Marvel's New 'Blade' Reboot Is Officially in Trouble

The Daywalker can’t catch a break these days. Two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali finally confirmed what was long expected this summer — the MCU’s Blade movie would not be moving forward with him in the lead role. He hasn’t minced words about his departure either, laying the blame squarely at Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios’ feet for not moving on the project with him under contract. Marvel first introduced him as Eric Brooks all the way back in 2019 at San Diego Comic-Con, yet after years and years of delays, changing writers, and so on, it became clear that the union was never meant to be.

As if that wasn’t painful enough, fans of the titular half-vampire had another stake driven through their hearts back in June when Xbox announced massive layoffs and divestment from several of the studios they purchased amid restructuring plans. One of those studios was Arkane Studios, best known for the acclaimed Dishonored series, Deathloop, and a yet-to-be-released Marvel’s Blade, announced back in 2023. It was at one point thought possible that Xbox would shut the developer down entirely, effectively canceling the single-player action-adventure title before it ever saw the light of day. That hasn’t happened yet, but according to a new report, the studio is running out of time fast.

According to French publication Le Monde, Arkane is staring down closure by November 13 if another buyer doesn’t swoop in and pick up the studio. Under France’s Florange Law, a company of at least 1,000 employees must first spend at least three months seeking a new home for a studio before it can shut it down. Xbox began that process over the summer, and the deadline would be the end of consultations with Arkane Studios’ Social and Economic Committee. Various forms of takeover are actively being considered to save the studio and the 217 jobs that could be at stake with a closure. A union rep said, though, that “negotiations on the redundancy plan are going badly,” but they’re ultimately hopeful about the prospect of saving Arcane if they can buy more time in the process. Microsoft has since responded that it’s looking for a partner to help carry the project into the next phase of development and commercialization.

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‘Marvel’s Blade’ Is Officially “Nearing the End” of Production

For his part, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier expressed his doubts that this was the end of Arkane Studios after Le Monde’s reporting. “My understanding is that there are multiple paths actively being explored that would save Arkane Lyon,” he wrote. “Anything can happen during negotiations, but at this point I’d be surprised if the studio is shut down.” If things did fall apart, though, it would be devastating both on a company level, with so many set to lose their jobs, and on an artistic level. Le Monde further wrote that union representatives confirmed production on Marvel’s Blade was “nearing the end,” and that they believed it would be a “monumental waste” if it were scrapped this late into the process. Moreover, the French video game workers’ union, Syndicat des Travailleureuses du Jeu Video, was adamant in their belief that the game would succeed if seen to completion.

None of this happens in a vacuum. News of Arkane’s precarious situation comes just days after EA shut down Dragon Age and Mass Effect developers BioWare after over 30 years of operation. The end of the legendary RPG studio was soon followed by a two-minute work-in-progress clip of what would’ve been the fifth Mass Effect, titled Mass Effect: Universe, appearing online and teasing an intergalactic James Bond-like story of epic proportions. More than ever, the AAA games industry is showing cracks and leaving no studio safe from the Sword of Damocles, regardless of their track record.

Stay tuned here at Collider for more on Marvel’s Blade and the future of Arkane.