Following the sudden exit of director Bassam Tariq, rumors about the pre-production stage of Marvel Studios’ Blade movie have been circulating online. One of these reports is regarding the film’s script.
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According to TheDirect, Marvel Studios has enlisted a brand new writer for the Mahershala Ali-led superhero film. The outlet’s sources note that Moon Knight writer Beau DeMayo has been tapped to reportedly rewrite the whole script, taking over Stacy Osei-Kuffour’s previous work on the project. It’s still unclear if these changes will affect its current November 3, 2023 theatrical release date.
The Blade movie was first announced by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con, with Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali making a surprise appearance at the panel. Ali, who previously starred as Cottonmouth in Netflix’s Luke Cage, confirmed that he was the one who first approached the studio about wanting to take on the titular heroic vampire. The daywalker was first famously portrayed by Wesley Snipes, who has already voiced his support for Ali following the announcement.
Last year, it has been revealed that Stacy Osei-Kuffour was tapped to pen the screenplay after six months of meeting with various writers, which would have made her the first Black female writer to pen a Marvel movie. The film is set to be part of Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which will also contain Captain America: New World Order and Daredevil: Born Again.
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The Blade trilogy from New Line Cinema helped shepherd comic books and superheroes to the big screen. Combined, the three films brought in over $400 million at the global box office. Blade was created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan as a supporting character in the comic book The Tomb of Dracula #10 in July 1973.
