Abdul-Mateen: Marvel's 'Optics' Are Obvious
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- Marvel canceled "Wonder Man" in July after previously renewing it for Season 2, with the first season having launched in January on Disney+ and earning Abdul-Mateen an Emmy nomination.
- Abdul-Mateen told Vanity Fair he was told the cancellation was tied to viewership numbers, though the specific figures were never shared with him.
- Abdul-Mateen said the "optics" around Marvel's treatment of two Black-led superhero projects are "obvious," arguing that "if I'm Disney, if I'm Marvel, I don't want to be attached to these optics" and that the studio should prioritize quality stories and resources to change the narrative.
- Mahershala Ali publicly called out Marvel in July for failing to develop his "Blade" movie, which was announced at Comic-Con in 2019 and cycled through directors Bassam Tariq and Yann Demange without ever entering production; Ali trained for over a year before the project stalled.
- Kevin Feige said on the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast last month that he feels like "a gigantic loser and failure" for not following through on Ali's "Blade."
Why it matters: Marvel publicly lost two Black-led superhero projects — "Wonder Man" after one Emmy-nominated season and "Blade" after six years of starts and stops with Mahershala Ali — and now faces named criticism from the talent involved, with studio boss Kevin Feige conceding he feels like "a gigantic loser and failure" for the Blade collapse.
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