Marvel’s Blade Reboot Hires Watchmen Writer

Blade has landed its writer. Stacy Osei-Kuffour, a member of the award-winning Watchmen writer’s room has landed the coveted Marvel Studios gig. It’s said Marvel Studios has been especially cautious with hiring the scribe for the movie, and THR reports the outfit is now calling the movie Blade, the Vampire Slayer. Osei-Kuffour reportedly landed the gig after an extensive interviewing process that lasted six months.

Blade star Mahershala Ali was directly involved in the hiring process.

Osei-Kuffour has spent the majority of her career in New York as a playwright and poet. She’s rapidly ascended the Hollywood hierarchy of late, landing gigs as a story editor both on HBO’s Watchmen and Amazon’s Al Pacino-starring Hunters. Osei-Kuffour also managed to lock down an Emmy nomination for her role on Pen15.

Next up for Osei-Kuffour, Ali, and Marvel Studios is hiring a director to board the project as it moves further into development.

Last fall, Ali revealed he initiated the conversation with Marvel Studios about sliding into the role of the Daywalker. With two Oscars under his belt — it’s not like the studio was in a position to say no.

“Since they were having conversations about bringing it back into being, I just wanted to be considered for it because I had definitely a connection, at least in my mind, to Wesley Snipes going back to high school,” Ali told The Tight Rope. “People use to joke and say that we looked alike and all this stuff. Sometimes people try to throw a little dig on you, they call me his character name. They call me Shadow from [Spike Lee jazz drama] Mo’ Better Blues or whatever, right?”

He added, “I just brought it up as someone who really wanted to take on that [Blade] role and tackle that.” On what drew him to the Marvel Comics character, he said, “I love that it’s darker. That’s all in terms of tone. He’s a little bit darker than some of the other ones and so that element was attractive to me.”

Blade has yet to set a release date.

What other characters would you like to see popping up in the series? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!