Summer 2019 brought the news that Mahershala Ali was to star in a Blade reboot for Marvel Studios, but since then, the project appeared to have been put on the back burner, with no further cast or crew hired. This Friday, though, the first name to be attached to the production aside from Ali was revealed. Stacy Osei-Kuffour, who wrote for HBO’s Watchmen, is set to provide the film’s script, as per The Hollywood Reporter.
And with Osei-Kuffour’s appointment, the full title for the new Blade movie has been unveiled. You might have been expecting the pic to go by the plain old name of Blade, but it seems Marvel has other plans, as THR is reporting that the film’s complete moniker will be Blade, the Vampire Slayer.Â
Obviously, the first thing this title brings to mind is Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as created by The Avengers director Joss Whedon. In choosing this name, Marvel must be encouraging fans to connect the beloved TV show with their newest MCU hero, which is pretty surprising as Blade typically has a much darker tone than Whedon’s series. You might also wonder if some folks will confuse this for a big budget Buffy spinoff or even a Buffy/Marvel crossover.
Then again, the studio seems to be at the stage where they can call a movie whatever they want because they know people will go see it anyway. For instance, Doctor Strange 2 will actually go by the cumbersome title of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Likewise, if this was Phase 1, Shang-Chi would’ve just been named that. Now, though, it’s called Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.Â
The new title will also discourage people from getting it confused with the Wesley Snipes original, much like Marvel elected to go with The Incredible Hulk and Spider-Man: Homecoming for those rebooted heroes. In any case, hopefully Blade will now get out of its coffin and make some headway.
