Marvel Studios’ upcoming Blade reboot has lost its director, Bassam Tariq, less than two months before production is expected to begin, Variety reported Tuesday. The departure could complicate the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s busy schedule, which calls for Blade to premiere on November 3, 2023.
Tariq confirmed to Variety that he’s retired as director; However, the trade also reported that Tariq is still on the project as an executive producer. “I’m excited to see where the next director takes the film,” Tariq told Variety.
Blade, a reboot of Wesley Snipes’ 1998 vampire-hunting cult hit, was unveiled at San Diego Comic-Con 2019. It’s said to be part of the MCU’s “Phase 5,” which was announced at SDCC last July.
Although this film is part of the overall MCU, Blade is a key figure under the supermonster subgenre that Marvel Comics pioneered in several 1970s publications, including crossovers with The Amazing Spider-Man. The most recent screen adaptation in this line of heroes and villains was Morbius, the poorly received (and non-MCU Sony Pictures adaptation) by March.
However, Marvel Studios keeps its releases on a tight schedule, often teasing or tying them together narratively, in post-credits sequences, or the films themselves. If Tariq leaves Blade as director and delays the film overall, it could affect other Phase 5 films , such as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 of May 2023. 3 or The Marvels, scheduled for July 28, 2023.
Blade made his MCU debut voiceover by actor Mahershala Ali in a post-credits sequence for Eternals 2021 in which Blade speaks to The Black Knight, Dane Whitman (played by Kit Harington).