Marvel‘s “Blade” reboot finally has a screenwriter after their six-month search has concluded. Today, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Marvel has chosen Stacy Osei-Kuffour to write the script for their upcoming feature film that will have two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali in the role of Eric Brooks, aka Blade. Stacy was an editor and writer on HBO’s fantastic “Watchmen” series and Amazon‘s Nazi-hunting show “Hunters,” the former expanded upon the comic book universe created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Marvel Studios hiring someone with a background on a popular gritty and complex comic book project should help ease fans a little uneasy about their upcoming reboot. It’s also Marvel’s first black writer as the lead writer of one of their movies.
Wesley Snipes played the role between in three feature films that kicked-off with Stephen Norrington‘s original installment that was released back in 1998, two years before 20th Century Fox’s “X-Men.” Mahershala Ali was officially announced for the role back at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 and ended fan speculation that Wesley Snipes would join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Brooks is also known by the Vampire Nation as “the Daywalker, a half-vampire that has their hunger to feed on blood but is immune to sunlight and silver; Blade uses pricey weapons and bullets made of silver. In the original three films, the Vampire Nation is a secret underground world of vampires that have embedded themselves within all points of human society, from criminal syndicates, law enforcement to politics. Humans are considered cattle in this vampire lore, and there are full-on blood farms explored in the third movie.
David S. Goyer was screenwriter behind the trilogy and was one of the few creatives to stick around for all three projects before a notoriously frustrating production on “Blade : Trinity” and it’s poor reception ended future films, despite talk from Wesley Snipes over the years about reprising the role. Interestingly, Marvel’s Kevin Feige was a producer on “Blade Trinity,” the final installment in the film franchise before David S. Goyer and Geoff Johns paired on a short-lived television series for Spike TV starring rapper Sticky Fingaz.
“Blade” is currently without a release date or a director, so there doesn’t seem to be a production schedule set in place at the moment until they have a draft and someone willing to direct. “John Wick” directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch have both expressed interest in the project.
The next big thing will be if Marvel aims to keep the action-horror franchise mature or go the PG-13; it was announced recently that the studio is pushing forward with “Deadpool 3” sticking to an R-rating and that could signal that “Blade” will too.