The John Wick franchise has been nothing but successful for Lionsgate and filmmaker Chad Stahelski. After spending years as a stunt coordinator and second unit director on various projects, Stahelski received his big break helming the Wick films, which launched him into stardom and helped rejuvenate Keanu Reeves’ career.
Apparently, the series also earned Stahelski a meeting with Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige, whom he’d worked with before as the second unit on Captain America: Civil War, as stated by Stahelski during a recent interview with Comic Book. According to the director, Feige set up some time for a chat that meant a lot more than the producer might have realized:
Marvel was very influential in my career. I owe them a great deal. Kevin [Feige] is an awesome guy and I’ve worked for him many times on second unit. After John Wick 3, he was nice enough to carve out a big chunk of time and have a nice talk. He’s been a…in a way…a very strong mentor, even though it was a short period of time. I’ve only talked to him a few times, but he has been very influential in mindset and how to do it.
Chad Stahelski
While the meeting seems to have been a general one, Stahelski revealed that Feige did inquire about signing him to a future project. Stahelski apparently only had one in mind:
And he actually asked me, ‘What could we ever do?’ I was like, ‘Look, I’m not going to lie to you. I don’t know if I fit that kind of studio mold, but Blade would be the one interesting thing I’d like to do. I don’t know if I would’ve been the best choice for that in the direction they wanted to go. If you want to do the edgy rated R version, yeah, give me a call. If you want to be non-apologetic, yeah. That’s me. But I think they’re protecting their brand, they’re doing their thing. The individual they selected, I think is a very good director, and I think will do a great job in the direction that I think they want to take the property.
Chad Stahelski
Blade, which was announced in 2019 with Mahershala Ali attached to the starring role, is now set to be directed by Bassam Tariq and will release on November 3rd, 2023. The Mogul Mowgli creative will bring to life a script from Stacy Osei-Kuffour, with Delroy Lindo and Aaron Pierre having since joined the cast. Stahelski, on the other hand, is busy preparing for John Wick: Chapter 4 to drop on March 24th, 2023.
He has yet to direct anything outside the John Wick franchise, but perhaps his meeting with Marvel Studios will open the door for something else down the line. After all, there is no shortage of opportunities in Marvel’s plans for the next decade.
Source: Comic Book
