While Marvel Studios is gearing up to shoot things like “Spider-Man 4” with Destin Daniel Cretton (“Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings”) directing and the Russo Brothers (“Avengers: Endgame”) making their triumphant return to the MCU for “Avengers: Doomsday,” another big tentpole project is still seeking a director. That project would be their “Blade” reboot after losing two previous helmers (Bassam Tariq and Yann Damage). One rumor can be put to bed after British filmmaker Jeymes Samuel (“The Book of Clarence,” “The Harder They Fall”) squashed the rumbling he was in talks with Marvel Studios for the gig starring Mahershala Ali (“Moonlight,” “Jurassic World Rebirth”) as the new Eric Brooks.
Stating, “I don’t know where these rumors start, but I am not in talks to do ‘Blade’ with Marvel.”
You can read his full rebuttal on that rumor he posted on Twitter yesterday below.
That aforementioned rumor originated from World of Reel, which has a spotty track record (putting it lightly) for reporting tidbits like these and was later disputed by Jeff Sneider on his YouTube podcast. So it wasn’t all that surprising that this turned out to be inaccurate.
Buyers, beware when it comes to rumors that might sound too good to be true as there are plenty of places, even from those who have strong reputations that haven’t been terribly accurate lately. An abundance of caution should be applied to mainly any non-trade reports or rumors from the jump anyway. Caution is certainly a sentiment shared by “Doctor Strange” director Scott Derrickson, who posted this evergreen message on social media today, warning folks how often rumors concerning Marvel projects tend to be bunk.
“In my years working for Marvel and in all the years since, I would say about 95% of what gets reported as Marvel news is false,” Derrickson posted on Twitter today.
Anyways, there do still seem to be plans to move forward with “Blade” despite the dust-up and extended delays to the horror/action film, which Kevin Feige reaffirmed is aiming to be another R-rated project after the huge success of the studios’ first R-rated release, “Deadpool & Wolverine,” destroyed box office records even with an adult-skewing audience. Funny enough, that film featured the return of Wesley Snipes as the Daywalker, which likely will help Marvel a lot by reminding the general public about the vampire-hunting character ahead of the new film.
I’m sure we’ll be hearing the real name of the director for “Blade,” hopefully soon, to end this online speculation and rumor mill.
SOURCE: JEYMES SAMUEL VIA TWITTER
THE RONIN 