The MCU's Phase 4 slate still has a mystery movie in 2022 - and we think it's probably Blade. The first three phases of the MCU came to an end in 2019, with the epic Avengers: Endgame and an extended epilogue in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Phase 4 has been in flux, with behind-the-scenes drama leading to the delay of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and the near-collapse of Marvel's Spider-Man deal with Sony. The latest changes have been forced by the Coronavirus pandemic.
Marvel has pushed Black Widow back to November 6, 2020, and this has had a dramatic knock-on effect on the rest of the slate, pushing everything back one slot, with Thor: Love & Thunder moving to a previously booked release date in February 2022. Three of the four 2022 releases have now been confirmed, with Black Panther 2 coming out in May and Captain Marvel 2 in July. Marvel has one more date booked in 2022 - October 7 - and that's currently a mystery.
This is most likely the much-anticipated Blade relaunch, starring Mahershala Ali as the Daywalker. Blade had been on the back-burner until Mahershala Ali himself contacted Marvel, asking to play the part. This was shortly after Ali had won his Oscar for Green Book, and as Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige noted, "When Mahershala calls, you answer." Marvel delighted fans with a shock announcement at SDCC 2019, but there's been no real news of this upcoming film to date.
The supernatural thread appears to be carefully woven through Phase 4. In an interview with Rotten Tomatoes, Feige hinted there's a close relationship between Doctor Strange 2 and Blade."We have, for years, wanted to find a new way into Blade," he observed. "We love that character. We love that world. Now, with Doctor Strange and the supernatural elements coming into the MCU, it felt like we could definitely start exploring that." In the comics, the curse of vampirism was introduced into the world by a cosmic force named Chthon, who dwells in another dimension; given Doctor Strange 2 explores the Multiverse, it's not hard to see how it could act as setup for Blade.
Blade is a logical fit for October 2022, not least because it would mean Marvel's recast Daywalker would probably still be in the cinemas for Halloween. Meanwhile, Marvel like to launch at least one franchise every year, meaning both Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Ant-Man 3 - the other films known to be in varying stages of pre-production - can safely be ruled out. What's more, neither of those would really fit with the October window. Thus, by a simple process of elimination, Blade is most likely to be 2022's mystery MCU movie.
