Bassam Tariq, director of Marvel's upcoming Blade reboot, is honored to be helming the film. Unlike most characters in the MCU, vampire hunter Blade has already received a few big screen adventures before making his debut. Wesley Snipes played the character in a trilogy that ended with 2004's Blade: Trinity, and save for a brief Spike TV series, Blade has remained untouched for years. That was why fans were so pleasantly surprised to hear Oscar winner Mahershala Ali will be playing Blade for the MCU; he was first announced in the role back in 2019.

Since then, progress on the Blade reboot has been strangely slow. Stacy Osei-Kuffour (Watchmen) signed on to pen the script back in February, and in May, it was confirmed that Marvel had met with a few potential directors. Finally, in July, Tariq was tapped to direct Blade, making it his second feature film after the Riz Ahmed-starring Mogul Mowgli. Marvel and Tariq have both largely remained silent on his involvement with Blade, though now the director has offered some teases about what's to come.

Related: How The MCU Can Introduce Blade (Where Has He Been?)

Appearing on the latest episode of The Playlist Podcast, Tariq opened up about joining Blade. First, he spoke about his surprise that the movie is happening at all before sharing his own gratitude at being chosen for the job. Though Tariq couldn't provide many specifics, he did tease there are some "big swings" ahead. Tariq said:

I didn’t think [‘Blade’] was going to happen, just to be very honest. I’m honored and it’s a privilege, but I’m here in service of Stacy Osei-Kuffour, who is the incredible writer that is writing the film…She’s just a phenomenal presence and a juggernaut in her own right. And for Mahershala [Ali]. For me, it’s really just working in their service....[Marvel] takes big swings, you know?…I can’t say anything about it, but I’m just so excited for what we’re doing.

Fan poster featuring Mahershala Ali as Blade

Most of the many projects announced at Marvel's 2019 San Diego Comic-Con presentation have either been released already or are gearing up for release. Blade, as well as Jon Watts' Fantastic Four, is something of an outlier, in that it doesn't even have a release date or cast beyond Ali. Tariq's words, though, bring a great deal of comfort. Even though fans remain in the dark about what's ahead for Blade, it's clear a lot of exciting work is being done behind the scenes even despite the lack of updates. Previously, it was said that Blade wouldn't begin filming until July 2022, and there's nothing in Tariq's comments that seem to indicate otherwise.

Though Tariq specializes in documentaries and has only crafted one feature film, his hiring falls in line with Marvel's typical strategy. The studio is now known for picking directors experienced in independent fare (Chloé Zhao, Taika Waititi), thus allowing them to develop a unique perspective for their mega-blockbusters. It's clear Tariq takes his job as Blade's director seriously, and it will be quite exciting to see what he and Osei-Kuffour come up with. Hopefully more updates emerge soon.

More: What If Blade Was In Endgame? Could He Beat Thanos?

Source: The Playlist Podcast

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