Marvel Studios Hires ‘Lovecraft County’ Director to Helm ‘Blade’

After months of searching, the upcoming MCU movie Blade finally has a new director. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel Studios has hired Yann Demange to helm the upcoming MCU movie starring Mahershala Ali as the titular character.

The movie was initially announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, but the release date wasn’t revealed until the same event three years later (October 2023). Shortly after, the original director Bassam Tariq departed the project because of creative differences, which caused the movie to be delayed to September 6, 2024. Marvel Studios reportedly rejected the idea of a movie that Tariq wanted to direct, so now they hired a new, Emmy-nominated writer Michael Starrbury to write a new script, with Yann Demange attached to direct.

Demange previously directed one episode of the HBO series Lovecraft Country.

When it was first announced in 2019, Marvel Studios confirmed that two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali will play Eric Brooks, also known as Blade. This isn’t Ali’s first role in the MCU. He also starred as Cornell ‘Cottonmouth’ Stokes in the Luke Cage series starring Mike Colter. Ali also had a small voice role in the post-credit scene of last year’s Eternals.

Eric Cross Brooks, also known as Blade, first appeared in comic books in July 1973, and he had his debut on the big screen in 1998 with the original Blade movie starring Wesley Snipes. The movie was followed by two sequels, Blade II and Blade: Trinity, in 2002 and 2004, with Snipes reprising the role. When Ali was first picked to play the new Blade in MCU, some fans deemed him unworthy to be Snipes’ successor, and there were some unconfirmed reports that the development hell where the movie has recently found itself was frustrating for Ali.

Now, that a new director has been found, let’s hope the rest of the movie’s development will run smoothly. Delroy Lindo, Aaron Pierre, and Milan Ray are also set to star. Blade is set to be released on September 6, 2024.

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