Marvel’s long-in-the-works Blade movie starring Mahershala Ali has brought on a new writer. The superhero studio has tapped True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto to write the film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The existing draft was written by Michael Starrbury (When They See Us), and THR’s sources said Pizzolatto is “working off” that draft and adding more to it. Pizzolatto has reportedly been working on his new Blade script for a few weeks already.
Pizzolatto and Ali previously worked together for True Detective Season 3.
The half-mortal, half-immortal vampire hunter character Blade got his own movie for the first time in 1998 with Wesley Snipes in the lead role. Multiple sequels followed.
Marvel’s new movie has been a long time coming, as it was originally announced in 2019. Production was scheduled to begin in 2022 before original director Bassam Tariq dropped out.
As for Ali, he won Oscars for the movies Moonlight and Green Book. Blade won’t be his first MCU project, as he starred in Luke Cage as Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes.
Blade has been delayed to September 6, 2024, and currently will serve as the last film for Phase 5 of the MCU. In April, it was announced that Mia Goth had joined the cast.