The film rights to the fan-favorite Blade character reverted back to Marvel Studios way back in 2012, but Kevin Feige sat on those rights for years before doing something about it. Finally, at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel announced that it had begun preliminary work on a Blade reboot set in the MCU. Back then, all that was revealed about the project was that two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali had been cast as the iconic vampire slayer.

Over the past couple of years, as the project has come together, a few more details have emerged about the MCU’s new Blade movie. Screenwriter Stacy Osei-Kuffour, who previously contributed episodes to HBO’s critically acclaimed follow-up to Watchmen and Hulu’s offbeat coming-of-age gem PEN15, is working on the script. Bassam Tariq, the former documentarian who helmed Mogul Mowgli (which he co-wrote with star Riz Ahmed), is in the director’s chair. Filming is set to begin in October and the production will take the cast and crew across such shooting locations as Atlanta, New Orleans, and Morocco.

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In Eternals’ post-credits scene, Ali’s Blade made his MCU debut with an uncredited off-screen cameo alongside Kit Harington’s Dane Whitman. He introduces the would-be Black Knight to the Ebony Blade and asks him, “Sure you’re ready for that, Mr. Whitman?” At this year’s SDCC, Marvel announced a release date for Blade. Ali’s first vamp-slaying solo movie is scheduled to hit theaters on November 3 next year. It’ll be released as a part of Phase Five, sandwiched between The Marvels and Captain America: New World Order.

Movies About Bloodsuckers Need Blood

Blade fends off a horde of vampires in Blade II

After all these tantalizing revelations about the Blade reboot, one of the only things that haven’t been announced is whether or not the movie is aiming for an R rating. Every entry in the MCU to date has been rated PG-13, including the recent horror-tinged outing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and the only upcoming MCU movie confirmed to be R-rated is Deadpool 3. But just because Feige hasn’t confirmed that Blade will be rated R, it doesn’t mean it won’t be. He hasn’t confirmed it’ll be rated PG-13, either. There would be both pros and cons to pursuing an R rating with the Blade reboot.

Deadpool isn’t the only Marvel character whose powers and personality have an R-rated sensibility. From Wolverine to the Punisher, plenty of iconic Marvel characters don’t suit the tame, family-friendly trappings of the PG-13 label. Blade the vampire hunter is one of them. A movie about bloodsuckers needs blood. Fans of vampiric mythology would be bitterly disappointed by a bloodless vampire movie. Plenty of fiercely effective PG-13 horror films (The Others, A Quiet Place, Drag Me to Hell) have proven that entries in this genre don’t necessarily need gore to terrify their audience. But Blade slaughters the undead, so his movies do need gore.

R-Rated Comic Book Movies Are Still Risky

The cast of The Suicide Squad 2021

For a while, with the rare exception, R-rated comic book movies were considered too risky for the major Hollywood studios to even try making one. But since Deadpool’s unexpected success proved they can work spectacularly, they’ve become a lot more common. Some of these R-rated comic book films have been big hits, like Logan and Joker, but they’re still risky. The box office disappointments of Birds of Prey and The Suicide Squad have proven that R-rated superhero movies still aren’t a guaranteed home run.

All three of Wesley Snipes’ R-rated Blade movies were successful at the box office. None of them were runaway billion-dollar hits like Marvel Studios is used to, but not every film in the MCU has to be a mega-scale tentpole. There’s room for mid-range movies exploring grislier genre material. Blade doesn’t need a $200 million price-tag to succeed. Snipes’ Blade movies all had modest eight-figure budgets and they still delivered on the spectacle.

The PG-13 Boundaries Can Be A Good Thing

Blade with a dagger in the Marvel comics

Going for a PG-13 rating as opposed to an R rating would present three clear advantages for the MCU’s Blade franchise (aside from the obvious financial benefit of getting the movies in front of more eyes). It would make Blade easier to integrate into the wider Avengers ensemble, assuming he’s being primed for a role alongside the rest of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in Secret Wars. Plus, the boundaries of the PG-13 rating might force the filmmakers to get more creative with their scares. Without the freedom allowed by the more lenient R rating, the producers of Blade won’t be able to rely on cheap shock value with buckets of blood and guts.

Blade is one of the most awesome superheroes in the Marvel Comics canon. Above all, kids under the age of 17 deserve to enjoy his vampire-killing adventures on the big screen just as much as their older siblings and their parents, even if it means limiting the on-screen bloodshed. Whatever rating the MPAA assigns it, the MCU’s Blade reboot will be released on November 3, 2023.

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