Bassam Tariq (the upcoming film Mogul Mowgli) is in talks to direct Blade for Marvel Studios.
Deadline reports that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and Blade star Mahershala Ali “have been meeting with dozen[s] of candidates going all the way back to the fall, at one point considering writer-director options.” That clearly wasn’t working since they hired writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour to work on the screenplay a few months ago.
Now it seems that Marvel has finally found a director. After meeting with multiple directors at the start of 2021, it was Tariq’s “vision that ultimately won all parties over.”
Tariq has only helmed the 2013 documentary These Birds Walk and the upcoming Mogul Mowgli, which stars Riz Ahmed and is set for release in September. Since I haven’t seen any of his work, I’ll just do what I’ve done in the past with Marvel films and trust in the machine that is Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige.
It will be interesting to see how Osei-Kuffour and Tariq introduce vampires into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I know Loki name-dropped vampires in one of its first season episodes, but otherwise they have never been mentioned or hinted at before.
Blade has been in development at Marvel Studios since 2019 when Mahershala Ali’s casting was the final surprise reveal at Marvel’s 2019 San Diego Comic-Con panel. After that news, we didn’t hear much until this year when Osei-Kuffour was cast back in February to write the script. With a director now locked in place, it looks like Blade is picking up steam and gearing up to shoot within the next year.
Blade does not currently have a release date.
What do you think of Bassam Tariq as the Blade director? Has anyone seen These Birds Walk?
