Chad Stahelski, director of the John Wick films, has revealed he once spoke to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, pitching himself as the director for Blade.
It was announced back in 2019 that Marvel Studios would be launching a reboot of Blade with Mahershala Ali in the lead role. The infamous vampire hunter had previously been brought to live action by Wesley Snipes, who played the role in his own trilogy in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Bassam Tariq has officially been hired to direct Blade for Marvel Studios, but before he joined the project Chad Stahelski let Kevin Feige know it was a film he would be up for directing.
Chad Stahelski Talks Meeting Kevin Feige
In a recent interview with ComicBook.com, Chad Stahelski revealed he had previously met with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and talked about a potential directing role on an MCU project.
Stahelski expressed his praise for Kevin Feige, calling him a mentor and revealing he had spoken to the Marvel head on more than one occasion. It sounds like nothing official has ever been in the works between the John Wick director and Marvel, but Stahelski said Blade was the one MCU project for which he put himself forward as a director.
Talking about meeting with Kevin Feige after the release of John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum, Chad Stahelski said:
“After John Wick 3, he was nice enough to carve out a big chunk of time and have nice talk. He’s been a…in a way…a very strong mentor, even though it was a short period of time. I’ve only talked to him a few times, but he has been very influential in mindset and how to do it.
“And he actually asked me, ‘What could we ever do?’ I was like, ‘Look, I’m not going to lie to you. I don’t know if I fit that kind of studio mold, but Blade would be the one interesting thing I’d like to do.'”
The director went on to admit “I don’t know if I would’ve been the best choice for that in the direction they wanted to go. If you want to do the edgy rated R version, yeah, give me a call… But I think they’re protecting their brand, they’re doing their thing.”
The John Wick director certainly would have been a strong choice for an action-heavy Blade movie. Maybe Kevin Feige will find another project for Chad Stahelski further down the road.
Mahershala Ali’s Blade made his MCU debut in a post-credits scene in Eternals. Here’s the synopsis:
The story takes place across two time periods. One storyline is set in the past when they operated as a formidable team and a close family unit. The second storyline is in the present, when the group has fractured and split apart, content to live among humans, hiding in plain sight. The prevailing threat of the Deviants, which once again threatens the existence of mankind, means the Eternals need to put their differences aside and regroup.
Chloe Zhao directed Eternals from a script she co-wrote with Patrick Burleigh, Kaz Firpo, and Ryan Firpo. The cast of the Marvel Studios project includes Gemma Chan as Sersi, Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lia McHugh as Sprite, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Barry Keoghan as Druig, Don Lee as Gilgamesh, Kit Harington as Dane Whitman, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Angelina Jolie as Thena, Harry Styles as Starfox, and Mahershala Ali as Blade.
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Source: ComicBook.com
