Marvel’s Blade loses both its writer and director

The upcoming MCU reboot of Blade is one of the more exciting Marvel projects in the works. Unfortunately, the new movie is far from ready for release as both writer and director depart from the project.

The movie has been pitched as one of the more interesting MCU projects yet. Will its ambitions be cut down following this new revelation?

Blade loses director and writer

Revealed via The Hollywood Reporter, Blade director Bassam Tariq will no longer helm the edgy Marvel movie. In a statement to the outlet, Marvel confirmed that the director has indeed departed.

“Due to continued shifts in our production schedule, Bassam is no longer moving forward as director of Blade but will remain an executive producer on the film,” Marvel said. “We appreciate Bassam’s talent and all the work he’s done getting Blade to where it is.”

The ex-director also commented on the situation, saying: “It's been an honor working with the wonderful folks at Marvel. We were able to put together a killer cast and crew. Eager to see where the next director takes the film.”

However, a departing director isn’t the only issue surrounding Blade. The film has also lost is its screenwriter following multiple rewrites of the Marvel movie.

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A lacklustre script?

Originally, the Vampire hunter movie was penned by Watchmen writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour. This version of the movie has seen several rewrites overseen by Tariq.

In response, the movie is currently in the middle of another rewrite. This time, the script is being penned by The Witcher and Moon Knight writer Beau DeMayo.

Jeff Sneider, reporter for The Ankler, claimed that past scripts for the movie have been underwhelming. The reporter states that weak fight scenes have led to dissatisfaction from main actor Mahershala Ali.

“I’m told that the current BLADE script is roughly 90 pages and features exactly TWO (lackluster) action sequences,” he said. “Mahershala said to be very frustrated with the process. Feige said to be spread too thin. But hey, that’s just what sources are telling me. Don’t shoot the messenger.”