Fans of the Blade franchise have been eagerly awaiting its iteration starring Mahersala Ali, the two-time Oscar-winning actor who seemed perfect to fill Wesley Snipes’ shoes. However, that movie appears to be on eternal hold, as it’s changed directors twice and is not, as far as anyone knows, on any Marvel Cinematic Universe release schedule.

However, another movie got an unexpected boost from the delay. Ruth Carter, the two-time Oscar-winning costume designer, says that research for the Blade film helped her develop the visuals for Sinners, the Ryan Coogler/Michael B. Jordan juggernaut that has earned more than $122 million since its release on April 18.

Carter had been researching vampire visuals as Blade‘s costume designer when the writers’ and actors’ strike delayed the project, slated for release in 2023. So when Zinzi Coogler called her to find out if she could work on Sinners, not only was she interested, she was prepared.

“I was prepping Blade for Marvel, and it was a 1920s Blade story, and it got shut down because of the writers’ strike and the actors’ strike, so I was just in limbo,” Carter said on the Designing Hollywood podcast. “Having done a lot of research for this period piece about a vampire—Blade is a vampire story—Ryan’s wife, Zinzi, who also was a producer on the picture, she gave me a call and said, ‘I’m not gonna tell you the story, but Ryan has a story he’s going to tell you about. I can’t do it justice like he can.. but it is a period piece about vampires.’ And I thought, ‘Okay, I have already been living in that space for quite a long time prepping Blade, and Blade‘s not going to happen, so let me hear it.’”

While the future of Blade remains murky despite Marvel Studios honcho Kevin Feige saying the studio was committed to it and Ali, Sinners is blowing up the box office with over $122 million in receipts since its release on April 16. Two-time Oscar winner Carter will likely see a nomination for her work on the movie, given its vivid visuals and costuming, including outfitting Jordan as twins Smoke and Stack.

Carter won both Oscars with Coogler in the director’s chair for Black Panther and Wakanda Forever. In this film, the costuming wasn’t as complicated but Carter says that there were behind-the-scenes details that mattered, particularly as the film was shot in IMAX.

“I feel like there’s a generation here that has been cheated out of the cinematic experience,” Carter says. “They came into movies and storytelling through streaming. It’s a new awakening with Ryan being at the front explaining what the different film stocks mean and what you get from them and he’s teaching a master class to this generation of kids who have missed out. I think it’s important to see the film and then understand how we did it.”

See social media’s consistent praise of Sinners below.

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