Over the past several months, Marvel Studios Blade has perseverated through some turmoil. The project, which was announced at SDCC ’19, had to undergo a search to replace both its writer and director following the departure of Stacy Osei-Kuffour and Bassam Tariq. Beau DeMayo, who worked on Moon Knight and is the head writer and executive producer of the animated X-Men ’97 came on board to work on what looks like a near-complete rewrite of the script and now the film has found a new director.
According to THR, Lovecraft Country director Yann Demange has signed on to direct the project. Additionally, writer Michael Starrbury has joined the production and is preparing a brand new script for the film. THR also reports that despite the complete overhaul to the project, it is still expected to go into production in 2023 and meet its currently slated release date of September 6th, 2024.
While a complete rewrite of the script doesn’t mean throwing the bathwater out with the baby, THR indicated that the expectation is that Blade will be “dark and gritty in tone, falling on the edgier side of Marvel fare and maybe even find common shading” with the 1998 Wesley Snipes‘ film.
A previous rumor had Elegance Bratton in talks to helm the project though THR makes no mention of that here. Following his successful debut as a director in Werewolf By Night, Michael Giacchino was also thought to be among the pool of candidates Marvel Studios might dip into though he quickly ruled himself out of contention.
Source: THR
