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Marvel Studios' Blade movie starring Mahershala Ali reportedly starts filming in late 2021. Wesley Snipes helped make Eric Brooks, aka Blade, a well-known Marvel hero with his trilogy of Blade films nearly two decades ago. After all this time, Marvel Studios is working on a reboot that will bring the vampire killer to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movie was announced at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019 when Kevin Feige brought Mahershala Ali out on stage as a surprise reveal.

Development on Blade has moved somewhat slowly, likely because Marvel wasn't planning to make the movie prior to the two-time Oscar winner telling them of his interest in playing the character. The attachment of Ali is a huge deal and Marvel Studios has taken its time to get the necessary pieces in place. The studio only recently found Blade's writer after meeting with an extensive list of Black writers and hiring Watchmen scribe Stacy Osei-Kuffour. This was the first real sign of movement on Blade since it was announced, as the movie does not have a director, release date, or any other cast members besides Ali.

According to a new report, though, Marvel Studios is already planning to begin filming Blade later this year. The news comes from Murphy's Multiverse and Comicbook's Phase Zero podcast. Both outlets share that production will begin in late 2021. No specific time frame for when filming starts was given and the exact start date could shift depending on how quickly some other decisions are made. But, the current plan at Marvel Studios appears to include having cameras rolling on Blade by the end of the year.

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This development for Blade is somewhat surprising considering how few details are known about the movie right now. However, this could be a sign that the pieces are in place behind closed doors and Marvel is waiting for the right time to make more announcements. If they are already preparing for filming to begin later this year, a director might have been selected in secret by now. It is also odd to know when a Marvel Studios project will begin production without it having a confirmed release date. That is the situation Blade finds itself in right now, but this schedule could have it ready to be in theaters sometime in 2022 if Marvel Studios wants.

Marvel Studios' reported plan for Blade to begin filming this year only makes their production schedule even more crowded. The studio is nearing the end of filming on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Spider-Man: No Way Home right now, while Thor: Love and Thunder began more recently. It is also known that Black Panther 2, Captain Marvel 2, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 are scheduled to start filming this year - and that doesn't even take into account the multiple Disney+ shows in production and on the way. Adding Blade to the list of MCU properties that will start filming by the end of the year only further highlights how much content is coming over the next few years.