Bassam Tariq Reveals New Details About His Scrapped Marvel ‘Blade’ Movie

Marvel’s long-gestating ‘Blade‘ reboot has become something of a cautionary tale within the studio’s otherwise carefully managed production pipeline, cycling through multiple directors, writers, and release dates since it was first announced back in 2019. For any filmmaker who’s passed through that revolving door, the experience clearly left a lasting impression.

Bassam Tariq was one of those filmmakers, originally brought on in 2021 to direct the vampire-hunter reboot starring Mahershala Ali, only to depart the project in 2022 just weeks before production was set to begin. Now promoting his new film ‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother,’ Tariq is finally opening up about just how far along that scrapped version of ‘Blade’ actually got before it fell apart.

Tariq revealed that he spent roughly a year and a half working on the project, going so far as to relocate his family to Atlanta once pre-production was well underway. He also confirmed a detail longtime fans had speculated about for years, explaining that his version of the film was set at least partially in the 1920s, a fact he shared in comments reported by TheWrap.

That period setting had left behind an unexpected trace elsewhere in Hollywood. Tariq revealed that costume designer Ruth Carter, who worked on his version of ‘Blade,’ later brought some of the unused costumes from the project with her when she went on to design for Ryan Coogler’s ‘Sinners,’ giving fans a small but tangible link to what his take on the character might have looked like.

Despite spending so long developing the project alongside Mahershala Ali, Tariq revealed that he never actually got to know the actor well during their time working together, with their relationship only deepening after Tariq had already exited the production. He also confirmed he never told Ali about the script for ‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother’ while the two were still collaborating on ‘Blade,’ keeping his next creative chapter entirely separate from the Marvel project.

Reflecting on the broader experience of working within Marvel’s production system, Tariq described feeling like a small part of something much larger than himself. He explained, “The system was cool, and we were a part of it,” acknowledging that ultimately someone else was steering the larger operation regardless of his own creative input.

Marvel officially announced Tariq’s departure from ‘Blade’ in September 2022, citing continued shifts in the production schedule rather than any specific creative disagreement. At the time, the studio credited him for the work he’d done getting the project to that point, while Tariq offered his own gracious statement thanking the cast and crew he’d helped assemble.

Tariq’s exit ultimately led to a series of subsequent shake-ups for ‘Blade,’ with Yann Demange later stepping in as director before additional changes to the writing team followed. The project has continued evolving in the years since, reflecting just how difficult it’s proven for Marvel to lock down a consistent creative vision for the character’s long-awaited return to the screen.

Tariq’s comments offer a rare, candid look behind the curtain of one of Marvel’s more publicly troubled productions, especially given how tight-lipped most departing directors tend to be about their time on major franchise films. His willingness to discuss specific creative details, from the 1920s setting to Ali’s casting, adds real substance to what has largely remained a mysterious chapter in the character’s cinematic history.

With ‘Blade’ still finding its way toward an eventual release under new creative leadership, Tariq’s reflections serve as an interesting historical footnote to a production that’s clearly taken a long and winding road. For fans who’ve been waiting years for Marvel’s vampire hunter to return to theaters, these details offer a small but meaningful glimpse into what could have been.

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