Marvel’s “Blade” franchise is starting over creatively. After losing its original director, Bassam Tariq, who parted ways with the studio earlier this year, Marvel has not only found a new director but a new writer and appears to be starting from scratch.
According to THR, Yann Demange has signed on to direct the film and hired Michael Starrbury to write a new script. Mahershala Ali is starring in the title role, and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige will produce.
READ MORE: Marvel Pushes ‘Blade’ To 2024 & ‘Secret Wars’ To 2026 As Most Of Phase 6 Gets Delayed
Even before Marvel found a new creative team, after Tariq left, the studio felt it would be best to delay the film, removing it from their 2023 calendar. Now, the film will arrive on September 6, 2024.
Demange is known for the indie thriller ’71,” the Matthew McConaughey drama “White Boy Rick” and directing the pilot for HBO’s supernatural thriller, “Lovecraft Country.” Starburry was nominated for an Emmy for penning an episode of Ava DuVernay’s drama, “When They See Us,” and also wrote “Colin In Black And White” for her as well.
Tariq left “Blade” after creative differences, the film was originally supposed to start production this month. Rather than just finding a new director to hit a release date, Marvel realized they needed a creative overhaul and decided to start over. That meant a page one rewrite for the project. Ali was personally involved in selecting the writer, according to sources talking to THR.
THR says, “the new intent is for Blade to 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.” Many fans have already noted that THR has “Blade will be R-Rated” in the URL, but given its not in the headline or the story, that just seems an error that hasn’t been resolved yet (you’d think Marvel’s first R-Rated movie would be headline-worthy, no?)
Coming just two months after “Blade” will be the third and currently untitled “Deadpool” movie. 2024 contains four Marvel films total, “Captain America: New World Order” in May and “Thunderbolts” in July.
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