The original Blade film trilogy starring Wesley Snipes is a horror touchstone for many reasons–and the upcoming reboot of the Daywalker saga will come to praise those movies, not to bury them.
Bassam Tariq–chosen to helm the reboot this summer–said as much during a recent interview, as reported by comicbook.com. “We can’t deny what Wesley Snipes did, which was he basically got this whole ball rolling,” Tariq said. “A Black man created the super-hero world that we’re in.”
Commenting on his star–Oscar winner Mahershala Ali–the director said he “is so honored to be working with someone so talented. Marvel takes big swings, and I’m just so excited for what we’re doing.”
Tariq added that “character is very important” to his filmmaking. “I don’t think of genre–I think of character. And I think the reality is there is no Blade canon. If you ever read the comics, they’re always changing. (Blade) being a Daywalker is the one thing that’s been established.”
Tariq comes to the new Blade entry from directing and co-writing the critically acclaimed 2020 Mogul Mowgli, a film starring Riz Ahmed.
The reboot is expected to start shooting next July, but little else is known so far about the film–as is the case with so many Marvel films–outside of the lead actor and screenwriter. Stacy Osei-Kuffour, who has worked on the TV series Watchmen (2019) and Hunters (2020), is handling the script.
The first Wesley Snipes Blade film was released in 1998–led by director Stephen Norrington and screenwriter David S. Goyer–and was followed by Blade II (from director Guillermo del Toro and Goyer) and Blade: Trinity (written and directed by Goyer).
The Marvel Comics character of the human/vampire hybrid Blade was created in 1973, when writer Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan wanted to add to their supporting cast of the award-winning Tomb of Dracula.
No release date has yet been announced for this Blade remake, so keep reading Horror News Network for all future updates.
