Marvel Studios’ animated series Marvel Zombies has taken an unexpected place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline, not because of what it planned, but because of what never came to pass. When the creative team began shaping the project, they assumed that by the time their series hit screens, a live-action Blade movie would already exist. 
That assumption proved very wrong, forcing the showrunners to rethink how to handle the character.
Brad Winderbaum, Marvel’s head of streaming, television, and animation, revealed in a conversation with IGN that the mini-series was developed “believing that there would be a Blade movie out well before.” Years of production delays and multiple false starts, however, meant the much-hyped Mahershala Ali Blade reboot never reached cameras, leaving the animated team in a tricky spot. “We never, in a million years, thought that the Zombies show would precede a live-action Blade,” Winderbaum admitted. “The fact that this is the first Blade in the MCU on screen is kind of a surprising privilege to us.”
Rather than risk conflicting with whatever Marvel might eventually decide for Ali’s interpretation, the animation division pivoted. Instead of simply adapting the vampire hunter in his classic form, they created a unique hybrid: a fusion between Blade and Moon Knight dubbed the Fists of Khonshu, sometimes informally called Blade Knight. This reinvention gave the team more creative freedom and ensured they weren’t stepping on the toes of the live-action division, which was still shaping its own vision of the half-human, half-vampire warrior. Voiced by Todd Williams – best known for roles in Invincible and Starfield – the character became one of the most talked-about elements of the show’s first trailer, blending the mystical trappings of Moon Knight with Blade’s signature vampire-hunting grit.
Winderbaum didn’t outright confirm that Ali’s Blade was once part of the original plan, but he strongly suggested that at one point, Marvel Zombies may have leaned closer to the live-action version before being forced to chart a different course. By giving Blade a supernatural twist, the team sidestepped continuity problems and offered fans something genuinely fresh, even if it wasn’t what many expected. It’s a striking reminder of how the MCU’s interconnected nature can complicate storytelling across different mediums, especially when live-action projects stall.
Meanwhile, the fate of the live-action Blade remains one of Marvel’s most puzzling sagas. Initially announced back in 2019 with Ali attached, it was at one time expected to film in 2022. Yet delays piled up as creative disagreements, script rewrites, and shifting MCU priorities derailed progress. The only glimpse fans have had so far came in Eternals, where Ali’s voice was heard in a post-credits tease. That fleeting cameo only heightened anticipation for his eventual debut.
Kevin Feige recently confirmed that the long-delayed reboot would be set in the modern day, after “three or four” different versions of the film were considered. Still, scheduling remains murky. Marvel’s next few years are already loaded with tentpoles: Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Avengers: Doomsday, Avengers: Secret Wars, plus future installments of Black Panther and the long-awaited X-Men reboot. With such a crowded slate, Feige admitted there’s “no sense of urgency” to rush Blade forward.
For now, then, it is the animated Marvel Zombies that carries the Blade mantle in the MCU. Though some fans lament the constant delays, others see the Blade Knight experiment as an inventive twist, offering something entirely new while Marvel figures out its live-action course. It’s not the debut anyone expected, but it’s one that proves the resilience of Marvel’s storytellers when faced with uncertainty – and perhaps a reminder that sometimes the strangest detours create the most memorable results.