Once Marvel has its vision on track, there is no stopping the production chain. However, the Blade reboot which has remained a top priority on the studio’s list of would-be films now seems to be more trouble than its worth. After running over numerous hurdles and managing to dodge a few oncoming ones, the movie was finally coming around on its final lap when director Bassam Tariq called it quits mere weeks before filming was scheduled to begin.
With an entirely new perspective and a grain of salt, the audience looks on as Marvel begins its search for yet another director while also preparing to rewrite the entire script from scratch. As the drama unfolds, an introspection into an older version of the script gives an insight into the mainstream Marvel’s vision of what they expect Blade to be.
MCU’s Blade Reboot: A Period Drama or Slash Horror Film?
Of all the exciting possibilities that lie in wait for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s upcoming Phases, the reboot of the day walking human-vampire hybrid assassin is one of the most anticipated. The Mahershala Ali-starring Blade is not the first day-walker amid the mainstream universe’s crowd. Wesley Snipes had the honor of bringing the comic book character to live-action cinemas in 1999. The grandeur that followed the early 2000s era slash horror visuals and the incredible light and sound mixtures of the period make the trilogy one of the most underrated cult classic productions to have come out of Marvel Studios.
However, the modern-era Blade with action sequences caught in 4K has little chance of topping the already big-budget productions that Marvel is known for. The originally submitted script for the Blade reboot then planned to go further back than 1999. The MCU film was designed as an ambitious piece spanning an entire century within its 2-hour narrative, beginning with the late 1920s. The film which would then project like a period piece would transport the saga of Eric Brooks from his birth in a London brothel to his journey of annihilation of every vampire in existence throughout the decades ever since.
The script sought to dive into the powerful narrative of Blade’s formative years and as such would be integral in his clash with some of the most iconic and formidable villains like Dracula. This would also configure into Blade’s early encounters with European vampires before the vampire hunter turned global in his mission. The character’s foray into the 21st century as seen in the Eternals post-credits would make him a prolifically experienced hunter living in the underbelly of MCU’s history going back 100 years into the past and would have been an excellent introduction worthy of a hunter of his caliber.
The Current Status of Mahershala Ali’s Blade Script
After the fiasco with Bassam Tariq, Marvel is rumored to look to Elegance Bratton for helming the project. Although a rumor at this point, reports with links to insider sources claim that the lowkey director has a high chance of securing the job at the Blade HQ. The duty of a rewritten script now falls on the shoulders of Beau DeMayo who is already becoming a Marvel staple with a finger in every pie, including Moon Knight and X-Men ’97.
Although the previous writer, Stacy Osei-Kuffour is a legend in her own right, the script seemed unrealistically ambitious for a legitimate take-off. Mahershala Ali’s dissatisfaction with the writing also contributes to the speculations about creative differences while Marvel too seems to be considering a change of direction. Perhaps, a period thriller film time-jumping through the previous 100 years with Blade slashing his way out of vampire nests was not what Marvel was looking for in their movie.
Due to the unwarranted conflicts arising out of a lack of a director and/or script, Marvel has pushed back the dates of the reboot film’s premiere from November 2023 to September 2024, with production set to start in the summer of next year.
Source: The Illuminerdi
