Blade director Bassam Tariq recently dished on what it’s been like creating a new movie about the titular vampire-human hybrid without the pressure of rehashing stories that have already been told.
“What’s exciting about the film that we’re making is [there] hasn’t been a canon for Blade, as we’re reading through the comics and everything,” Tariq told IndieWire. “Him being a daywalker is the one thing that’s been established, and you know we can’t deny what Wesley Snipes did, which was he basically got this whole ball rolling.”
While the director acknowledged that he’s building on the legacy of a superhero world that was created by Wesley Snipes and the original Blade Trilogy, he added that new Blade actor Mahershala Ali is taking things in a different direction — and to the next level.
“For me to now be working with somebody as talented and a juggernaut as Mahershala Ali, and the writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour, I’m just so — I’m so honored to be working with real Black juggernauts and Black talent,” Tariq said. “For me to just be with them in this room and listen and learn as I build this out, it’s really an honor.”
While the franchise may be moving in a different direction under the Marvel Cinematic Universe banner, Snipes gave Ali the seal of approval earlier this year. “I’m one thousand percent supportive of it. I think it’s great. Go for it, my man,” the actor said at the time. “You never know. Under the right circumstances, I’m open to play with everybody. I know that people associate me with that role.”
Created by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, Eric Brooks/Blade first appeared in 1973’s The Tomb of Dracula #10. The character is described as a skilled fighter that possesses the powerful physical abilities of a vampire, though is able to walk in the daylight without being killed and uses his powers to hunt vampires.
While Marvel has yet to reveal any plot details pertaining to Blade, Captain America actor Anthony Mackie teased back in March that he’d love to see a crossover involving Cap and Ali’s vampire hunter. “I saw [Joy Bryant in 2004’s Spider-Man 2] and she had one line, and she said, ‘It’s Spider-Man,'” Mackie recalled. “I got on the phone with my agent and said, ‘Dammit, I better have one line in one of these movies.’ Kevin, I want to be the [Joy Bryant] of She-Hulk or Blade! I’ll wear prosthetics.”
Directed by Bassam Tariq from a script by Gene Colan, Stacy Osei-Kuffour and Marv Wolfman, Marvel’s Blade does not yet have a release date.
Source: IndieWire
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