White Boy Rick director Yann Demange to direct Blade for Marvel Studios

Bassam Tariq (Mogul Mowgli) had been attached to direct Blade for Marvel Studios for more than a year, but he wound up stepping down in September, leaving Marvel to push pause on pre-production while they searched for a replacement. It turns out that the search didn’t take all that long as Yann Demange (White Boy Rick) has signed on to direct Blade.

When Marvel Studios decided to pause pre-production on Blade, they realized the project needed a more in-depth creative overhaul than they suspected. This meant tossing out the script from previous writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour (Watchmen) and starting from scratch. Michael Starrbury (When They See Us) has now been brought on to write a brand-new script for Blade, with sources saying that star Mahershala Ali was “personally involved” in selecting the new writer. Production on Blade is expected to kick off in Atlanta in 2023, with the film set for a September 6, 2024 release.

It’s said that the Blade movie will be darker and edgier than typical Marvel movies, and may even be similar to the Wesley Snipes movies. The character was originally created by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan for The Tomb of Dracula #10 in 1973. Blade is a half-mortal, half-immortal who hunts vampires in order to avenge his mother, who was killed by a vampire as she gave birth to him. In addition to White Boy Rick, Yann Demange is also known for directing the pilot of HBO’s Lovecraft Country. He’s also developing a series adaptation of David Cronenberg’s Scanners for HBO which he will direct and executive produce. The series will follow “two women living on the fringes of modern society who are pursued by relentless agents with unimaginable powers and thus must learn to work together to topple a vast conspiracy determined to bring them to heel.“

Do you think Yann Demange is a good fit to direct Blade for Marvel Studios?