There were rumblings for years that Marvel Studios had plans for Blade, but it wasn't until the San Diego Comic-Con in 2019 that was made official. Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali was brought out on stage to be revealed as the MCU's Daywalker, and he's since made a voice cameo in Eternals' intriguing post-credits scene featuring Dane Whitman and the Ebony Blade.
It was at this year's Comic-Con we learned Blade will return to the big screen next year, and Bassam Tariq will be at the helm of the movie when it does.
During a recent interview with ComicBook.com, John Wick director Chad Stahelski revealed that he actually spoke with Marvel Studios about Blade prior to Tariq coming on board. "After John Wick 3, [Kevin Feige] was nice enough to carve out a big chunk of time and have nice talk. He's been, in a way, a very strong mentor, even though it was a short period of time."
"I've only talked to him a few times, but he has been very influential in mindset and how to do it. And he actually asked me, 'What could we ever do?' I was like, 'Look, I'm not going to lie to you. I don't know if I fit that kind of studio mould, but Blade would be the one interesting thing I'd like to do.'"
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Obviously, that didn't pan out as Marvel Studios had different plans for the franchise, and the decision to hire Tariq has been widely praised. Interestingly, Stahelski would go on to point out that, "I don't know if I would've been the best choice for that in the direction they wanted to go."
"If you want to do the edgy rated R version, yeah, give me a call," he continued. "If you want to be non-apologetic, yeah. That's me. But I think they're protecting their brand, they're doing their thing.
Rating differences aside, we'd also bet that Marvel Studios is looking to go back to the character's roots rather than focusing so greatly on the action-heavy martial arts elements that were introduced in the previous movie franchise starring Wesley Snipes. Stahelski would have nailed that with an R-Raying, but he'll no doubt eventually find his way into the MCU.
His John Wick co-director David Leitch would go on to helm Deadpool 2, though he won't be back for the MCU threequel, news many fans might be happy about based on those Bullet Train reviews.
Blade is set to be released in theaters on November 3, 2023.