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Photographer David Jay specializes in fashion and beauty, stuff that’s “beautiful and sexy — and completely untrue,” as he puts it. But that’s not all he photographs.

Three years ago, Jay began to take pictures of young, severely wounded soldiers returning home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Trigger warning: These portraits don’t shy away from wounded bodies.

Be prepared. I found them shocking at first. But keep looking. The more I looked, the more beauty and humanity I found reflected here. (The photo captions are from the Jay’s Unknown Soldier Project Facebook page. All images used with permission.)

This is 1st Lt. Nicholas John Vogt, U.S. Army. On Nov. 12, 2011, he was severely injured by an IED while on a foot-patrol in Panjwaii, Afghanistan. We took these pictures this past weekend in the swimming pool at Walter Reed Medical Center. I asked Nicholas for his permission to post these images and this was his response: “The only thing that I want to pass on is this: Losing limbs is like losing a good friend. We wish we could still be with them, but it wasn’t ‘in the cards.’ Then we get up, remember the good times, and thank God for whatever we have left.” Image by David Jay/ David Jay Photography. All images used with permission.

In a National Public Radio interview about his project, Jay said, “You can imagine how many times each of these men and women have heard a parent tell their child, ‘Don’t look. Don’t stare at him. That’s rude.'”

“I take these pictures so that we can look; we can see what we’re not supposed to see. And we need to see them because we created them.” — David Jay

Jay wants us to see, to become even a little familiar with the tragic loss of limbs and burned skin of wounded vets — his portraits are 4 feet wide — but he also wants us to see them as people and to think about their experiences and those of people in their lives.

This past week, I went to San Antonio, Texas. There I had the privilege of photographing both Daniel Burgess and Bobby Bernier. They are friends. Daniel stepped on a IED, losing one leg and destroying the other. Bobby was hit by incoming artillery, sustaining burns over 60% of his body. He is pictured here with his daughter Layla.

This is Maj. Matt Smith. This past week, Matt allowed me to photograph him in his room at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Less than three months ago, on June 8, 2013, in Paktika province, Afghanistan, Matt was shot along with five others by a member of the Afghan National Army. The bullet severed his femoral artery, resulting in the amputation of his leg. A private and soulful man, it was an honor to photograph him. Thank you, Maj. Smith.

This is Jerral Hancock. He was driving a tank in Iraq. A roadside bomb pierced the armor, breaching the interior. We shot these pics two weeks ago at his home in Lancaster, California, where Jarral lives with his two beautiful children. We ended up hanging out into the night, smokin’ ciggys … so I kept taking pictures.

“To the men and women of The Unknown Soldier, I can’t thank you enough for your courage and sacrifice … both on and off the battlefield. It is an honor to photograph you.” — David Jay

On July 25, 2012, SFC Cedric King, an Airborne Ranger, was severely injured by an IED while serving his country in Afghanistan. Due to the explosion, Cedric sustained a multitude of internal and external injuries, losing both his legs. Cedric was doing his laps while I was photographing 1st Lt. Nicholas Vogt in the pool at Walter Reed Medical Center last week. Cedric kept watching, so I had to ask. Cedric said, “That man (Nicholas) doesn’t know it, but he changed my life. There was a point when I was so down that I thought I couldn’t go on. And then one day I saw him swimming … and I just thought, wow … if he can go on like that, then I can go on too.” Cedric will also change people’s lives. Already has.

This is Michael Fox, a 27-year-old Marine and an amazing man. On Nov. 15, 2011, Michael was on foot-patrol in the Helmand province of Afghanistan. His is the first picture of “The Unknown Soldier.”

This past weekend, I photographed Staff Sgt. Shilo Harris in Houston, Texas. He came up from San Antonio to see one of my other exhibitions, The SCAR Project (www.thescarproject.org). Shilo was severely burned on Feb. 19, 2007, by a roadside bomb estimated at 700 pounds. He lost three men out of a crew of five. Only Shilo and his driver survived the blast. Shilo has a book coming out soon. He is truly an amazing man, and I am honored to call him a friend.

“The Unknown Soldier is about neither war or politics … but rather something infinitely simpler and more powerful.” — David Jay

The Library of Congress has acquired images from Jay’s The Unknown Soldier project as part of its documentation of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This speaks to the power of these images in capturing war’s aftermath. But they are so much more than documentation.

Pictures like these help those of us who remain at home to begin to comprehend the true human cost of war.

This article originally appeared on 05.31.15

Christina Hunger, 26, is a speech-language pathologist in San Diego, California who believes that “everyone deserves a voice.”

Hunger works with one- and two-year-old children, many of which use adaptive devices to communicate. So she wondered what would happen if she taught her two-month-old puppy, a Catahoula/Blue Heeler named Stella, to do the same.

“If dogs can understand words we say to them, shouldn’t they be able to say words to us? Can dogs use AAC to communicate with humans?”
she wondered.

Hunger and her fiancé Jake started simply by creating a button that said “outside” and then pressed it every time they said the word or opened the door. After a few weeks, every time Hunger said “outside,” Stella looked at the button.

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Soon, Stella began to step on the button every time she wanted to go outside.

They soon added more buttons that say “eat,” “water,” “play,” “walk,” “no,” “come,” “help,” “bye,” and “love you.”

“Every day I spent time using Stella’s buttons to talk with her and teach her words just as I would in speech therapy sessions with children,” she wrote on her blog.

“Instead of rewarding Stella with a treat for using a button, we responded to her communication by acknowledging her message and responding accordingly. Stella’s voice and opinions matter just as our own do,” she continued.

If Stella’s water bowl is empty, she says “water.” If she wants to play tug of war, she says, “play.” She even began to tell friends “bye” if they put on their jackets by the door.

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Stella soon learned to combine different words to make phrases.

One afternoon, shortly after daylight savings, she began saying “eat” at 3:00 pm. When Hunger didn’t respond with food, she said, “love you no” and walked out of the room.

Today, Stella has learned over 29 words and can combine up to five at a time to make a phrase or sentence.

“The way she uses words to communicate and the words she’s combining is really similar to a 2-year-old child,” Hunger says of her blog.

She believes her work has the potential to transform the bond between humans and dogs.

“I think how important dogs are to their humans,” Hunger says. “I just imagine how much deeper the bond will be.”

Stella asks to play ball outside.

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Stella clearly wants some more breakfast.

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After a fun day at the beach, Stella wants to go back.

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Stella telling Hunger that she doesn’t want her to leave to work.

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Soon, Stella began to step on the button every time she wanted to go outside.

They soon added more buttons that say “eat,” “water,” “play,” “walk,” “no,” “come,” “help,” “bye,” and “love you.”

“Every day I spent time using Stella’s buttons to talk with her and teach her words just as I would in speech therapy sessions with children,” she wrote on her blog.

“Instead of rewarding Stella with a treat for using a button, we responded to her communication by acknowledging her message and responding accordingly. Stella’s voice and opinions matter just as our own do,” she continued.

If Stella’s water bowl is empty, she says “water.” If she wants to play tug of war, she says, “play.” She even began to tell friends “bye” if they put on their jackets by the door.

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This article originally appeared on 11.08.19

Any parent knows that kids can be surprisingly astute little philosophers at the most unexpected times. One minute your child is throwing a tantrum because you sliced their sandwich wrong, and the next they are blowing you away with their deep preschool thoughts. It’s enough to give you whiplash, but it’s also one of the most fun things about being around kids. You never know what they’re going to say and sometimes what they say is just awesome.

Case in point: This 5-year-old who gave his mom some sage advice about handling her nerves.

Twitter user @Eprecipice (StressieBessie) shared the story in a tweet thread. She wrote:

“When talking about our agendas for the day, I told my 5yo I was a little nervous about a meeting I have today. He said, ‘Mama, I am nervous all the time. I know what to do.’ So friends, here is all the advice he could fit into the drive to school:”

1. “You gotta say your affirmations in your mouth and your heart. You say, ‘I am brave of this meeting!’ , ‘I am loved!’, ‘I smell good!’ And you can say five or three or ten until you know it.”

Okay, first of all, the fact that this kiddo knows what affirmations are is awesome. Some people have questioned whether this advice really came from a 5-year-old because of the vocabulary, but kids are sponges and affirmations aren’t rocket science. It’s become quite common for preschools and kindergartens to teach kids things like this, so it’s not actually surprising to hear him talk about affirmations. It’s just adorable to hear the ones he suggests.

When talking about our agendas for the day, I told my 5yo I was a little nervous about a meeting I have today. He said, u201cMama, I am nervous all the time. I know what to do.u201d So friends, here is all the advice he could fit into the drive to school:

— StressieBessie (@StressieBessie)
1643118594

2. “You gotta walk big. You gotta mean it. Like Dolly on a dinosaur. Because you got it.”

Okay, so this actually is sound advice. Researcher Amy Cuddy gave a whole TED Talk about how our minds respond to our own body language, and how using confident body language can actually release chemicals in our brains that make us feel more powerful and self-assured. So “walk big” like you mean it is legit.

2. u201cYou gotta walk big. You gotta mean it. Like Dolly on a dinosaur. Because you got it.u201d

— StressieBessie (@StressieBessie)
1643118788

3. “Never put a skunk on a bus.”

No idea what this means, but it’s definitely solid wisdom.

4. “Think about the donuts of your day! Even if you cry a little, you can think about potato chips!”

I’m genuinely not sure if this is referencing real donuts or not, which is part of what makes it delightful advice. Metaphorically, “the donuts of your day” could be the positive things that happened, and focusing on those instead of the negative is basic positive thinking. Then again, if you cry and think about potato chips, perhaps he’s just referencing comfort with food. Either way, totally feeling it.

4. u201cThink about the donuts of your day! Even if you cry a little, you can think about potato chips!u201d

— StressieBessie (@StressieBessie)
1643118922

5. “You gotta take a deep breath and you gotta do it again.”

Pretty much every therapist from every psychological school of thought will tell you that breathing exercises are one of the quickest ways to calm your body and mind. Simple, but seriously sound advice.

6. “Even if it’s a yucky day, you can get a hug.”

Even though that sounds like a pretty typical thought for a kid, it’s also good well-being advice. According to The Conversation, the chemicals released when we hug can help us manage stress, reduce anxiety and manage our emotions.

Smart kid.

He added one more piece of advice for good measure as well for those of us who tend toward distraction.

6. u201cEven if itu2019s a yucky day, you can get a hug.u201d

— StressieBessie (@StressieBessie)
1643119356

Extra addition from this afternoon: u201cDonu2019t get distracted and your feet will stay on the sidewalk and not too full of snow.u201d

— StressieBessie (@StressieBessie)
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Like a little Confucius, this one.

Seriously, if you ever want to hear some of the most oddly profound things you’ll ever hear in your life, spend some time interviewing a 4- or 5-year-old. They really do say the darnedest things. And if you’re nervous about something, just keep telling yourself you’re “brave of” it. If nothing else, it’ll bring a smile to your face remembering this delightful thread.

This article originally appeared on 01.31.22

Female actors in Hollywood are routinely criticized by the press, producers and fans on social media for their appearances. It must be incredibly daunting to undergo constant scrutiny just to do your job and express yourself through your art.

For the most part, men have it a lot easier in Hollywood, where the superficial importance of looks is a less critical to their success. That double standard is why a recent interaction between actor Adam Driver and journalist Chris Wallace is so interesting.

It’s a rare moment when a member of the press is critical of a man’s looks to his face. But Driver handles the situation with grace and humor.

Driver appeared on a recent episode of “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?” to promote his new film “Ferrari,” where he plays Enzo Ferrari, the founder of the iconic car brand. During the interview, Wallace compliments Driver by saying he is often compared to iconic stars such as Jack Nicholson and Al Pacino.

Iu2019ve seen Adam Driver in some films and really liked his performances but I donu2019t feel any sorta way about him otherwise just that imo we needs all kinds of people telling stories so W T F is this itu2019s beyond cruel and is never acceptable

— (@)

“Those are the actors that made me want to be an actor, you know, so that’s a nice comparison,” Driver said while adding that he avoids listening to compliments or negative comments about his career.

“The New Yorker also called me a ‘horse face,’ so I don’t — I take it with a grain of salt,” Driver said. “I remember reading one reviewer [who wrote]: ‘His agent probably doesn’t know whether to put him in a movie or the Kentucky Derby.’ So I take it, you know, if you believe the good thing, then you have to believe the bad thing. So I try to not absorb anything.”

Wallace then affirmed the insult with his next question.

“You don’t look like the typical movie star,” Wallace noted before asking if it was a “help” or a “hindrance” to his career. “A hindrance in only breaking mirrors wherever I go and having a misshapen outsized body that I can’t fit through doorways, or most clothes or fit into most cars,” the actor joked. “Apart from that, it’s good.”

After Driver’s response, Wallace kept to the same line of questioning, asking him if he thought his career would be easier if he looked like “All the President’s Men” and “The Natural” star Robert Redford. He drove the point home even further by putting up an image of Redford on the screen, juxtaposed with Driver. “It would just be different,” Driver said. “Who doesn’t want to look like Robert Redford? I’ve accepted this is how I look.”

The exchange went viral on X, where people praised Diver for his thoughtful and funny responses to a series of questions many saw as inappropriate.

“would you have a better career if you didn’t have a horse face and instead looked like Robert Redford?”

the way they pulled up a live side-by-side image is not just shady journalism that is diabolical. pic.twitter.com/kNy1WNDG3f

— luca (@LucaGuadagnegro) December 2, 2023

Imagine getting to interview an astounding actor like Driver and squandering your time by insulting his looks

— Michael McDevitt (@MikeMcDTweets) December 1, 2023

This is both hilariously rude and also a reminder that many straight men deeply misunderstand what women find attractive

— eastriverpearl (@eastriverpearl) December 2, 2023

God, so rude. Especially right after he mentioned those mean comments.

— Jennifer (@Jennifer3573301) December 1, 2023

Driver handled that REAAAALLY well. Very impressed no notes

— Aureus I guess (@ImAureus) December 1, 2023

There are many good reasons for people to feel angry over the way Wallace badgered Driver into talking about his looks. But the positive takeaway from the interview should be that Driver was proud to say that he has “accepted” how he looks, regardless of the amount of ink wasted by others who comment on his appearance.

Almost everyone, at least once in their lives, enters a holiday season with very little money to spend on gifts. Unexpected medical expenses, job loss, everything breaking down all at once—we’ve all been there to some extent.

And yet, when December 25th makes its way into the periphery, many put themselves further into the red by buying items that no way match their budget. Or, there’s a sense of shame when telling family and friends that it simply can’t be done this year.

But one mom is perfectly unfazed about owning up to whatever financial realities exist for her and her family, and she is encouraging others to have the same mindset.

“Let me share with you my holiday gift guide for the broke mom,” the mom, Sam, says in her TikTok. “The guide is that there is no guide. I have no suggestions because I’m just honest with people.”

Sam recalls that last year when her family couldn’t afford gifts for anybody, she simply said so. And lo and behold—it was totally fine.

“You’d be surprised how many people were like, ‘Oh great, because I don’t want to buy you a gift either,” she continues, adding that many people are currently in the same boat because of inflation, and might find the same relief in not being obligated to buy one more thing.

Sam also argues in the clip that really, the only ones that take priority when it comes to Christmas gifts are those who you’re responsible for, i.e. your children. But even for kids, she argues that gifts they want or need can easily be thrifted most of the time. And really, often what they really want isn’t more stuff anyway.

And if the desire to still gift something persists, Sam recommends some simple, frugal alternatives, like thrifting or making something.

@shawtgal49 I’d prefer a little realness over another mug anyway #fyp #sahm #brokemom ♬ original sound – Sam

Bottom line: whether you’re preparing baked goods using dollar store ingredients or repurposing household items to make DIY picture frames or requesting a White Elephant party or not doing gifts at all, embarrassment should be left out of the equation.

“Maybe we should all be a little bit more honest this holiday season because you don’t know who you’d be helping. You don’t know who was embarrassed to say that they couldn’t afford something for you this year, and you saved them by telling them that you’re not doing gifts,” Sams concludes.

And she is not the only one on board for this idea, judging by the comments section to her video. Several agreed that holiday overspending is overrated.

“I refuse to go broke for holidays anymore,” one person wrote.

Another added, “Honestly it would make me feel terrible if I knew someone was struggling and they gave me a gift. I’d rather you not and spend it on what you need. ❤️”

One person even joked, “We don’t do gifts for anyone anymore. We’re all just passing the same $20 around lol.”

The rest of the year is stressful enough. Let’s give ourselves permission to be a little kinder to ourselves by honoring our limits this holiday season. After all, peace of mind is a gift that’s priceless.

Is there a pinker movie than Barbie? Probably not. The latest from Greta Gerwig is so pink there was a (since debunked) rumor that it caused a pink paint shortage. Everyone — or at least every character in Barbieland, which is to say not Will Ferrell’s Mattel honcho — wears pink, including [gasp] the boys. And you know what? They loved it.

Margot Robbie sat down chat with Cillian Murphy, one of her fellow “Barbenheimer” mates, for Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series. In a bit teased out by People, she revealed that it was the men who were most stoked out of the cast to be splayed out in the color. Co-star Ryan Gosling was perhaps the most excited of them all.

“It’s always the guys, I feel like, that are like, ‘Oh, finally I have permission to wear pink and get dressed up!’” Robbie said. “It would get crazier and crazier until Ryan would be like, ‘I think I need a mink.’ It would just get insane.”

Robbie said she even made some rules, such as on Wednesdays everyone wears pink — a reference to Mean Girls (that Murphy admitted he had forgotten about). If one didn’t wear pink that day, they’d get fined, which she would donate to charity.

Elsewhere in her chat with Murphy, Robbie recalled being approached by one of Oppenheimer’s producers, who demanded that they move Barbie’s release date so the two films wouldn’t have to compete for the same dough. Luckily that didn’t go so well:

“And he was like, ‘I think you guys should move your date.’ And I was like, ‘We’re not moving our date. If you’re scared to be up against us, then you move your date.’ And he’s like, ‘We’re not moving our date. I just think it’d be better for you to move.’ And I was like, ‘We’re not moving!’ I think this is a really great pairing, actually. It’s a perfect double billing, Oppenheimer and Barbie.”

So can we credit Robbie with “Barbenheimer,” creating a craze that may have helped save the movies? Sure, why not.

(Via Variety and People)

Nicki Minaj is just days away from the release of her long-awaited album, Pink Friday 2 and only a couple of weeks removed from announcing her impending tour for the album. However, while she did share the link to join the RSVP list for the tickets, fans may be wondering when the tickets will actually be available for purchase.

How To Buy Tickets For Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday 2 Tour

While the official launch day for tickets hasn’t been announced yet, and RSVP signups are now closed, the RSVP link now directs fans to Nicki’s official website, where they can pre-save Pink Friday 2 and presumably get tickets when she does announce them.

When Will Nicki Minaj Announce Her 2024 Tour Dates?

While Nicki did tease that the tour would run through Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Oklahoma City, and Washington, DC (with possible additional cities added per RSVP demand), she hasn’t yet announced when those dates would be. She did, however, insist that “I HAVE THE ROUTING” when one fan suggested that the tour hadn’t been finalized yet.

Will Nicki Minaj’s 2024 Tour Tickets Drop Soon?

It remains unclear if Nicki is going to put. out the tickets anytime before the end the end of the year. After all, no one wants to compete with Christmas for the public’s play money, especially with prices for everyday goods being what they are, let alone luxuries. The smart money is on Nicki announcing sometime in early 2024, after the recording industry reopens and the audience’s budgets have had a chance to bounce back from holiday festivities.

For Casey Wilson, there was nothing holly and/or jolly about her time with Tim Allen on The Santa Clauses.

Variety reports that during a recent episode of her Bitch Sesh podcast, the Happy Endings star called working with Allen on the Disney+ show the “single worst experience I’ve ever had with a co-star ever.” Wilson, who played the grown-up version of a character from 1994’s The Santa Clause, added that the famous grunter was “such a bitch.”

“So I’m in a scene. It’s just me and Tim Allen and I’m supposed to throw things at him,” Wilson remembered. “I think he’s a burglar. So he’s coming down the chimney, obviously as Santa, and I am woken up thinking there’s an intruder, basically like a home invasion scene. So I’m throwing things at him. [He] goes over to the producer who is standing four feet from me and goes, and I hear him, he goes, ‘You gotta tell her to stop stepping on my lines.’ The producer turns to me with horror on his face and has to walk one foot to me and he goes, ‘Umm, Tim would ask that you stop stepping on his lines.’”

Wilson claimed that “everybody was walking on egg shells” around Allen on set, and that when he was done filming, “he was so f*cking rude. Never made eye contact, never said anything. It was so uncomfortable.”

Want to see Wilson in something Christmas-y that doesn’t have the voice of Buzz Lightyear (allegedly) making everyone else miserable? Watch Happy Endings!

You can listen to Bitch Sesh below.

(Via Variety)

After FX’s The Bear became a surprise hit on Hulu, there was the obvious question of whether the show could nail the same fire for another round of episodes. Well, the explosive smoldering continued in Season 2, and the Chefs are on their way back to your TV in Season 3. These days, Jeremy Allen White is fending off scripts, and both Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach are finally getting their due. That’s especially the case in the latter, who managed to hit the ultimate redemption arc, and we’ll see if he can help Carmy pull his head out of his tush after emerging from the refrigerator jail.

The new restaurant’s friends-and-family night went off despite a few hitches, and more is in motion. Here’s what we know about the third outing so far.

Plot

The most recent season finale really puts Carmy at a few crossroads. Not only did he miss out on his big night (with his crew doing just fine without him, and Richie taking charge), but he also got in a fight with Richie and acted like a real ass to Claire. Carmy has some redemption arcs to come, surely, but he might further melt down first. All we really have to go on is speculation for this next season, so let’s keep going.

As for the business of the show, the restaurant passed its first test and got rid of all the health hazards, but now, they must turn a profit. Perhaps they will also aim for a Michelin star, and if it happens, then that still might not be enough to stay afloat. They did, after all, promise to repay Uncle Jimmy rather quickly. Or perhaps those possible mob ties will come and get Jimmy first?

Beyond that, I think it’s clear that Carmy will likely continue to let Sydney down. She could decide to strike out with her own restaurant. Hell, she could pair up with Will Poulter’s Luca and Lionel Boyce’s Marcus and really go to town. Or perhaps Carmy will leave town for awhile (while Jeremy Allen White multiple A24 movies), and Sydney will simply be in charge of the new joint.

On the subject of Richie, Ebon Moss-Bachrach did let it slip to AV Club that he was “on the fence” about whether Richie could have transformed so quickly, so perhaps we’ll see some back and forth there. However, I would argue that his changes were already in motion, and Olivia Colman’s Chef merely set the ball rolling while telling him that Carmy praised him for being “good with people.” Whatever the case, he ended Season 2 as a beloved character, so everyone wants more of Richie.

Cast

Jeremy Allen White will be back as Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto, and I sure hope that he’s not going to attempt another romance this season. He’s got a lot of work to do! Meanwhile, Ayo Edebiri will continue to rule as Sydney while Moss-Bachrach returns as Cousin Richie. As far as cameos go, Jamie Lee Curtis has got come back to let us know if her character screws up at being a grandmother, too. White revealed that he’d love to see John Turturro and Sam Rockwell as guests, and I don’t believe that the show could forget about Jon Bernthal or Will Poulter. We shall see.

Release Date

Since Season 2 went arrived slightly less than a year after Season 1, the same might happen again, even though Hollywood got slowed down for several months with strikes. However, filming will begin in the new year, and a summer 2024 turnaround is definitely possible.

Trailer

No trailer exists yet, but c’mon, let’s watch Richie get it together all over again:

The The Bear‘s next entry is in process. Yes, Chefs!

The Blade reboot almost seems as cursed as the titular hero. After Oscar-winning actor Mahershala Ali was attached to the film that will bring the vampire hunter into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Blade reboot was hit with a series of delays and release date reshuffles while already being faced with a monumental task of living up to the Wesley Snipes films.

However, Ali has since issued a surprising update on his full-fledged MCU debut. (He briefly voiced the character in an end-credits scene for The Eternals.)

“We’re working on it. That’s the best I could tell you,” Ali told Entertainment Weekly. “I’m really encouraged with the direction of the project. I think we’ll be back at it relatively soon.”

Ali’s update arrives on the heels of an eyebrow-raising report from Variety last month that claimed the actor almost quit the movie after Marvel went through five writers and two directors while trying to nail down a story for Blade:

One person familiar with the script permutations says the story at one point morphed into a narrative led by women and filled with life lessons. Blade was relegated to the fourth lead, a bizarre idea considering that the studio had two-time Oscar winner Ali on board.

Amid reports that Ali was ready to exit over script issues, Feige went back to the drawing board and hired Michael Green, the Oscar-nominated writer of “Logan,” to start anew. Speculation around town is that the studio is looking to make the film, now slated for 2025, on a budget of less than $100 million — a deviation from Marvel’s big-spending strategy.

Following the Variety report, Blade saw its release date pushed back again as Marvel adjusted its schedule due to delays from the writers and actors strike. As of this writing, the Blade reboot hits theaters on November 7, 2025.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)