On July 20th of 2019, Kevin Fiege, who is the primary producer and mastermind behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe, announced to a sold-out crowd at the San Diego Comic-Con that along with the releases of The Eternals, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Thor: Love and Thunder which were slated for Phase 4 of the MCU, a movie centered around the character of Blade was finally confirmed. To supplement that statement, Feige also brought out actor Mahershala Ali, who would be starring in the title role.
Known for his defining roles on shows such as House of Cards, where he played Remy Danton, and Luke Cage, where he stepped into the shoes of Cornell Stokes, this casting choice could not have been better. It really did seem like Marvel fans who longed for a reboot of their favorite vampire hunter in the MCU were finally going to have their wishes granted. But since then, the road to realization for this comic book character has not been so easy.
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The Burdens That Come With Blade
New Line Cinema
The first sign of wavering confidence was when the lead actor stated in an interview on a podcast called The Tight Rope that it had taken Marvel Studios a couple of years before finally coming to the realization that the character of Blade would be better suited in a full-blown movie than a Disney Plus series.
Secondly, once that initial decision was made and a route was finally chosen, any actual filming for the movie had been pushed back time and time again due to rewriting and editing of the film’s script. Only after six or so delays and three years down the line, production is finally slated to begin this upcoming November. Just recently, even more details have come out regarding the drastic hurdles Blade faces.
Jeff Sneider, a reporter for The Ankler, which is a digital media company that covers entertainment news, sent out a disappointing tweet on September 27th concerning the darker-themed Marvel movie. Mr. Snieder states that his sources have told him that the script’s length for Blade is only 90 pages long, and within those pages, there are only two fight scenes that take place in the entire film, both of which have been deemed lackluster. Seeing that three Blade films have already been released which inspiration and motivations can be drawn from, this is quite telling.
He also makes a quick mention that while those who are close to the film can easily tell that Mahershala Ali is frustrated with the overall process that Blade is receiving, Kevin Fiege, on the other hand, is too busy with other MCU projects to give a much-needed hands-on approach. On the same day that this update is released to the world, an official press release is sent out that states the current director of the film, Bassam Tariq, is stepping down from the position because of the current production scheduling dilemma interfering with his other responsibilities.
Validating The Vampire Hunter
Marvel Comics
With every one of these negative reports starting to have an adverse effect on the movie’s overall momentum, something had to quickly be done to reroute the trajectory of the Phase 5 MCU movie. On the very same day that news broke about Mr. Tariq walking away, a third shift had been set into motion to hopefully offset any further questioning concerning the vampire hunter’s big-screen adaptation.
Already have done some work in MCU-related projects, such as being credited with supervising producer on numerous episodes of Moon Knight and helming the upcoming Disney Plus animated reboot of X-Men called X-Men ‘97 as an executive writer, it seems as though Beau Demayo has been tapped once more to bring an entirely new script to the table to the currently ailing Blade film. With Marvel switching writers on the fly for their movies in the past, it comes as no surprise to hear that he seems to be replacing Stacy Osei-Kuffour. Among other accolades, Kuffour co-wrote and won a Writer’s Guild Award for writing an episode of the HBO limited series, Watchmen in 2009.
While no official statement has been made by Disney or Marvel Studios, Demayo has quickly made Marvel fans curious by posting on social media pictures of the view from his new office in Atlanta, Georgia. Considering his already-made reputation and well-known resume in Marvel Studios, this move to the new space in A-Town aligns with the soon-to-start pre-production of Blade.
Also, Blade is obviously not the first film or television show to have setbacks or bumps in the road regarding the finished product. The movie’s problems can very well be traced back to Marvel Studios trying their hardest to hit every button and knob that will garner eyes toward their ever-expanding universe. While some projects may very well have more importance than others in the long term, bringing in Beau Demayo can help ease the Marvel Studios’ work ethic, and by having a clear mind and a fresh pair of new eyes for this project, he can easily revitalize this long-awaited reboot of this beloved Marvel character.
