already been partially set up thanks to the aforementioned presence in Eternals. Still, maybe there’s a scenario where Marvel Studios abandons its plans to highlight the vampire hunter on the big screen.

It’s also worth mentioning that last month, Mahershala Ali was reportedly being lined up to star in Jurassic World 4, which is supposed to begin filming in London any day now. So assuming a deal was reached between Ali and Universal Pictures, that already prevents Blade from being a summer shoot, as was previously the plan. Depending on how fast a director is found to replace Yann Deamange, maybe there’s a chance Blade could roll cameras in the fall instead and still be ready in time for its November 7, 2025 release date. But again, Marvel doesn’t want to rush the creative process, so a delay to 2026 seems more likely.

We’ll let you know who takes over Blade directorial duties once that information is announced/reported. Meanwhile, the majority of the Marvel movies in order and MCU TV shows can be streamed with a Disney+ subscription, but unfortunately none of Wesley Snipes’ Blade movies are currently on a streaming platform.

We're in the final month of the 2025 movie schedule, but it feels like things are just getting started as we look towards all the big-screen (and streaming) releases between now and the end of the year. With everything from Five Nights at Freddy's 2 to Avatar: Fire and Ash, there's something for everyone before we close out the year.

It has already been a pretty stellar year at the cinema so far, with acclaimed early awards contenders like One Battle After Another and Bugonia, crowd-pleasing blockbusters like Ryan Coogler's Sinners, and family-friendly favorites such as A Minecraft Movie and Lilo & Stitch. Here's what we're excited to see before the start of the 2026 movie schedule.

December 2025 Movie Releases

In December 2025, return to the Internet's favorite haunted pizza place with the sequel to Five Nights at Freddy's, return to Pandora with the third installment of James Cameron's Avatar saga, and return to the adventures of Daniel Craig's Benoit Blanc in Rian Johnson's Wake Up Dead Man.

2025 Movies - Date TBD

When Eddie, an upcoming documentary about the life and career of comedian Eddie Murphy, becomes available with a Netflix subscription — like other movies set for an unspecified 2025 release date — remains unknown at the moment.

January 2025 Movie Releases

Christopher Abbott became an animal in Leigh Whannell's Wolf Man, Captain Underpants author Dav Pilkey's canine crusader Dog Man got his own movie, Sophie Thatcher proved to be a worthy Companion in the clever sci-fi thriller, and more happened in January 2025.

February 2025 Movie Releases

Anthony Mackie made his screen debut as the new Cap in Captain America: Brave New World, and a world-famous bear returned home in Paddington in Peru, among other exciting releases, in February 2025.

March 2025 Movie Releases

In March 2025, Robert Pattinson led Bong Joon-ho's new sci-fi dramedy Mickey 17, and Rachel Zegler led Disney's live-action Snow White remake.

April 2025 Movie Releases

April 2025 saw the first big video game adaptation of 2025 with director Jared Hess' A Minecraft Movie, and director Ryan Coogler and star Michael B. Jordan re-teaming for a vampire movie called Sinners.

May 2025 Movie Releases

A new team of Marvel superheroes united in Thunderbolts* (The New Avengers), Ethan Hunt and his team completed their latest assignment in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, and Ralph Macchio's Daniel LaRusso and Jackie Chan's Mr. Han met in the latest Karate Kid movie, Karate Kid: Legends, in May 2025.

June 2025 Movie Releases

There was something for everyone to see in June 2025. Families loved Pixar's animated sci-fi adventure Elio and the live-action How to Train Your Dragon remake, while fans of all things spooky had new horror movies to enjoy, such as the return to the land of the Infected in 28 Years Later and the technophobic horror sequel, M3GAN 2.0.

July 2025 Movie Releases

July 2025 was a big month for comic book films with one of the most anticipated new DC movies — James Gunn's DCU-canon Superman — and one of the most long-awaited new Marvel movies — Matt Shakman's MCU-canon Fantastic Four reboot. Dinosaurs also came back again for Jurassic World Rebirth, the seventh installment of the sci-fi franchise.

August 2025 Movie Releases

Freakier Friday, a follow-up to Freaky Friday with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan, came onto the scene and took the internet by storm in August 2025. Of course, there was also plenty for adult audiences, like the reboot of The Naked Gun starring Liam Neeson and the unrated reboot of The Toxic Avenger with Peter Dinklage.

September 2025 Movie Releases

Ed and Lorraine Warren return for one more paranormal investigation in The Conjuring: Last Rites, the final installment in the horror franchise's core series and one of the most anticipated upcoming Blumhouse horror movies. Also in 2025, England's loudest band reunites for another rockumentary with Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.

October 2025 Movie Releases

October 2025 saw the release of one of the most long-awaited upcoming sci-fi movies, namely Tron: Ares, the latest chapter in Disney's iconic franchise. The month also saw one of the most anticipated upcoming A24 movies, the gritty sports biopic, The Smashing Machine.

November 2025 Movie Releases

The second half of the cinematic adaptation of the Broadway fantasy, Wicked, the long-awaited sequel to Disney's Zootopia, and an upcoming Stephen King movie, Edgar Wright's adaptation of The Running Man, hit the big screen in November 2025. Also be on the lookout for upcoming action movies Predator: Badlands and Sisu 2, as well as one of the most exciting upcoming Netflix movies, a new interpretation of Frankenstein by Guillermo del Toro.

Keep your eyes peeled for updates to our upcoming 2025 movies schedule as release dates for these films are subject to change.

Although 2021’s Jurassic World: Dominion wrapped up the trilogy that began in 2015 and introduced the world to Chris Pratt’s Owen Grady and Bryce Dallas Howard’s Claire Dearing, the Jurassic Park universe isn’t done by a long shot. Jurassic World 4, which is due out next year, was announced to the public back in January, and since then we’ve learned Scarlett Johansson will play the lead and be joined by Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Jonathan Bailey and Rupert Friend. Now word’s come in that Mahershala Ali is being lined up for Jurassic World 4, and while this is great news for the Universal Pictures franchise, I’m becoming more worried about the Blade reboot, one of the upcoming Marvel movies, in the process.

Mahershala Ali Might Be Joining Jurassic World 4

Let’s go over the positive first. THR has heard that Ali is in talks to come aboard Jurassic World 4, meaning it’s not a done deal yet, but the chances of it happening are likely. Production is set to begin in mid-June in London, so Ali’s involvement needs to be cemented soon in order to not to complicate the shooting schedule. If a deal is worked out, along with appearing on camera alongside the aforementioned actors, he’ll also be directed by Gareth Edwards, who “dropped everything” to work on Jurassic World 4. Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park writer David Koepp is penning the script.

If things work out with Mahershala Ali, this will add yet another major franchise to his filmography, as he’s previously lent his talents to Predators, both parts of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay and the animated Spider-Verse movies. Additionally, back in 2019, he was cast to play Blade in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and while he did make a vocal cameo in Eternals’ end-credits scene, this version of vampire hunter still has yet to actually be seen.

Why This Could Be Bad News For The Blade Reboot

Among the things we know about the Blade reboot is that it’s scheduled for release on November 7, 2025, sandwiched between The Fantastic Four and Avengers 5. However, this is the third release date it’s been given, as Blade has face numerous behind-the-scenes shakeups in the years since Mahershala Ali was announced to be playing the title character. Now with this Jurassic World 4 news, I can’t help but think another delay is forthcoming.

Jurassic World 4 is set to come out on July 2, 2025, just four months before Blade. While it wouldn’t be impossible for Ali to go straight to shooting Blade after finishing the next Jurassic World movie, the chances of that happening seem slim. The Hot Mic previously reported that Blade will shoot in Mexico this summer, but I find it hard to believe that’s still happening following this Jurassic World 4 update. I’m not willing to start speculating just yet about Blade being outright shelved, but there’s more than enough cause for concern.

Assuming Mahershala Ali is looking to prioritize Jurassic World 4 next, then clearly Blade still isn’t ready to get off the ground just yet. As such, I’m thinking that it will need to be moved to 2026, either before or after Avengers 5. That would mean its arrival comes seven years after we learned Ali would play Blade, which is one hell of a waiting period.

If Blade’s production and release date to indeed get pushed back, we’ll pass along the news. Meanwhile, check out our 2024 release schedule to learn what movies are still on track to come out later this year.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a behemoth force in the entertainment industry, spanning both movies and live-action shows that are streaming with a Disney+ subscription. The next upcoming Marvel movie heading to theaters is Deadpool & Wolverine, and there are countless fan theories about what might go down during its runtime. Wesley Snipes recently responded to rumors he'll cameo as Blade, and now I'm even more confused.

What we know about Deadpool 3 is super limited, so fans are filling in the blanks with wild cameo rumors. There are a number of names being tossed around that may or may not be in the Deadpool & Wolverine cast, including Wesley Snipes' Blade. He recently tweeted in response to a story about him appearing in the Ryan Reynolds movie, posting cryptically:

Well, that wasn't a vague response at all. While one would think that perhaps Snipes is denying a role in Deadpool 3 with this tweet, he doesn't explicitly confirm or deny. So we'll probably have to wait until the movie hits theaters this summer to find out whether or not he returns as Marvel's favorite vampire. 

Wesley Snipes' tweet is sure to go viral, as Marvel fans are trying to figure out what director Shawn Levy has up his sleeve for Deadpool & Wolverine. The trailer for Deadpool 3 showed that the multiverse was very much in play, including Loki's Time Variance Authority. And as such, it feels like just about any character could pop up throughout its runtime. So why not include Snipes' Blade?

Of course, there are some factors against this Deadpool 3 rumor potentially coming true. Perhaps the biggest is that Mahershala Ali has been cast as Blade in the MCU, and expected to star in the upcoming Blade movie for the studio. While we've yet to see him in the shared universe, Ali's voice was briefly heard during the Eternals credits scene. But there hasn't been much more information about his solo flick.

Then again, it seems very on brand for Ryan Reynolds' movie to reference Wesley Snipes as Blade in the forthcoming threequel. The trailers show Wade Wilson fighting in the literal ruins of the 20th Century Fo logo, so they're not pulling any punches. And Snipes' response definitely made things even more confusing.

Of course, Blade is only one of many characters that fans think may or may not appear during Deadpool & Wolverine. Other popular names being thrown around include Halle Berry's Storm, Jennifer Garner's Elektra, Famke Janssen's Jean Grey, Patrick Stewart's Professor X, and more. Early footage has shown the return of a number of villains from the X-Men franchise, and that feels like just the tip of the iceberg. 

All will be revealed when Deadpool & Wolverine hits theaters on July 26th. In the meantime, check out the 2024 movie release dates.

When looking over The Newton Brothers’ body of work, these are two have composed a lot of music within the horror genre, including every project Mike Flanagan has made since Oculus (with some of them ranking as the best horror movies of all time). However, currently John Andrew Grush and Taylor Newton Stewart are getting attention for their debut into the superhero genre with X-Men ’97, the revival of X-Men: The Animated Series that’s streaming to Disney+ subscribers. But the brothers aren’t content for that to be their sole contribution to Marvel Studios, as they told CinemaBlend that they’d be game to compose for characters like Doctor Doom and Daredevil, and I’d be down for this to happen.

I had the pleasure of speaking with The Newton Brothers about their work composing music for X-Men ’97, which critics have been raving about. and as our conversation was wrapping up, I asked them if there was a live-action Marvel movie or TV show they’d like to score for, or even just of a character for whom they’d like to create theme music. Taylor responded:

I’ll start off by saying even though we’re only four episodes into X-Men ’97, I would absolutely approve of The Newton Brothers scoring the live-action X-Men reboot, which is presumably still on the search for a writer. But if those versions of the mutants are off the table, then Doctor Doom, Daredevil and Blade are all viable options too, if not more so. After all, The Fantastic Four and Blade are both upcoming Marvel movies lined up for 2025, and the upcoming Marvel TV show Daredevil: Born Again is expected to premiere on Disney+ that year as well.

Of the three that Taylor Newton Stewart mentioned, my preference would be for he and John Andrew Grush to tackle The Fantastic Four, not just because they’re interested in creating a theme for Doctor Doom, but also because that superhero team operates on a similarly fantastical level as the X-Men. That being said, thanks to their extensive horror experience, they could surely handle vampire hunter Blade quite well, but I’d also be intrigued to hear how they’d approach a street-level hero like Daredevil. Whatever the case, Kevin Feige and the rest of the Marvel Studios brass, please consider using The Newton Brothers’ musical talents for any of these live-action offerings.

New episodes of X-Men ’97 premiere Wednesdays on Disney+. Keep checking in with us for continuing coverage on the series’ biggest events, and use the 2024 TV schedule to se what other shows are currently running.

There was a time when seeing iconic horror movie villains such as Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees slashing up young, defenseless civilians was the genre’s main draw. However, these days, audiences have come to better appreciate the Scream Queens and Scream Kings who know how to hold their own against the likes of masked killers, vicious extraterrestrials, mischievous demons, and more. With that in mind, let’s take a minute to shine the spotlight on the clever and courageous heroes from the best horror movies of all time and point out what makes them worth rooting for.

Ash Williams (The Evil Dead Movies) 

The Ash we meet in 1981's The Evil Dead is completely in over his head, struggling desperately to defend himself against his possessed friends in whatever way he can find. However, by the end of 1987's Evil Dead II, when he replaces his severed hand with a working chainsaw, Bruce Campbell's most iconic role becomes one of the horror genre's grooviest heroes… even if he is prone to a few flubs and mishaps here and there.

Laurie Strode (Halloween) 

Out of all of the babysitters working in Haddonfield on All Hallow’s Eve, Laurie Strode is the only one who manages to survive the escaped Michael Myers' killing streak in 1978's Halloween. The young woman’s courage and avoidance of distracting vices in John Carpenter's quintessential slasher made the character the ultimate “final girl” and Jamie Lee Curtis the quintessential Scream Queen.

Ben (Night Of The Living Dead) 

Duane Jones made history as the first Black actor to play the lead hero in a horror movie with his role in 1968's Night of the Living Dead. Ben is the one character in George A. Romero's groundbreaking thriller who manages to keep a level head when struggling to survive against hungry reanimated corpses.

Nancy Thompson (A Nightmare On Elm Street) 

Played by Heather Langenkamp, Nancy Thompson certainly takes a little while to figure out how to defeat the subconscious-haunting Freddy Kreuger (Robert Englund) in writer and director Wes Craven’s supernatural slasher classic. Near the end of A Nightmare on Elm Street, when she realizes that bringing him into reality is the key, she turns the tables on him with a series of elaborate traps that predate Home Alone.

Ellen Ripley (Alien) 

Sigourney Weaver’s career-defining role of Ellen Ripley became the sole survivor of  1979’s Alien and, as a result, one of the most inspirational female heroes in horror movie history. Her previous experience contending with the Xenomorph provided her with the resilience and wherewithal to ensure there would be more survivors in 1986’s Aliens, making her one of the greatest female action heroes of all time.

Sidney Prescott (Scream) 

When you have been targeted by masked killers as many times as Sidney Prescott, you tend to pick up on a few helpful tips and tricks for survival. Even before the original Ghostface first struck in 1996's Scream, the tragic murder of her mother a year prior prompted Neve Campbell's character to be prepared for such things.

R.J. MacReady (The Thing) 

Easily one of Kurt Russell's best roles is R.J. MacReady in John Carpenter's The Thing. The pilot brings a well-conceived, no-nonsense approach to weeding out who among his fellow researchers is a shape-shifting alien in disguise while stranded at their outpost in the Arctic.

Elise Rainier (Insidious)

When your house (or, maybe, your child) is haunted, the first person you should call is someone with a direct line to the afterlife, such as Lin Shaye's Elise Rainier from the Insidious movies. The medium comes to the Lambert Family's aid after young, unwitting astral traveler Dalton (Ty Simpkins) flies too far into "The Further" — a spiritual realm she named herself.

Chris Washington (Get Out)

Jordan Peele made a point to have a protagonist capable of making intelligent decisions for his Oscar-winning directorial debut, Get Out. He achieved that goal beautifully with Daniel Kaluuya's Chris Washington, with his adept suspicions of unusual circumstances and ingenious plan to escape the Armitage Family’s clutches.

Grace (Ready Or Not) 

Samara Weaving's newlywed in Radio Silence's breakthrough hit, Ready or Not, proves to be an ideal Hide-and-Seek player when her in-laws forced her to play it to the death as part of a matrimonial ritual. While she does get spotted a few times, it is in those moments when Grace also proves to be quite the fighter.

Dutch (Predator) 

Even the biggest fans of the Predator movies seem to forget that, when it comes to defeating the cunning, titular extraterrestrial, being the toughest, strongest, and best marksman is nowhere near as important as being the smartest. Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character from the 1987 original) realizes this after becoming the last of his crew and taking him on with old-school hunting tactics.

Sienna Shaw (Terrifier 2) 

Played by Lauren LaVera, the hero of Damien Leone's sequel to his shockingly brutal, old-school slasher throwback, Terrifier, is not just a final girl by circumstance. As foretold in artwork crafted by her late father, it is Sienna Shaw's destiny to cross paths with and defeat the sadistic Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton).

Clarice Starling (The Silence Of The Lambs) 

Jodie Foster won her second Academy Award for her performance in Jonathan Demme's adaptation of Thomas Harris' novel, The Silence of the Lambs. Her role as Clarice Starling — an FBI trainee seeking help from a manipulative, cannibalistic psychiatrist (played by Anthony Hopkins) — is one of the most intelligent and inspirational heroes in cinematic history, regardless of whether or not you want to call the Best Picture Oscar winner "horror."

Casey Cooke (Split, Glass) 

In M. Night Shyamalan’s Split, it eventually becomes known that Casey Cooke's calm demeanor and resourcefulness when she and her friends are kidnapped by a DID patient (James McAvoy) are the result of years of abuse from her uncle. Her trauma also allows Anya Taylor-Joy's character to have a unique connection with her captors' core identity, Kevin Wendell Crumb, that helps bring him back to earth in the 2019 sequel, Glass.

Randy Meeks (Scream)

The only original Scream cast member as resourceful as Sidney (if not more) is Randy Meeks, whose obsession with horror movie tropes allows him to, successfully, figure out at least one of Ghostface's true identities. Even though Jamie Kennedy's movie buff does not survive 1997’s Scream 2, his prime suspect in that sequel also turns out to be halfway correct.

Chief Martin Brody (Jaws)

Roy Scheider's Brody is the one member of Jaws' heroic trio with the least amount of experience with sharks. Yet, he makes up for it with the courage and skill needed to rid the waters of that man-eating beast.

Erin Harson (You're Next) 

When masked assassins turn an already bitter family reunion into a bloody nightmare in You're Next, the first one to take charge (and take out these adversaries) is Sharni Vinson's Erin, who is dating one of the family members. It is later revealed that she was trained for situations like this when she was a child, having grown up on her father's survivalist compound.

Peter Washington (Dawn of the Dead)

In the midst of the apocalypse, there is no one better to have in your crew than a member of SWAT, like Peter Washington. Ken Foree's role in George A. Romero’s 1978 zombie movie classic, Dawn of the Dead, is not only a master at slaying zombies, but a devoted survivalist and clever strategist.

Mindy Meeks-Martin (Scream, Scream VI) 

Like uncle, like niece. You would not be able to tell that Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown) never got to meet the slain Randy based on how remarkably similar she is to him, particularly in her wide range of horror movie knowledge that proves to be very beneficial for the Scream franchise's new generation of targets.

Dr. Sam Loomis (Halloween) 

In Halloween, Laurie Strode manages to defend herself against Michael Myers, but is unable to expect when, where, and how he might strike — unlike the killer's psychiatrist. Donald Pleasence's Dr. Loomis is not necessarily one step ahead of his former patient, but is not too many steps behind him either, and there might have been fewer casualties in Haddonfield if more people actually accepted his advisement.

Marty (The Cabin In The Woods) 

Fran Kranz's character in the 2012 horror-comedy movie favorite The Cabin in the Woods, Marty, is chosen to represent the "Fool" archetype by The Organization, but they largely misjudged him. He is the first among his vacationing friends to pick up on the strange circumstances surrounding them and call them out on poor decisions often made in less self-aware horror movies.

Maddie Young (Hush) 

In Mike Flanagan's Hush, when a masked killer (John Gallagher Jr.) discovers his target, Maddie Young (Kate Siegel), is deaf, he takes advantage of that fact to intimidate, manipulate, and trap her in her secluded home. What he does not expect is that, as an author, she possesses a sharp analytical mind that keeps her one step ahead of her adversary.

Naru (Prey) 

In Dan Trachtenberg's 2022 Predator prequel, Prey, Amber Midthunder's aspiring Comanche warrior, Naru, proves her worth as a hunter by besting the greatest hunter in the universe. Much like Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dutch from the original classic, she manages to take out the hulking extra-terrestrial with her wits.

The Janitor (Willy's Wonderland) 

Similarities between 2020's Willy’s Wonderland and the popular Five Nights at Freddy’s series are allegedly coincidental, but there are some audiences who believe that said recent underrated horror movie is a better cinematic counterpart than Blumhouse’s official feature adaptation. The reason is that Nicolas Cage's silent, unnamed drifter manages to absolutely lay waste to a rundown family entertainment center's evil-possessed animatronics with his bare hands, all while cleaning the place up to an immaculate degree and scoring big in pinball.

Tess Marshall (Barbarian) 

In 2022’s Barbarian, Tess Marshall (Georgina Campbell) wastes no time scoping out the strange man she finds staying in her vacation rental home (played by Bill Skarsgård) — asking for his ID, avoiding a drink he prepares for her, etc. — which is only the first sign of her wisdom. The most definitive sign is when she finds a creepy hidden room in the basement and, instead of taking a look inside, her first instinct is one big, "Nope."

Scarlett Marlowe (As Above, So Below) 

Scarlett Marlowe (Perdita Weeks) proves her worth as a Final Girl hall-of-famer in one pivotal scene from the 2014 found footage favorite, As Above, So Below. She single-handedly runs all the way back through the, literally, devilish caverns she and her comrades have traveled through to find a mystical artifact that will save a man's life.

The Abbott Family (A Quiet Place) 

A post-apocalyptic world overrun with aliens that hunt by sound is the ingenious concept behind 2018’s A Quiet Place from director John Krasinski, who also stars alongside his real-life wife, Emily Blunt, as a family struggling to stay undetected. For the most, the Abbotts manage this pretty well with tricks like creating paths of sand for quieter walks, building a soundproof bunker for their newborn, and speaking exclusively in American Sign Language.

Lionel Cosgrove (Dead Alive) 

While initially known for his clumsiness, Lionel (Timothy Balme) proves to be a real hero in Peter Jackson's comedic classic, Dead Alive, by making mincemeat about out of a zombie horde with a makeshift lawnmower. What an ingenious idea!

Sang-hwa (Train To Busan)

It is no wonder Don Lee went on to star in Marvel's Eternals cast after playing Sang-hwa in Train to Busan. Fewer characters might have survived the onboard outbreak in the South Korean zombie movie favorite if not for his remarkable skills as a strategist and a bare-knuckle brawler.

Cecelia Kass (The Invisible Man) 

Writer and director Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man is an ingenious modernization of H.G. Wells’ novel for multiple reasons — including its narrative from the perspective of the victim, and a very bright and cautious one at that. Elisabeth Moss' Cecelia Kass is one of the few horror movie characters who leaves absolutely no stone unturned in a fierce battle of wits against her adversary — in this case, her manipulative former husband, Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), whom she suspects has figured out a way to stalk her without being seen.

Blade (Blade) 

What makes Blade — originally played by Wesley Snipes in his own trilogy — the ultimate vampire hunter? He technically is one himself. The Marvel Comics hero is known as a Daywalker, having been born with vampire blood and similar abilities that allow him to think just like his prey.

Tommy Jarvis (Friday The 13th Movies) 

Few of Jason Voorhees' targets have been about to successfully outsmart the hockey-masked killer like Tommy Jarvis. In his debut appearance in 1984's Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, the young man (played then by Corey Feldman) shaves his head to appear like a young Jason, disorienting the killer and giving him a clear shot to defeat him.

Tired of watching horror movies and getting frustrated over the characters’ ill-advised decisions? You shouldn’t have that problem with these characters.

Vampires. They are mythical creatures that have been in conversations from storytellers as far back as 1047 A.D. and are not going out of style anytime soon, by the looks of it. Vampires have not only been the center of some of the best horror movies of all time, but have held their own across many other genres from the early black and white days of cinema to recent years. 

If you’re in the mood to dive into a story about the undead who famously need to drink blood to remain immortal and may or may not be repelled by garlic, check out our picks for the best vampire movies. 

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) 

Speaking of vampires inspiring a variety of genres, Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez very much proved this with their action horror film (with a twang of western influence), From Dusk Till Dawn. The 1996 movie stars George Clooney and Tarantino as fugitive bank robber brothers who find themselves trapped in a saloon frequented by vampires on their journey to escape into Mexico. 

Stream From Dusk Till Dawn on Max.
Rent/Buy From Dusk Till Dawn on Amazon. 

Blade (1998) 

In the ‘90s, vampire lore crossed paths with the superhero genre when Wesley Snipes starred in an adaptation of the Marvel Comics title, Blade. The movie follows the titular vampire hunter, who is a human-vampire hybrid himself, as he protects the mortal world from evil vampires. It was also one of the first Marvel adaptations that helped usher in the influx of comic book movies. Watch it before Mahershala Ali’s remake comes out in 2025. 

Stream Blade on Fubo.
Rent/Buy Blade on Amazon.

Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

Romance has always followed the world of vampires, and that was beautifully captured in Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive. The 2013 fantasy film stars Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton as vampire lovers, aptly named Adam and Eve, who have been married for centuries. As Adam becomes depressed by the direction of modern society, the pair’s relationship gets tested when Eve’s little sister (played by Mia Wasikowska) turns up. 

Stream Only Lovers Left Alive for free (with ads) on PlutoTV.
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Rent/Buy Only Lovers Left Alive on Amazon. 

Dracula (1931)

You certainly can’t go wrong with Bela Lugosi’s Dracula in 1931. It’s just about as classic as you can get with vampire movies. Based on Bram Stoker’s novel, Lugosi plays Count Dracula, a vampire who emigrates from Transylvania to England to suck the blood of various victims. 

Rent/Buy Dracula on Amazon. 

Hotel Transylvania (2012) 

If you’re looking for a vampire flick to enjoy with the entire family, Sony Pictures Animation’s Hotel Transylvania franchise is a delightful take on Count Dracula. In the 2012 first movie, Adam Sandler voices the vampire as the owner of a hotel geared toward other monsters and a father of a vampire daughter (Selena Gomez), who falls in love with a human (Andy Samberg). 

Rent/Buy Hotel Transylvania on Amazon. 

Let The Right One In (2008)

Sweden’s Let The Right One is one of the most highly-regarded vampire movies of all time. Based on the novel of the same name by John Ajvide Lindqvist (who also wrote the movie’s screenplay), the film follows a 12-year-old boy who is the victim of constant bullying who befriends a young vampire girl. 

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Stream/Rent/Buy Let The Right One In on Amazon. 

What We Do In The Shadows (2014)

Hilarious New Zealanders Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement got their hands on the vampire genre for a 2014 mockumentary horror comedy called What We Do In The Shadows. The movie is about a group of vampire housemates who live together in Wellington, New Zealand. That film then inspired a series that is ending with Season 6 in 2024. 

Rent/Buy What We Do In The Shadows on Amazon.

The Lost Boys (1987)

Another comedic vampire movie that has become a classic is 1987’s The Lost Boys. The movie, directed by Joel Schumacher and starring the likes of Corey Feldman, Kiefer Sutherland and Dianne Wiest, is about two two brothers who move to a fictional town in California with their mother only to find out it's a secret haven for vampires. 

Rent/Buy The Lost Boys on Amazon.

Interview With The Vampire (1994)

Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt once played vampires together… What else is there to know to sell one on 1994’s Interview with the Vampire? Well, the movie is also based on a bestselling Anne Rice book (Rice also wrote the movie’s screenplay) that follows the story of a 200-year-old vampire who tells his story in the present-day to a San Francisco reporter (played by Christian Slater). 

Rent/Buy Interview With The Vampire on Amazon. 

Thirst (2009)

Famed South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook, who also helmed Oldboy, The Handmaiden and Decision To Leave, made his own vampire flick with 2009’s Thirst. The movie, starring Parasite’s Song Kang-ho, is about a Catholic priest who turns into a vampire after a failed medical experiment and begins an irresistible affair. 

Rent/Buy Thirst on Amazon.

A Girl Walks Home At Night (2014)

Another gem of a vampire movie from outside of Hollywood is 2014’s A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night by Persian filmmaker Ana Lily Amirpour. The black and white movie touted as a vampire western is about a skateboarding vampire (Sheila Vand) who begins preying on men who disrespect women in her city in Iran. 

Rent/Buy A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night on Amazon.

Twilight (2008) 

After Stephanie Meyer led a phenomenon with her vampire romance novels, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson helped make it a hit Hollywood franchise starting with 2008’s Twilight. The movie is about a teen girl named Bella (Stewart) who falls in love with a 100-year-old vampire who goes to her new high school in Washington, and becomes intertwined not only with his “vegetarian” family, but a vampire sociopath who's out for her blood, as well. It’s probably the only vampire movie with its own LEGO set on the way. 

Rent/Buy Twilight on Amazon.

Nosferatu (1922)

Perhaps the earliest vampire film with a commercial following is 1922’s silent German expressionist film, Nosferatu. The classic (and very old) movie is also inspired by Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but instead follows Count Orlok as he preys on the wife of his estate agent and the fictional German town of Wisborg. Check it out before Robert Eggers’ 2024 Nosferatu movie comes out in late 2024! 

Stream Nosferatu for free (with ads) on PlutoTV.
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Rent/Buy Nosferatu on Amazon.

So, so many great vampire movies to explore! We may not be immortal, but all these films, from a variety of eras, can help one explore the timeless influence the mythical creature has on cinema! 

Having long been part of the Hollywood ecosystem, the action genre truly took off with blockbuster verve during the 1980s, leading to many of the best movies in the 1990s serving as timeless action-packed romps. It was the decade when Keanu Reeves and Nicolas Cage became bona fide mega-stars, when Jackie Chan’s stunt work became internationally renowned, and when the world met Robert Patrick’s T-1000. Truly a golden age of badassery. (Those interested in more modern flicks can check out CinemaBlend’s take on 2023’s best action movies, as well as the best examples from 2022.)

While laying out such definitive lists is never easy, here are arguably the best of the best action movies that came out during the 1990s, with all the harrowing car chases, pulse-pounding heists, and deadly shootouts that audiences could hope for. And yes, a whole lot of Michael Bay, explosions, and Will Smith one-liners. 

Goldeneye

The James Bond franchise’s current level of prestige can make it easy to forget how buoyed optimism was for Pierce Brosnan’s debut as the secret agent for 1995’s GoldenEye, but Martin Campbell’s action-packed spy caper was just what Bond fans were looking for after years without a new film. Starting with that jaw-dropping bungee jump in the opening sequence, GoldenEye delivers one thrill on top of the next, from close-up fisticuffs between Brosnan and Famke Janssen’s Xenia Onatopp to the large-scale wreckage of the tank scene. Really, it just took the words “tank scene” to sell me, but “boss fight inside a giant satellite dish” didn’t hurt.

Blade

A decade before the MCU’s arrival, Wesley Snipes and director Stephen Norrington delivered what remains one of Marvel’s darkest live-action tales with Blade, one of the most action-packed vampire movies of any decade. The 1998 hit remains beloved amongst fans in part due to the A+ fight scenes that cemented Wesley Snipes’ legacy as genre fave, from the blood-soaked battle in the night club to Blade’s final act battle with Stephen Dorff’s Deacon Frost. 

Heat

Regardless of what happens with Michael Mann’s plans for Heat 2, his 1995 opus’ reputation can never be tarnished. While technically more of a crime drama, Heat is long enough that a tight action movie could feasibly be crafted through clever editing. With a stellar cast headed up with Godfather panache by Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, Heat keeps the high-stakes intensity going from beginning to end, and Val Kilmer delivers another one of his many too-cool performances.

Point Break

Kathryn Bigelow’s fourth feature, 1991’s Point Break, was crafted around an unmistakably 1990s action movie formula: an undercover cop experiences Stockholm syndrome for a zen criminal guru leading a group of skydiving bank-robbers, with Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze starring as the respective cop and robber. The Hot Fuzz-inspiring Point Break is full of cool shoot-outs, hectic robberies, chases and more, but the skydiving scenes and POTUS masks take it to the next level. Did I mention Reeves’ character name is Johnny Utah? 

The Rock

Michael Bay’s 1996 romp The Rock is the epitome of the “Michael Bay 1996 movie” concept, centering on a team headed up by Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage that has to break into the infamous island prison Alcatraz in order to stop a terrorist plot. It really serves as a greatest hits reel for the director, with tons of gorgeously shot set pieces that keep the tension and manic energy flowing throughout, and without ever tipping over into complete farce. 

Speed

Jan de Bont’s directorial debut Speed is an action movie so inspirational with its high-concept formula that movies years afterward were sold as “Speed on a ___.” Watching Keanu Reeves’ Jack Traven attempt to get one step ahead of Dennis Hopper’s bomber antagonist would be a joy even without the rest of the ensemble featuring Sandra Bullock, Jeff Daniels and Alan Ruck, but they help keep the stakes palpable. From the elevator to the bus to the subway, Speed zips from one giant sequence to the next, and the fact that Speed 2: Cruise Control was so bad helps prove how special this one is.

Mission: Impossible

With more than a half-dozen entries, the Mission: Impossible franchise is currently quite distanced from Tom Cruise’s 1996 debut as Ethan Hunt. But that doesn’t stop Brian de Palma’s spy flick from standing out as one of the best action movies of the decade, as it serves up mystery thrills on top of its pulse-pounding stunts, while helping to set the groundwork for its star’’s persona as a risk-embracing star. And part of what makes M:I’s action great is the fact that Cruise wasn’t yet in polished superhero mode, adding to the stakes. 

Hard Boiled

Despite being released in 1992, Hard Boiled remains a genre classic whose action sequences remain as impressive as ever, both within director John Woo’s filmography and among cinema as a whole. His final Hong Kong film ahead of Woo’s transition to Hollywood, Hard Boiled stars Chow Yun-Fat as a cop whose solution to getting bogged down in a gang war is basically to fuck up everyone else’s shit. From the tea house carnage to the hospital shootout to the one-shot warehouse stunt-show, the critical darling paved the way for Woo’s Face/Off. 

Starship Troopers

Even if Paul Verhoeven possibly went a bit overboard with the satirical propaganda at the heart of 1997’s Starship Troopers, causing some critics and audiences to completely misunderstand its messaging, his adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein’s 1959 novel is every bit as destructive and intense as one could expect from a Verhoeven alien invasion movie. Though the huge budget meant it was considered a bit of a financial bust at the time, so much money going into the CGI of the Arachnid aliens means the visuals hold up way better than some other sci-fi films of the time. 

Face/Off

A movie that at times feels like a stuffed-to-the-gills trailer stretched out to nearly 140 minutes, Face/Off is a roller coaster ride on a track made entirely out of John Travolta and Nicolas Cage’s performance energy. (And the strength of the villain moniker Castor Troy.) Based on the bonkers-proof concept of a cat-and-mouse chase involving a federal agent and criminal swapping faces, Face/Off boasts director John Woo, whose excellence went a long way in keeping the 1997 flick from becoming an instant punchline. 

Last Action Hero

While viewed as a disappointment upon its 1993 release, John McTiernan’s genre-aping comedy Last Action Hero has gained a more proper following over the years, even if it still remains underappreciated amidst star Arnold Schwarzenegger and screenwriter Shane Black’s respective filmographies. As much an ode to the movies as an action-adventure itself, Last Action Hero makes fictional detective Jack Slater’s universe as familiar as real-world franchises, and I’m still mad we never got any sequels. 

Con Air

Con Air is one of those movies where there’s no half-assing one’s fandom of it, in that you either don’t like Con Air, or you know with all your mind and body it’s a goddamned treasure. Nicolas Cage and John Malkovich are in perfect form as the respective hero and villain Cameron Poe and Cyrus “The Virus” Grissom, with an all-star cast backing the Jerry Bruckheimer production. To pinpoint Con Air’s best moments is to take time away from enjoying the entirety of the thing. Beware the Marietta Mangler.

Independence Day

Roland Emmerich’s 1996 smash hit Independence Day falls more clearly into the action genre than his other disaster-laden films, while still adhering to his signature over-the-top mayhem. Featuring some of the ‘90s best on-screen explosions in any capacity, the alien invasion epic helped solidify Will Smith as a blockbuster action star in the wake of Bad Boys, while also bringing the laughs with Jeff Goldblum and Judd Hirsch among others. 

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Widely considered to be one of cinema’s biggest and best sequels of all time, Terminator 2: Judgment Day also holds the distinction of being one of the best action films of any era. Director James Cameron set the film’s nuclear stakes from the jump, and introduced an impressively frightening (and oft-parodied) villain in Robert Patrick’s liquid metal T-1000. Add in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s protagonist turn as T-800, the endless badassery of Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor, and the further nightmares of Skynet, and T2 remains a daunting genre entry.  

True Lies

The Matrix

It’s hard to think of any ‘90s movie that inspired the whole of culture (not just pop culture) the way that The Matrix did, from the fashion choices to the slow-mo bullet time to the electronica soundtrack and beyond. And amidst all the “red pill or blue pill?” debates and conversations about perspectives on reality, the Wachowskis weaved together a masterful action movie that broke new ground for martial arts combat and gunplay. In Neo we trust, but give me Trinity any day. 

The Long Kiss Goodnight

Lethal Weapon screenwriter Shane Black spent the ‘90s penning a trio of underrated genre faves, including 1996’s The Long Kiss Goodnight, which paired superstars Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson as an amnesiac schoolteacher and a struggling P.I., respectively, who stumble into a deadly conspiracy. With plenty of laughs and eye-popping explosions to go around, The Long Kiss Goodnight’s action is made all the more enjoyable with co-stars such as Brian Cox and David Morse. 

The Mummy

Rather than aiming for the creeping and dread-tinged horror of the Universal Monsters’ heyday, Stephen Sommers’ The Mummy is a rollicking big-budget action-adventure headed up by the always affable and fun to watch Brendan Fraser. The first film of the spinoff-sparking franchise seemingly came out of nowhere in 1999, despite a lengthy development process, and took over the box office with its s goofy one-liners, big battles and video game logic. There isn’t a mummy army out there that I wouldn’t watch watch Rick O’Connell fight off.

The Legend Of Drunken Master

1994’s The Legend of Drunken Master, a sequel to 1978’s Drunken Master, remains as endlessly impressive as much of star and martial arts master Jackie Chan’s fight-tastic career. So many different fighting styles and techniques were utilized throughout the film, as well as a variety of different weapons and physical props, but it’s the Drunken Fist maneuvers that truly make this stand out among the bulk of ‘90s action romps, and the consistent sense of humor only helps. 

Total Recall

Arnold Schwarzenegger kicked off the ‘90s with one of the decade’s wildest and twistiest sci-fi thrillers, teaming up with Paul Verhoeven for the effects-filled mindbender Total Recall. Even when most of the action is happening squarely on the hulking lead’s face (which is only barely hyperbole), this is an action fan’s quease-inducing dreamscape. From Sharon Stone kicking ass in pink spandex to Schwarzenegger blowing baddies away with ease, Total Recall is a relic whose magic can't be replicated through any kind of modern remakes.

Die Hard With A Vengeance

So many ‘80s and ‘90s hits spawned instantly forgettable sequels, but Die Hard with a Vengeance is one of the rarities, with much of that credit going to returning Die Hard director John McTiernan, as well as the additions of Samuel L. Jackson and Jeremy Irons. This third outing for Bruce Willis’ terrorist-dropping John McClane is arguably the last must-see within the franchise, as it’s a total blast to see him and Jackson’s Zeus following a wave of destruction throughout New York City. 

Bad Boys

Boasting one of the genre’s best partnerships in Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, 1995’s franchise-sparking Bad Boys is partly unhinged Michael Bay at his best, and is the rare action movie that’s as hilarious as it is exciting. It perfectly set the stage for the madness to come in 2003’s Bad Boys 2, and it’s all the more ridiculous to reflect on Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz being two of the original actors pitched. For my money, the shootout-turned-chase alone would make Bad Boys worthy of inclusion here.

Check out everything coming to theaters soon to see if any upcoming 2024 movie releases will stand tall against all the excellence listed above!

I don't speak for all Black people. Far from it. But, one thing I can tell you with certainty is that a lot of Black people like the martial arts genre.  

Now, honestly, if you ask MOST people if they like martial arts movies like Kill Bill, they'll likely tell you that they do (hell, Everything Everywhere All At Once even won Best Picture, and that has a ton of martial arts in it).      

However, I think there’s a special connection to Black people when it comes to the martial arts genre, and here are just a few such examples of that.  

Dolemite  

Stretching all the way back to the blaxploitation films of the ‘70s is Dolemite, which gets into the real nitty gritty. Dolemite is a nightclub owner/pimp/comedian who gets sent to jail for a crime he didn’t even commit. But, once released, there is Hell to pay. Thankfully, he’s not alone, as he has his entourage of female karate experts by his side to clean up the streets.   

Honestly, the choreography in Dolemite isn’t amazing, but it makes up for it when you see Dolemite delivering his best spinning roundhouse kicks to the midsection of hapless enforcers. Take that, suckers!   

The Last Dragon  

When it comes to cult classics, you don’t get more cult (or more classic) than 1985’s The Last Dragon (sometimes even referred to as Barry Gordy’s The Last Dragon, since it’s a Motown Productions picture). The story of a Bruce Lee-loving martial artist named Leroy Green who desires to acquire “the glow,” the film is roughly one part comedy, and three parts badass. 

My favorite character is, of course, Sho’nuff, a.k.a. The Shogun of Harlem. Unlike in Dolemite, where the martial arts was pretty silly, the kung fu action here looks legit, as it should, since its lead hero, Leroy Green, was actually played by the real-life martial artist, Taimak. So, in other words, is The Last Dragon the meanest, prettiest, and baddest mofo martial arts movie ever made? SHO’NUFF!    

Piccolo  

When I ranked the Z Fighters from Dragon Ball Z, I put Piccolo right at the top, as how could I not? Piccolo’s Black. Okay, okay. He’s not really Black. He’s green, and Namekian. 

However, if you ask a lot of Black American fans who their favorite Dragon Ball Z character is, there’s probably a good chance they’ll put Piccolo near the top, and for the exact same reason that I just mentioned.   

Which is strange, since it’s not like Piccolo’s voice actors were Black, or anything like that. But, for some reason or another, a lot of people (most notably Black people) claimed Piccolo from the popular fantasy martial arts series as their own. And if you don’t believe me, then why is there a whole book written with that very title, hmm?   

Blade 

Whether it’s the original Blade (which is just as good as you remember it), Blade II, or Blade Trinity (which I called the “Godfather Part III of superhero movies”), you really can’t go wrong with the Daywalker.     

Wesley Snipes, who was known for kicking ass (and always betting on black when it came to roulette) received the role of a lifetime when he got to play Blade. What always made the character so cool, though, was not only his fangs and guns, but his martial arts skills when it came to dispatching of vampires. Now, if we could only get that Mahershala Ali Blade reboot sometime soon, that’d be super…      

Black Dynamite 

Now, I love blaxploitation films, but do you want to know what I love even more? Films that parody blaxploitation films. And there’s probably no better one than the Michael Jai White-starring homage to blaxploitation flicks, Black Dynamite.  

The film centers around a martial arts master (White) who seeks revenge against “The Man” after they kill his brother. The whole film goes from bizarre scene to bizarre scene, and every last line is delivered with a tongue squarely in the cheek. 

But honestly, the martial arts in this movie is actually really awesome, which makes sense, because just like with The Last Dragon and its lead actor, Taimak, Black Dynamite’s lead actor is a legit martial artist, too!     

The Man With The Iron Fists  

The Man With the Iron Fists feels like a Wu-Tang Clan album put to film, which is understandable, because it was directed by Wu-Tang Clan leader, The RZA. The film is essentially about a blacksmith (played by The RZA) who makes weapons for other warriors, and they all come together to fight the scourge of the land. It stars a pre-megastar Dave Bautista, as well as Lucy Liu, and Russell Crowe. 

The film is outrageous with its martial arts scenes, and if I’m being completely honest, it’s kind of everything I wanted from the Keanu Reeves movie, 47 Ronin, but way more interesting. There’s a direct-to-video sequel that isn’t that bad, either. But, I’m a little biased since I love anything connected to the Clan.  

Afro Samurai 

Lastly, I want to talk about the manga/anime, Afro Samurai. The story is sort of like Highlander, except it involves headbands. Yes, headbands. There is the number 1 headband, and the number 2 headband. The number 1 headband is said to have godlike powers, and the number 2 headband is fighting to claim the first headband. So, yeah. There can only be one. 

Samuel L. Jackson, who loves anime, provided his voice to the series, and that alone is badass enough. The sick action is just the icing on the cake.

Bonus: The Wu–Tang Clan

Be honest. The first time you even heard of the Wu-Tang Clan movies was through the rap group. But, how could you not learn about the films when the Staten Island collective would often sample the movies and interlace the dialogue into their songs? 

Hell, even their debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), was a reference to the flick, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. And one of their most famous songs, “Da Mystery of Chessboxin’” is the name of one of the Wu-Tang movies.  

Hell, even some of the names from the members of the group, like Masta Killa, ‘Ol Dirty Bastard, Ghostface Killah, and of course, Method Man (who is probably the most recognizable member due to his work in movies and TV) had their names derived from the Wu-Tang movies. So, yeah. The dudes love their martial arts, and we love it vicariously through them.

The martial arts genre is just full of creativity, which might be why Black people gravitate toward it. It’s yet another way that we can express ourselves as a people. 

Mahershala Ali has been set to be Blade in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since the bombshell announcement was made during 2019’s San Diego Comic-Con, but the road there has been a rocky one. Over four years later, the Oscar winner has yet to step on the set of one of Phase 6‘s upcoming Marvel movies, but he has just shared a hopeful update on playing the Daywalker. 

As Ali, who took home the Academy Award for Moonlight, was promoting his latest film, Netflix’s Leave The World Behind, the actor was asked about the status of Blade, which is currently expected to be released a month shy of two years from now. Here’s what he said: 

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Mahershala Ali said that the team over at Marvel Studios is hard at work on Blade, and he’s personally very “encouraged” about where the movie is headed these days. That’s a solid update considering the movie has gone through the ringer since it was announced at SDCC 2019. 

The movie was initially going to be released on November 3, 2023 with Mogul Mowgli director Bassam Tariq at the helm, and PEN15 and Watchmen writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour behind the script. However, both have since dropped the project and a new team has been hired. One year ago, Lovecraft Country’s Yann Demange was named Blade’s new director, and then Logan and Alien: Covenant’s Michael Green signed on to write the movie’s screenplay instead. 

Blade started gaining momentum in early 2023, between the reported casting of horror star Mia Goth of X, Pearl and Infinity Pool, alongside Delroy Lindo and Aaron Pierre. However, their casting was followed by the WGA writers strike, which lasted a historical 148 days, along with the SAG-AFTRA strike, which lasted 118 days and led to another setback for Blade. 

Now that both the filmmakers behind Blade and its actors are able to work again (as of November 8), Mahershala Ali has shared that the movie is back in business. Given the movie’s current release date, we imagine the cameras will need to begin rolling sometime during 2024, but it sounds like at the moment, the movie is back in the pre-production phase at least. 

Following Deadpool 3 boasting the first R-rating for an MCU film, Demange has previously announced that Blade will be going for an R rating as well. It's exciting to hear that Mahershala Ali’s debut as the Marvel vampire hunter is still on and moving forward after it has experienced a few delays already. While we wait for Ali’s MCU role, you can catch the actor in Leave The World Behind, which will become available to Netflix subscribers this Friday, December 8. 

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is only a fraction of the age of the James Bond franchise, and yet it has already produced more hours of story than just about any series that came before. If you wanted to watch the Marvel movies in order, it would take you an extremely long timr. The franchise is now moving in so many different directions that while fans used to be excited for whatever the next Marvel thing was, it’s easier now to just focus on whatever corner of the MCU is your personal jam.

There are lots of upcoming Marvel movies and upcoming Marvel TV shows on the way, and while I certainly plan to watch them all, I’d be lying if I said that I was equally excited for all of them. While I hope every one of these becomes one of the best Marvel movies or TV shows, that does seem unlikely. Here’s a look at everything that has been officially announced as being part of the future Marvel Cinematic Universe, ranked by my personal excitement level.

 12. What If…? (Season 2)

What…If…? Season One was excellent. It was cool to see Captain Carter before we saw her in live-action, or to see an alternate take on Black Panther’s history. I’m certainly looking forward to the next season of What If…?, but I’m not sure how “excited” I am. Some of the forthcoming episodes, like an adaptation of Nei Gaiman’s 1602, are sure to be amazing, but the episodic nature of the show would almost guarantee there will be misses as well as hits. 

11. Blade  

I was as excited as anybody when Kevin Feige took the Hall H stage at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019 and announced that an MCU Blade movie was coming, and that Mahershala Ali would play the role, but it’s been a long time since then. Blade is clearly having script issues, and four years and several release date changes later, I’m far from confident this one is in a good place right now.

10. Agatha: Darkhold Diaries  

Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harness was the highlight of WandaVision, one of the best Marvel Disney+ series made so far, so of course I’m excited by the possibility of an Agatha series. But like Blade, this one looks like maybe it’s having issues because a great idea, by itself, doesn’t make a great series. They can't even settle on a title for the Agatha series, which feels like a bad sign.

9. Daredevil: Born Again 

It’s difficult to not get hyped over a new Daredevil series. The Netflix series with Charlie Cox was excellent overall, and so I will always be excited by the idea of more from this character. However, Daredevil: Born Again is having its own production issues, so I’m trying to keep my excitement in check. 

8. Captain America: Brave New World  

This one would be higher on the list if we had more details about Captain America: Brave New World and what it is really going to be. Overall, I am really excited by the movie, as it will be the first time that a legacy MCU title is being carried by a new actor and character. I love that we’re getting a new Captain America in the MCU, and I can’t wait to see what he does. 

7.Ironheart 

This one would likely be lower on the list simply because we know next to nothing about it. However, I haven’t been as excited by anything in the MCU in a while as I was about the ending of The Marvels, teasing a Young Avengers team-up, and it seems likely that Ironheart the character will be part of that team. So now I’m more excited for Ironheart the show.