For years, Marvel has been working to introduce Blade to the MCU—but there’s been another bump in the road. According to The Hollywood Reporter, director Bassam Tariq has left the project just months before it was set to begin filming.
In a statement, Marvel told THR, “Due to continued shifts in our production schedule, Bassam is no longer moving forward as director of Blade but will remain an executive producer on the film.” The movie was reportedly set to start filming in Atlanta in November—which already seemed like a pretty tight schedule for a Marvel film with a November 3, 2023 release date.
THR’s sources also say that the film “has undergone several rounds of script rewrites.” In early 2021, Stacy Osei-Kuffour (Watchmen) was announced as the film’s writer (and the first Black woman to write a Marvel movie). But now, THR also reports that Beau DeMayo (Moon Knight, The Witcher) is the current writer.
Blade is set to star the Oscar-winning Mahershala Ali as the titular half-vampire vampire hunter; the cast includes Delroy Lindo and Aaron Pierre. Technically, Ali has already played Blade, as he has a tiny voice cameo in Eternals. But with Blade now director-less, it may be a while before we actually get to see him step into the role.
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