Blade: Bassam Tariq to direct Marvel film starring Mahershala Ali

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

After spending some years working on documentaries and short films, Bassam Tariq made his narrative feature directorial debut with last year's drama Mogul Mowgli, in which Riz Ahmed played a rapper who is diagnosed with a degenerative autoimmune disease. Now it looks like Tariq's second feature may be the Blade reboot that's in development at Marvel Studios, with Mahershala Ali signed on to play the title character.

Deadline reports that Ali, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, and studio executives have been meeting with potential Blade helmers since last fall. At first they were considering finding someone who could both write and direct the film, but then they decided to split the writing and directing duties. It was announced back in February that Stacy Osei-Kuffour (the Watchmen TV series) would be writing the screenplay. According to the site, 

Since (Osei-Kuffour's) hiring, Marvel shortened its list of possible director choices and started another round meetings that started in March and went through June. Those that made the final cut met and delivered their final presentations over that time, and in the end it was Tariq’s vision that ultimately won all parties over.

Tariq will have about a year to gear up for the Blade production, as filming isn't expected to begin until July 2022. A release date for Blade has not yet been announced.

Created as a supporting character by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, Blade first appeared in Tomb of Dracula No. 10 in 1973, becoming a cult favorite. He is a human-vampire hybrid thanks to his mother being bitten and killed by a blood-sucker during childbirth. 

Blade was previously played by Wesley Snipes in a trilogy of films released by New Line Cinema between 1998 and 2004. Kirk "Sticky Fingaz" Jones then took over the role for a TV series that only lasted for one season in 2006.