David Goyer won’t be taking another stab at Blade. The screenwriter of the original Blade trilogy, which starred Wesley Snipes as the leather-clad Daywalker vampire hunter, reveals he considered helping Disney’s Marvel Studios reboot the franchise that has languished in development hell since Kevin Feige first announced the project at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019. Goyer also directed the third and final film of Snipes’ trilogy, 2004’s Blade: Trinity, and went on to co-write Christopher Nolan’s Batman reboot, The Dark Knight trilogy.
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“It’s so funny, about eight months ago — when, not the latest hiccup hit, but like the prior hiccup — I had so many people that would say to me, ‘Dude, would you get in there on Blade? Would you just get in there?’” Goyer told Variety. “Whether it be friends or fans or people on social media.”
Goyer went on to say that he reached out to Marvel about offering his services to help pen the new Blade movie, which has repeatedly changed hands and cycled through multiple screenwriters and directors.
“I wasn’t even really thinking about it, but then I had my agent call Marvel and say, ‘Do you guys need any help?’” Goyer recalled. “And they said, ‘We love you, but we think we’ve cracked it now, and we’re in a good place.’ And then the latest thing happened. And so no, they haven’t contacted me.”
In October, Disney pulled the Blade reboot from its release calendar, dating 20th Century’s Predator: Badlands for Nov. 7, 2025, in its place, leaving Blade both without a director and a release date.
Previously, Marvel tapped Stacy Osei-Kuffour (HBO’s Watchmen, FX’s The Bear) to write the script and Bassam Tariq (Mogul Mowgli) to direct; Beau DeMayo (X-Men ’97) was later hired to rewrite the script, with Michael Starburry (When They See Us), Nic Pizzolatto (True Detective), Michael Green (Logan), and Eric Pearson (Thunderbolts*) taking passes at the screenplay. Yann Demange (White Boy Rick) came on as director but exited the project last June.
Goyer doesn’t know “the behind the scenes” of the Blade delays, but added he “might consider” writing the new iteration, should Marvel Studios change their mind.
“I might consider it because I love the character, and [Blade] sort of started my superhero career. Even though I’m now considered a DC guy, I started as a Marvel guy,” said Goyer, who also developed Spike’s live-action Blade: The Series and co-wrote the 2011 Marvel adaptation Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. “I would consider it, it would be fun to return to that world. That being said, I’m pretty much otherwise 99% done with superheroes. I love this stuff. I watch all the movies, but I’ve just done so much in the world. But yeah, I would consider it, just for old time’s sake.”
Feige, who announced in 2019 that two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali (Jurassic World Rebirth) is attached to star as the vampire slayer, has said of Marvel Studios’ Blade, “For the last few years, as we’ve been trying to crack that movie, the most important thing for us is not rushing it, and making sure we are making the right Blade movie. Because there were some great Blade movies years ago.”
New Line’s R-rated Blade trilogy grossed a collective $417 million at the global box office between 1998 and 2004. The Stephen Norrington-directed 1998 Blade marked Marvel’s first theatrical film since 1986’s Howard the Duck and helped usher in the modern age of Marvel adaptations like 2000’s X-Men and 2002’s Spider-Man, blockbusters which paved the way for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Goyer co-wrote 2005’s Batman Begins with Nolan and received a story credit on 2008’s The Dark Knight and 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises, and co-wrote 2013’s Man of Steel and 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Goyer’s comic book-based projects include the 1998 TV movie Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., NBC’s short-lived Constantine series, SYFY’s Superman prequel series Krypton, and Netflix’s adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s DC comic book The Sandman, which returns with its second and final season on July 3.
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(Photo by Bruce Glikas/Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic)
