After a long period of confusion, Marvel’s Blade reboot is finally back on track. The movie which is set to star Mahershala Ali has found its director in Yann Demange, who directed the pilot of HBO’s boundary-pushing horror series ‘Lovecraft Country’.
Blade was initially supposed to be helmed by Bassam Tariq. However, during the pre-production phase, when Tariq left the project due to creative differences, the project’s future was uncertain. The studio however made a great decision by putting the film on hold rather than bringing a new director on board who will have to helm the vision of the previous director and the previously written script. As per reports, the movie will be rewritten from page 1. In fact, Emmy-nominated writer Michael Starrbury has been roped in to rewrite the film.
Blade has always been a fan-favorite since long back and is a vampire-human hybrid. The character has been played before by Wesley Snipes in the three feature films released from 1998 to 2004. Now, Oscar winner Mahershala Ali will be taking the mantle of the character from Snipes to much fanfare.
While the movie was initially supposed to release in November 2023, the various problems the project has run into have resulted in Marvel Studios announcing a new release date of September 6, 2024.
Blade is touted to be a vampire action thriller. Details are being kept under wraps but reports state the new intent is for Blade to be dark and gritty in tone, falling on the edgier side of Marvel fare and maybe even find common shading with the fondly-remembered Blade movies made in the early 2000s by New Line.
Marvel’s last try at anything barely similar to a vampire movie was the Jared Leto starrer ‘Morbius’ which miserably flopped in theatres. With the Blade reboot on again, fans are hopeful that the movie delivers.