Why Blade Made His MCU Debut In The Animated Marvel Zombies Series

Back in 2021, the "What If...?" episode "What If... Zombies?!" introduced an alternate timeline wherein a virus turned the human race, including multiple Marvel heroes, into undead hordes. In 2025, "Marvel Zombies" explored that bizarro universe and introduced one of the best characters yet seen in any project from Marvel Studios Animation: Eric Brooks/Blade Knight. Voiced by Todd Williams, this version of Blade isn't quite the Marvel Cinematic Universe iteration fans have long been waiting to see on the big screen. But that makes him all the more interesting; he's actually an avatar of the god Khonshu, technically making him a version of Moon Knight.

Why did Marvel decide to debut a highly-anticipated character in an animated miniseries? Well, as co-creator and director Bryan Andrews has since explained, that wasn't how things were supposed to play out. In fact, the "Marvel Zombies" production team were initially under the impression that the "Blade" movie would have debuted by the time their Disney+ series arrived.

Andrews sat down with Brandon Davis on the "Phase Hero" podcast to discuss the whole debacle. "When we were making ['Marvel Zombies'] they [Marvel Studios] had on the docket, 'Okay, 'Blade' is going to be out by blah,' more or less," explained the director. "[...]So, we're like, 'Okay, cool. So, he's on the table. Excellent.' Because by then, the math looked like we will come out after they do." But the math didn't end up mathing, as by the time "Marvel Zombies" dropped, the long-delayed film was nowhere to be seen, prompting Andrews and his team to rework their version of the Daywalker.

Fans have been waiting for far too long for the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of "Blade" to arrive. Originally set to star Mahershala Ali as the titular daywalker, the movie has hit so many problems and setbacks that it's questionable as to whether it will ever see the light of day at this point. In 2024, /Film's Ryan Scott argued that Marvel should put the beleaguered "Blade" out of its misery, and it's hard to argue with that way of thinking, given how cursed this production appears to be.

With that in mind, it wasn't all that surprising when Ali's Blade was recast for "Marvel Zombies", a move which also advertised the fact that this version of the character was not intended to be the cinematic Blade. But it seems the original plan was to feature the Ali Blade. As the release date for "Marvel Zombies" drew closer, however, the animators were forced to pivot.

As Bryan Andrews explained during his "Phase Hero" appearance, producing the Disney+ show involved a lot of checking in on Marvel Studios to see where it was at with the "Blade" movie. "We ran into this thing where [...] they're trying to figure the movie out and all that type of stuff," he explained, "and sometimes when that's happening concurrently, it's difficult for us." The director recalled the difficulties involved with trying to ensure the series' version of Blade looked like the movie version without an actual movie version of the character to reference. "So, we're like, 'Hey guys,' looking over the fence. 'What's going on over there? Who's this character actually going to be?'" explained Andrews.

Ultimately, the director claimed that it was his and his team's decision to stray from Ali's version of the hero. "We didn't want to deal with that anymore," he admitted. "So, we're like, 'Hey, if we made him the Fist of Khonshu, we are absolutely free. We could ignore everything they're doing because this is this Blade, not their Blade, right?' Which freed us up tremendously."

Making the "Marvel Zombies" version of Blade into the Fist of Khonshu essentially means that this iteration of the character is a version of Moon Knight — an earthly avatar of Khonshu, the Egyptian god of the Moon who also resurrected the original Moon Knight, Marc Spector, turning him into the hooded hero. This animated Blade, then, is basically a Blade/Moon Knight mashup, possessed by the spirit of Khonshu — hence the Blade Knight name.

Taking that approach was clearly the right decision for Bryan Andrews and his team, and not only because it meant they were no longer reliant on the glacial pace of development on the Marvel Studios' "Blade" film. "We were like, 'Oh my god, he would look so cool as the fist of Khonshu,'" Andrews noted during his Phase Hero interview. "Our guys started designing it and they started giving us some images. We're like, 'Oh, f*** yeah. Look at this s**t.'" Creating their own take on Blade, then, allowed the "Marvel Zombies" crew to build their own character for their own show, which worked out for the best (as Blade is undeniably one of the coolest character in the series).

Meanwhile, fans are left to wonder whether the "Blade" movie will ever emerge from its tomb to see the light of day. First announced during San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, the project has been hit with so many delays that it has become nothing short of a debacle. We're talking two directors walking out on the project and even its star, Mahershali Ali, coming close to leaving. As of now, the movie has no release date and its future remains very uncertain. Thankfully, "Marvel Zombies" gave us a great on-screen depiction of the character, which was a heck of a lot better than the wasted Wesley Snipes cameo in "Deadpool & Wolverine."

"Marvel Zombies" is now streaming on Disney+.