An integral part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s success over the last decade plus can be attributed not only to the enthralling cast of characters, such as Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and Spider-Man, but also the different genres to which the assemblage of films can be assigned. For instance, the first Captain America can be considered a war movie, its sequel Winter Soldier a movie infused with paranoia and conspiracy thriller overtones; Thor: Ragnarok a sci-fi fantasy; Guardians the Galaxy a sci-fi comedy; Black Panther is considered a geopolitical thriller according to Kevin Feige; Spider-Man: Homecoming a coming of age, high school film and more.
Which is what makes recent commentary from neo-noir action thriller John Wick director Chad Stahelski so interesting. Namely, he’d be interested in directing Blade, a Marvel movie that could most certainly be categorized under the unique combination of the horror and martial arts genres.
Stahelski, who has also extensively as a Hollywood stunt double, stunt doubling for Brandon Lee after Lee’s accidental death on the set of 1993’s The Crow and for Keanu Reeves in The Matrix franchise, made his directorial debut on John Wick alongside longtime collaborator David Leitch. Stahelski would go on to solo direct the two John Wick sequels, John Wick: Chapter 2 and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. If he ever had the opportunity to direct a Marvel superhero film however, Stahelski has one character at the forefront of his mind: Blade, the Vampire Hunter, which has already been announced as future Marvel Cinematic Universe film with actor Mahershala Ali attached (the film would be a reboot of the Blade trilogy which starred Wesley Snipes).
“As far as doing my own, I’m not a gigantic superhero guy, but I enjoy the movies,” Stahelski said in an interview with Comicbook.com. “I love the Avengers. I loved Captain America. I like James Gunn’s take on Guardians. I really dig him as a director and what he’s done with that. Ragnarok, I felt was really funny. I thought that was clever. I’ve come around.
“If the opportunity ever came, I would like to take a stab at [no pun intended]…the one that really jumps out to me would be like Blade,” Stahelski added. “If they were going to redo Blade or something like that, just because I feel that one, for some reason, the vampire martial art action vibe. That would be a cool one to stretch and try and reinvent.”
Stahelski is already signed on to helm a reboot to The Highlander series, which he agreed to in November 2017, so his work on a Blade reboot would have to wait. “Other than that, it’s like, look, I’ve got the John Wick stuff,” Stahelski continued. “I’m really curious about what I can do with Highlander and how I reinvent the hero worship stuff. Those fascinate me a lot, a little also more than … I just like more of the original properties that you can grow from as opposed to step into a number five or a number six. That’s all. Just choice.”
John Wick: Chapter 4 and Blade as of yet have not received release dates from their respective studios, but we’ll keep you updated. Would you like to see a Chad Stahelski Blade MCU movie? Let us know in the comments.
