Marvel’s Reboot Of The ‘Blade’ Franchise Finds Its Scribe In Former New York Playwright
One of the first Marvel film franchises to make an impact at the box office is slated to return in the near future and now, it reportedly has a writer attached for the reboot. Per The Hollywood Reporter‘s Borys Kit, the production team behind Blade, the Vampire Slayer has tapped New York playwright turned Watchmen scribe Stacy Osei-Kuffour to pen its script.
According to the report, Marvel had spent the previous six months engaging in a “meticulous search” for the person who would be charged with bringing Blade back to life on the big screen. As the studio and its parent company, Disney, have made diversity and minority representation key planks in their creative process, only Black writers were reported to have received serious consideration.
Two-time Academy Award-winning actor Mahershala Ali (Moonlight, Green Book), who is attached to star as the titular character, was reportedly involved in meeting with prospective screenwriters.
As noted by THR, Osei-Kuffour is seen as a “fast-rising screenwriter” as a result of her work on PEN15, which garnered an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series. However, it was her work on HBO’s Watchmen adaptation — as both a writer and story editor — that is said to have gotten her noticed in relation to Blade.
Last year, the program — which is based on the iconic Alan Moore-penned maxiseries of the same name — was honored as the Writer’s Guild of America’s Best New Series. PEN15 also received a nomination.
Before making the move to Hollywood, Osei-Kuffour spent years writing plays and poetry following her graduation from NYC’s Hunter College. Marvel’s decision to bring her on-board for Blade makes her the first Black female to write an MCU movie. As reported by The Inquisitr last year, Candyman helmer Nia DaCosta previously became the studio’s first Black female director when she was hired to head the forthcoming Captain Marvel sequel.
The Blade character, which is largely portrayed as a human-vampire hybrid charged with hunting the undead, first appeared in Marvel’s The Tomb of Dracula in the early 1970s and was created by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan. After a slew of appearances in series like Vampire Tales, Ghost Rider and Nightstalkers, he received his own comic line, Blade the Vampire Hunter, in 1994.
Four years later, Blade made his big-screen debut with Wesley Snipes assuming the mantle of the leather trenchcoat-wearing, katana-wielding slayer. Snipes continued in the role for two sequels. Rapper Sticky Fingaz assumed the role on a short-lived show on Spike TV in 2006.
