Not too long ago it was reported that director Bassam Tariq (Mogul Mowgli) was the frontrunner to helm Marvel Studios’ Blade reboot starring Mahershala Ali. The director has confirmed this, but also that he’s signed on.
During a chat with The Playlist Podcast, Tariq talked a little bit about screenwriter Stacy Osei-Kuffour (Hunters, Watchmen), praising her and working on Blade.
“Yes, I can confirm I am directing Blade, Marvel is letting me do it.”
“I didn’t think [‘Blade’] was going to happen, just to be very honest. I’m honored and it’s a privilege, but I’m here in service of Stacy Osei-Kuffour, who is the incredible writer that is writing the film…She’s just a phenomenal presence and a juggernaut in her own right. And for Mahershala [Ali]. For me, it’s really just working in their service. [Marvel] takes big swings, you know?…I can’t say anything about it, but I’m just so excited for what we’re doing.”
“Character is very important for me. I don’t think of genre, I think of character. It’s not so boxed in as people imagine it to be [working with Marvel Studios]. It’s quite exciting. And I think the reality is there is no ‘Blade’ canon, you know? If you ever read the comics, they’re always changing…Unfortunately, the [comic book series] never lasted that long.”
Eric Brooks aka Blade is a vampire hunter, that happens to be half-vampire himself and allows him to be immune sunlight/silver making him stronger than a majority of adversaries. The main antagonists for Blade are The Vampire Nation, the secretive group of shadowy figures that have a stranglehold on positions of power in human society and have sects all over the world.
BLADE – A half-mortal, half-immortal is out to avenge his mother’s death and rid the world of vampires. The modern-day technologically advanced vampires he is going after are in search of his special blood type needed to summon an evil god who plays a key role in their plan to execute the human race.
We’ll keep our fingers crossed that Loki production designer Kasra Farahani is considered for the production team. A release or cast have yet to be announced by Marvel, we’ll have to wait and see about that information.
SOURCE: THE PLAYLIST
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