John Wick franchise director Chad Stahelski has revealed that he discussed directing Blade with Marvel Studios.
According to ComicBook.com, Blade was the only project Stahelski was interested in directing for the superhero studio. "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," the director said. "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.'" Marvel Studios eventually hired Bassam Tariq to direct in September 2021, who Stahelski believes "is a very good director" and "will do a great job in the direction that I think they want to take the property."
Marvel Studios began working on a Blade reboot in May 2013 after regaining the rights to the character from New Line Cinema. Mahershala Ali was cast in the title role in July 2019 and made his first appearance as the vampire hunter in an uncredited voice cameo in 2021's Eternals. Delroy Lindo and Aaron Pierre have also been cast in Blade, which is scheduled to begin filming at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia in October 2022. During Marvel's Hall H panel at 2022's San Diego Comic-Con, Feige announced that Blade would release in theaters as part of Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe film on Nov. 3, 2023.
Stahelski Is Still Busy With John Wick
Stahelski is still busy expanding the John Wick universe. He directed the upcoming fourth film in the franchise, John Wick: Chapter 4, which is scheduled to hit theaters on March 24, 2023. While plot details are scarce for JW4, Stahelski has previously stated that the film will act as "a good continuation of all three previous films" while also acting as "a bit of a conclusion" for the titular assassin, played by Keanu Reeves, who came out of retirement in 2014's John Wick to avenge the death of his puppy. Stahelski is also expected to direct a fifth John Wick film in addition to producing spinoff film Ballerina and prequel television series The Continental.
John Wick: Chapter 4 stars Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Ian McShane, Lance Reddick, Rina Sawayama, Donnie Yen, Shamier Anderson, Bill Skarsgård, Hiroyuki Sanada, Scott Adkins and Clancy Brown. The film's first official teaser trailer was released by Lionsgate in July 2022.
Source: ComicBook.com