As reports have begun to come out that Marvel Studios is looking for writers of color to tackle the script for their upcoming Blade reboot, someone is already throwing their hat in the ring to direct. Speaking in a new interview, director Mark Tonderai said that he’d like to step behind the camera for the Mahershala Ali starring feature. Tonderai has experience on the big screen having directed the Jennifer Lawrence thriller House at the End of the Street and dabbling in comics for television with work on Gotham and Locke & Key. He’s handled superheroes, comics, horror, and a blend of all three and he’s got a pitch.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“I’d love to do Blade,” Tonderai told Comic Book Movie. “Blade, for me, is right up my street in terms of my sensibilities. I also think Stephen Norrington did a brilliant job with the first incarnation of it, and I’d argue that it was the first, other than Tim Burton’s Batman, superhero film that really revolutionised movies to where we are now. So, Blade, I would absolutely love to do.”
Tonderai went on to reveal another project he’d like to be involved in, a franchise that many filmmakers would kill for, while noting what’s appealing to him about taking on something in the Marvel Studios wheelhouse.
“[I] also want to do Bond. You want to do something as big as that just because it’s something I was brought up on as a kid,” he added. “It’s always been part of my family life. You want to do a Marvel film because it’s a very different discipline. When you do a project like that, it’s not really a Mark Tonderai film, it’s a Marvel film. So, how do you get your DNA into a film like that?”
Speculation back when movies were getting shifted around due to coronavirus delays indicated that Blade might be slated for October of 2022. There is still no word on whether or not the film will arrive within the next two years but as Marvel Studios seeks out creative minds to craft its story, such a timeline is not completely unrealistic.
Precious little is actually known about the project beyond Ali’s involvement as the titular daywalker. The Oscar winner opened up in a recent interview about how he landed the part, confirming that he approached Marvel about it himself after he appeared on Luke Cage.
“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. “I just brought it up as someone who really wanted to take on that [Blade] role and tackle that…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.”
Who would you like to see get involved with the upcoming Blade movie? Let us know in the comments below!
