Marvel's Blade Reboot Has a New Director and a New Writer

For the last few months, Marvel’s upcoming Blade reboot has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. First, we learned that director Bassam Tiraq had left the project, and then we found out that the movie was going to be delayed 10 months. It was looking pretty bleak for the superhero/vampire mashup, but now, it finally seems like the film is headed in the right direction.

Deadline is reporting that Marvel has tapped Yann Demange to direct the movie, and they’ve also hired Michael Starrbury to write a new script. Demange previously directed the critically acclaimed 2014 thriller ‘71 and the not-so-acclaimed crime drama White Boy Rick, and he’s also been behind on a number of TV projects, including the premiere episode of Lovecraft Country. Starrbury has a similarly sparse resume, but he did work on the well-received limited series When They See Us.

To be honest, I’m not exactly enamored with this duo. Sure, they’ve had a few hits, but they’ve both had their fair share of misses as well, so these names don’t immediately jump out at me as great picks. But despite my reservations, I have faith in Marvel. The studio has an amazing track record of turning seemingly head-scratching choices into absolute gold (like when they hired the Russo brothers to direct Captain America: The Winter Soldier), so I’m sure these will turn out to be the perfect picks to bring Blade back to the big screen.

On top of that news, Deadline also says that their insiders have told them a bit about the tone Marvel is going for with this new Blade film. They’re reporting that it’s going to be darker than other MCU projects, but not quite as dark as the Wesley Snipes Blade trilogy, and I’m all for it. After seeing what Marvel did with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Werewolf by Night, I’m really excited to see what dark paths the studio takes with Blade. Sure, I never expected them to go quite as far as those original Blade films, but I’m sure they’ll find the perfect mix of legit horror and classic MCU fun to make this one run on all cylinders.