Marvel Studios has killed its long-delayed Blade reboot, and the pattern of cutbacks landing on Black-led projects is drawing anger from fans.

• The Blade reboot, announced back in 2019, is officially dead after years of script rewrites and delays.
• Star Mahershala Ali trained for the role and even got hurt doing it; he has now moved on.
• It is not just Blade — Marvel also cancelled a second season of Wonder Man and shelved the Armor Wars project with Don Cheadle.
• Black Panther 3 is still going ahead, so the studio has not dropped the whole category.
• The double standard cuts both ways: Tom Cruise's new film flopped badly, and a flop that size from a woman or a person of color would have been a much bigger story online.

Outlook: Fans are pushing for a Blade revival, but with Marvel trimming its slate, Black Panther 3 looks like the only sure bet.