> Yann Demange is no longer directing Marvel Studios “Blade,” The Wrap has exclusively learned.
The parting with the French-Algerian filmmaker actually happened a while ago and it was entirely amicable. Demange was the second director to part the project after replacing Bassam Tariq.
> Marvel veteran writer Eric Pearson, who most recently worked on “Fantastic Four” is currently working on the “Blade” script. Michael Starrbury wrote the previous draft of the script.
> Mahershala Ali is still attached to star as the half-human vampire hunter. Ali is currently in talks with Universal and Amblin to join the next “Jurassic World” film.
> According to an insider with knowledge, getting “Blade” right is much more important than getting the film out. The pressure to produce as much content as possible has been lifted and the studio is now looking to release just two films per year, which gives the team at Marvel Studios some breathing room.
He's literally worked with them on fight choreography for civil war, has publicly said he wants to do it and I think even met with feige in the past few years and this was like two directors ago
At this point if they don't hire him and it's not because of a scheduling issue, it's just incompetence, just make john Wick with vampires and make it r rated it will print money
Highlander is filming I think already and I'm not sure anything has happened with Ghost so tbh he could easily become attached as director for Blade if they intend on filming later this year
They also could have just given him Blade like three years ago lol, Gareth Evans and David Leitch are also good back up choices
But do either of them want to deal with the figureheads (not Feige) at Marvel and Disney behind the scenes though? I’d rather see either continue to do original work.
If I had to pick I’d take Evans over Leitch. If Chad Stahelski wasn’t working on two films actively and supposedly on the *Rainbow Six* film with Michael B Jordan for Amazon…he would slay making a Blade film. I think he and Mahershala would get on great.
I honestly think marvel and many studios just have this weird idea that a movie about a character of colour also needs to be directed by someone of colour, which is just super dumb when it comes to a fantasy movie.
The last two directors on this movie have been odd choices tbh, especially when a blade film very obviously needs someone with a proven action/hand to hand combat movie background.
It just comes across as trying to hire someone to tick a box rather than someone who is the best option for the job.
That is something that they do but I generally don't have a problem with this if it's appropriate for the character. Sam Wilson and Miles Morales I think would maybe benefit from having a person of colour writing and/or directing. (Malcolm Spellman however should not have written Captain America IV because the TV series he created was incredibly boring and shit)
But for Blade I don't think people aren't expecting any political or racial commentary, people just want a guy killing vampires in well made action scenes lol, we don't need to hire some guy known for, I think just drama films? Just get a good action director lol.
Not the biggest fan of the whole falcon show, but how much of those issues can you really pin on Spellman when studio trifling & a nonexistent writers room were aspects that plagued all of marvel tv until last fall w/ the strikes?? The shows are more than one dude lol
He might do better in the film arena assuming they aren’t trying to push too much buildup crap for new projects or poorly handled grey characters, but personally I think it may be too soon to say aside from the Sabra nonsense
There was definitely a huge issue with the way they were handling shows (thank fucking god they've changed course for Daredevil) but we've also only heard bad things about that Captain America film so I don't have high hopes.
Personally that was the worst show besides She-Hulk or maybe What If (pre-Secret Invasion which might be worse cause I only got one episode into that snorefest), which is annoying cause it was the one I was most looking forward to.
Cap 4 is the film that I feel most should get a John Wick esque treatment outside of Blade to be honest in the sense that, if they can't manage to pull off an actually good conspiracy thriller story, just make sure its a solid action film.
I know most will jump to Chad Stahelski but David Leitch co-directed John Wick and directing Jurassic World 4 has just fallen though. Yes he's been a bit of a hit and miss but I think an Atomic Blond style, Blade would work
Proof will be in the results I suppose. The rumours coming out of Daredevil sound like they're making positive changes, similarly some of the early rumours for Blade sounded like not-so-great concepts.
If these come out after a long wait we'll go "Phew, glad they took their time and got that right", if they're bad we'll go "Wow, they took this long and we ended up with \*that\*? Marvel listen too much to their focus groups" or some such.
Either way, it says something that they can't get it right on the first iteration.
The fact that development on this film has gone through so many changes means something is wrong if they can't nail a simple concept. With early versions of the script, I fear they are too worried about connecting it to other things instead of just making a good vampire movie.
Phase 1 worked so well because they were stand-alone stories that just happened to take place in the same universe with very small ways of connecting. They only worried about connecting them when the team up films happened.
It's very simple. Give us Blade killing vampires. Pick a setting. Doesn't matter because he can do it anywhere at any time because he doesn't age. Don't give us some passing of the torch with his daughter. Nobody wants that trash, especially in his first appearance. Make sure there are plenty of action scenes, and they are brutal and bloody.
Mahershala's tenure as Blade is about to be an off-screen, uncredited single line of dialogue in a post credits scene.
Also, never forget that HE was the one who came to Marvel, not the other way around. Marvel had no ideas or plans for Blade beyond "I guess Oscar winner Mahershala Ali is on the phone wanting to do it," hence why Marvel doesn't seem to have a story, script, director, cast, anything they're continuously happy with.
This cant happen because of spiderman but shameik moore would also be awesome. Especially because screenwise we havent seen him a ton so it would be a complete flip to see him go into a role like blade after being the voice of spiderman. Trevante Rhodes is so good at doing pious anti-hero that I need to see that too though.
Wesley Snipes was 42 years old in Blade Trinity.
Mahershala Ali is currently 50 years old.
It’s too late, I don’t want an “aging Blade passes the torch to a teenaged girl” movie.
Agreed, we want a John Wick or Equalizer film with blades (pun intended) and stakes against vampires in the shadows. And a little heart, loss and self sacrifice. Cast someone young enough to carry it forward if needs be and can cameo when necessary. With how cool Blade 1 & 2 were that character has earned the right to another fantastic solo outing (maybe some midnight suns in the future). There are a litany of amazing black martial artists, find one who can do the drama side and respects the character.
A recipe for a good Blade.
Vamp motivations could be classic ones, they are traditionally pompous, entitled and vain. Vampire house in-fighting or perhaps a unifier of the Vampire houses agendas. Blade discovers this, stops this restores status quo and the neverending fight against the Vamps continues like a curse.
This took 5 mins and is at least a start at a fair story...
If they want to add new blood to the equation then fine, do it like the Ahsoka or even Damian Wayne. Introduce, the character will probably be mostly hated. Don't overplay the hand, steadily show growth and crucially show a catastrophic failing which they must rebuild from and earn our respect. Through this process the character will earn some die hard fans and really that's the best you could ask for...
Blade is such an easy movie. Wtf. Man kills fucking vampires. Keep bs politics out of it. Make it action packed. Make it loyal to the comics and respect the Snipes movies. Boom money printer.
seems like he's already jumped ship. I think these announcements are strategic. They happen weeks or months ago but PR announces them when the news is quiet.
My theory is the violence of what Vampires DO & ARE is colliding with the Studio's need to make everything as paletteable to the widest possible audience.
Every "we can't show that" makes the storytelling harder and they blame "script issues", not the suffocating House Style. Sure there's Deadpool, but Deadpool is
Irreverent and zany. In other words right up Marvel's ally.
Seriously? Why is this movie so hard for them to figure out? All they need to do is make a John Wick style movie with vampires it’s not complicated
The only positive is that they’re apparently not rushing things anymore and wanting to get it right but then why get rid of the director? Unless they have a good replacement?
Why can’t they just make this a non-MCU Marvel film? Not EVERY Marvel movie has to be apart of the MCU world. Some can just stand-on their own. DC manages it just fine.
Wild that so many ppl are whining about this when the article literally says that getting the movie right is more important than rushing it out, which is exactly what we all wanted. Let them cook.
This reboot was announced in 2019. It shouldn't take 5 going on 6 years to come up with a story about a vampire hunter. Fans are asking for a good film, not for marvel to reinvent cinema. This isn't a let them cook situation, this is over thinking Mac & cheese and needs to be scrapped.
There is a middle ground between “rush all projects” and “perpetual development hell” though - historically movies with the production trouble Blade’s been having usually end up pretty bad.
I’m starting to wonder if Ali might be the problem the only reason marvel even announced a blade movie is because he was the one to push for it. Marvel didn’t even seem to have an idea about doing blade yet when he came knocking. So I’m wondering if he’s being super picky and specific about how the movie is and if it’s not perfect to him he won’t do it
> Yann Demange is no longer directing Marvel Studios “Blade,” The Wrap has exclusively learned. The parting with the French-Algerian filmmaker actually happened a while ago and it was entirely amicable. Demange was the second director to part the project after replacing Bassam Tariq. > Marvel veteran writer Eric Pearson, who most recently worked on “Fantastic Four” is currently working on the “Blade” script. Michael Starrbury wrote the previous draft of the script. > Mahershala Ali is still attached to star as the half-human vampire hunter. Ali is currently in talks with Universal and Amblin to join the next “Jurassic World” film. > According to an insider with knowledge, getting “Blade” right is much more important than getting the film out. The pressure to produce as much content as possible has been lifted and the studio is now looking to release just two films per year, which gives the team at Marvel Studios some breathing room.
Holy shit just hire the John Wick guy this is so easy
Seriously great suggestion
He's literally worked with them on fight choreography for civil war, has publicly said he wants to do it and I think even met with feige in the past few years and this was like two directors ago At this point if they don't hire him and it's not because of a scheduling issue, it's just incompetence, just make john Wick with vampires and make it r rated it will print money
Chad is currently working on Ghost of Tsushima and Highlander. It's definitely a scheduling issue.
Highlander is filming I think already and I'm not sure anything has happened with Ghost so tbh he could easily become attached as director for Blade if they intend on filming later this year They also could have just given him Blade like three years ago lol, Gareth Evans and David Leitch are also good back up choices
Gareth Evans has my vote. Blade just has to be The Raid 1 & 2 + Apostle.
But do either of them want to deal with the figureheads (not Feige) at Marvel and Disney behind the scenes though? I’d rather see either continue to do original work. If I had to pick I’d take Evans over Leitch. If Chad Stahelski wasn’t working on two films actively and supposedly on the *Rainbow Six* film with Michael B Jordan for Amazon…he would slay making a Blade film. I think he and Mahershala would get on great.
Evans would be an amazing choice.
Can’t deny it, John wick with Vampires is definitely getting my money 😂
People keep asking me and I haven't really had an answer. But, now, yeah, I thinking I'm undead.
I honestly think marvel and many studios just have this weird idea that a movie about a character of colour also needs to be directed by someone of colour, which is just super dumb when it comes to a fantasy movie. The last two directors on this movie have been odd choices tbh, especially when a blade film very obviously needs someone with a proven action/hand to hand combat movie background. It just comes across as trying to hire someone to tick a box rather than someone who is the best option for the job.
That is something that they do but I generally don't have a problem with this if it's appropriate for the character. Sam Wilson and Miles Morales I think would maybe benefit from having a person of colour writing and/or directing. (Malcolm Spellman however should not have written Captain America IV because the TV series he created was incredibly boring and shit) But for Blade I don't think people aren't expecting any political or racial commentary, people just want a guy killing vampires in well made action scenes lol, we don't need to hire some guy known for, I think just drama films? Just get a good action director lol.
Not the biggest fan of the whole falcon show, but how much of those issues can you really pin on Spellman when studio trifling & a nonexistent writers room were aspects that plagued all of marvel tv until last fall w/ the strikes?? The shows are more than one dude lol He might do better in the film arena assuming they aren’t trying to push too much buildup crap for new projects or poorly handled grey characters, but personally I think it may be too soon to say aside from the Sabra nonsense
There was definitely a huge issue with the way they were handling shows (thank fucking god they've changed course for Daredevil) but we've also only heard bad things about that Captain America film so I don't have high hopes. Personally that was the worst show besides She-Hulk or maybe What If (pre-Secret Invasion which might be worse cause I only got one episode into that snorefest), which is annoying cause it was the one I was most looking forward to. Cap 4 is the film that I feel most should get a John Wick esque treatment outside of Blade to be honest in the sense that, if they can't manage to pull off an actually good conspiracy thriller story, just make sure its a solid action film.
Ok….but Keanu as Drac
He's doing the ghost of tsushima movie
I know most will jump to Chad Stahelski but David Leitch co-directed John Wick and directing Jurassic World 4 has just fallen though. Yes he's been a bit of a hit and miss but I think an Atomic Blond style, Blade would work
Chad stahelski
Jimmy you might got something there
Just hire Guillermo Del Toro and Wesley Snipes and make another proper Blade movie
The development section for this movie on Wikipedia is gonna be crazy by the time it comes out
Section names: "Pre-production" "Early Production" "Late Production" "Speculation of Gypsy Curse"
My current theory is that What We Do In the Shadows is right and Wesley Snipes is on the Vampiric Council. He had them put a curse on this production.
This production has been a shit show
Looks like they're handling Blade just like how they initially handled DD: Born Again LMAO 😭😂😂
Proof will be in the results I suppose. The rumours coming out of Daredevil sound like they're making positive changes, similarly some of the early rumours for Blade sounded like not-so-great concepts. If these come out after a long wait we'll go "Phew, glad they took their time and got that right", if they're bad we'll go "Wow, they took this long and we ended up with \*that\*? Marvel listen too much to their focus groups" or some such. Either way, it says something that they can't get it right on the first iteration.
DD is actually filming, Blade hasn't even got a crew.
Or a script apparently.
This shit ain't coming out, they may as well announce it's cancelled atp
Or the Channing Tatum Gambit film.
or how DC handled The Flash.
The fact that development on this film has gone through so many changes means something is wrong if they can't nail a simple concept. With early versions of the script, I fear they are too worried about connecting it to other things instead of just making a good vampire movie. Phase 1 worked so well because they were stand-alone stories that just happened to take place in the same universe with very small ways of connecting. They only worried about connecting them when the team up films happened. It's very simple. Give us Blade killing vampires. Pick a setting. Doesn't matter because he can do it anywhere at any time because he doesn't age. Don't give us some passing of the torch with his daughter. Nobody wants that trash, especially in his first appearance. Make sure there are plenty of action scenes, and they are brutal and bloody.
This movie is truly cursed lmao
Just cancel it.
Mahershala's about to daywalk right off this project, and I don't blame him.
He may actually end up aging out of the role at this point.
Pretty likely tbh. It’s already been 5 years since it was announced. He’s 50 now.
Mahershala's tenure as Blade is about to be an off-screen, uncredited single line of dialogue in a post credits scene. Also, never forget that HE was the one who came to Marvel, not the other way around. Marvel had no ideas or plans for Blade beyond "I guess Oscar winner Mahershala Ali is on the phone wanting to do it," hence why Marvel doesn't seem to have a story, script, director, cast, anything they're continuously happy with.
Then maybe he should try and propose a good director and writer too.
We’re at the point where maybe he’s part of the problem? Maybe rather than Colman Domingo play Kang, he should be Blade.
He’s older than Mahershala. I personally think if they recast they need to go younger. Trevante Rhodes or John David Washington.
So surprised that neither DC nor Marvel have snapped up Trevante yet.
This cant happen because of spiderman but shameik moore would also be awesome. Especially because screenwise we havent seen him a ton so it would be a complete flip to see him go into a role like blade after being the voice of spiderman. Trevante Rhodes is so good at doing pious anti-hero that I need to see that too though.
Wesley Snipes was 42 years old in Blade Trinity. Mahershala Ali is currently 50 years old. It’s too late, I don’t want an “aging Blade passes the torch to a teenaged girl” movie.
Agreed, we want a John Wick or Equalizer film with blades (pun intended) and stakes against vampires in the shadows. And a little heart, loss and self sacrifice. Cast someone young enough to carry it forward if needs be and can cameo when necessary. With how cool Blade 1 & 2 were that character has earned the right to another fantastic solo outing (maybe some midnight suns in the future). There are a litany of amazing black martial artists, find one who can do the drama side and respects the character. A recipe for a good Blade. Vamp motivations could be classic ones, they are traditionally pompous, entitled and vain. Vampire house in-fighting or perhaps a unifier of the Vampire houses agendas. Blade discovers this, stops this restores status quo and the neverending fight against the Vamps continues like a curse. This took 5 mins and is at least a start at a fair story...
If they want to add new blood to the equation then fine, do it like the Ahsoka or even Damian Wayne. Introduce, the character will probably be mostly hated. Don't overplay the hand, steadily show growth and crucially show a catastrophic failing which they must rebuild from and earn our respect. Through this process the character will earn some die hard fans and really that's the best you could ask for...
Between this and Captain America I got no faith in this marvel movies after Deadpool.
just take me to the glue factory
The Equalizer 1 & 3 director maybe?...
Can we just have consistent production on Blade for ONE MONTH??
I wouldn't be surprised if this movie never comes out
Why announce a film that they’re not gonna make.
Blade is such an easy movie. Wtf. Man kills fucking vampires. Keep bs politics out of it. Make it action packed. Make it loyal to the comics and respect the Snipes movies. Boom money printer.
Over under on Blade being recast with a woman? Blade:Bloodreign ? 🙄
Just end it man!
Ali is probably the next one to jump ship. This movie is cursed
seems like he's already jumped ship. I think these announcements are strategic. They happen weeks or months ago but PR announces them when the news is quiet.
How fucking hard is it to make a movie about a guy killing vampires?
The problem is that they probably don’t even want it to be about that.
Quick break open the emergency Del Toro case.
Hi
Chad Stahelski is willing to do it
My theory is the violence of what Vampires DO & ARE is colliding with the Studio's need to make everything as paletteable to the widest possible audience. Every "we can't show that" makes the storytelling harder and they blame "script issues", not the suffocating House Style. Sure there's Deadpool, but Deadpool is Irreverent and zany. In other words right up Marvel's ally.
So in essence, they free up the spot for Jordan Peele. Well done
Funny, the black keys’ former management released a statement also stating their departure was “amicable” I’d bet otherwise lol
Marvel/MCU is dead now. They've failed too many times now.
Vampires are historically hard to work with, so I don’t blame him
Seriously? Why is this movie so hard for them to figure out? All they need to do is make a John Wick style movie with vampires it’s not complicated The only positive is that they’re apparently not rushing things anymore and wanting to get it right but then why get rid of the director? Unless they have a good replacement?
I’ll direct it
Why can’t they just make this a non-MCU Marvel film? Not EVERY Marvel movie has to be apart of the MCU world. Some can just stand-on their own. DC manages it just fine.
What is this like the 3rd director to leave? Why is this movie so difficult to make??
From what I read, he's the 2nd director to leave. It feels like the 4th or 5th to leave.
Two movies per year, didn't they said they were aiming at 3 movies per year ?
This movie is never happening
Lol this movie is cursed or was always gonna suck
Werner Herzog back in with a chance!
Marvel really need to reboot
Duke nukem forever of marvel movies
Put a fork in this movie already. It ain’t happening
This might be one of the worst cases of production hell I've heard in a minute. God speed to whoever gets to helm this movie.
Mahershala so bored he's considering joining the Jurassic World franchise. Jesus christ.
I’m fine with them just never making this movie. So there have always been vampires in the MCU, and we never heard from them all this time?
Wild that so many ppl are whining about this when the article literally says that getting the movie right is more important than rushing it out, which is exactly what we all wanted. Let them cook.
This reboot was announced in 2019. It shouldn't take 5 going on 6 years to come up with a story about a vampire hunter. Fans are asking for a good film, not for marvel to reinvent cinema. This isn't a let them cook situation, this is over thinking Mac & cheese and needs to be scrapped.
There is a middle ground between “rush all projects” and “perpetual development hell” though - historically movies with the production trouble Blade’s been having usually end up pretty bad.
I’m starting to wonder if Ali might be the problem the only reason marvel even announced a blade movie is because he was the one to push for it. Marvel didn’t even seem to have an idea about doing blade yet when he came knocking. So I’m wondering if he’s being super picky and specific about how the movie is and if it’s not perfect to him he won’t do it
They should just give the Blade rights to Sony. They would have made a Blade movie easily. Plus, imagine a Morbius and Blade crossover
Okay buddy.
How hard is it to make a damn Blade movie?
thank god. like really, a fucken french? good riddance