Marvel’s “Blade” Film Nabs “Watchmen” Screenwriter
San Diego Comic Con in 2019 was a huge moment for Marvel Studios. It gave the studio the chance to lay out their plans for the future of the MCU and tease fans with some new additions. While the focus was on the expansion of the franchise to Disney+, with shows like the currently airing WandaVision and the upcoming Loki, the biggest news came in the form of Blade returning to the Marvel fold.
It was announced that Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali had been cast as the titular vampire-hunting vigilante. However, there was very little news otherwise. There was no timeline for production, or any indication of what phase the film could be expected in. What was clear though, is that both Marvel and Ali were excited to ring the Daywalker to life in the MCU and that they were going to take their time in searching for the right creative team to tackle the project.
It has been 18 months spent since then, but it they’ve finally landed on a scriptwriter, with Marvel dropping the news that New York playwright Stacy Osei-Kuffour has been tapped to pen the new adaptation. Osei-Kuffour is perhaps best known for her work on HBO’s acclaimed 2020 limited series, Watchmen, where she acted as writer and story editor. She has also worked on Hulu’s acclaimed Pen15 series, HBO’s Run and Amazon’s Hunters.
What is perhaps even more notable is that Ocei-Kuffour is the first Black female writer to pen a Marvel movie, which is hot on the heels of Marvel naming Candyman reboot helmer Nia DaCosta as the director of Captain Marvel 2, marking here as the MCU’s first Black woman director.
Combined with the recent news of Ryan Coogler returning to Marvel Studios to head up a new Wakanda series, it seems that Marvel is doubling down on their efforts to make sure that voices of color are prominently heard in their franchise. There is still no timetable as to when Blade could head into production, but it’s a step in the right direction and the next move will likely being naming a director who will work with Osei-Kuffour on the film
