Bassam Tariq is in talks with Marvel Studios into directing the upcoming Blade movie

Kevin Feige revealed to a packed Hall H crowd in San Diego Comic Con nearly two years ago that the Marvel Cinematic Universe will revive the legendary Blade character, with Oscar winner Mahershala Ali set to portray the titular vampire hunter. Now at long last, and we’re glad that it didn’t last that very long, The new Blade movie will finally have it’s own director. Marvel Studios has hired Bassam Tariq to direct Ali in a live-action Blade film set in the MCU, according to Deadline.

Reports states, that Tariq hasn’t closed a deal with Marvel Studios but they are keen into hiring the Tariq in directing the movie. Tariq is best known for his work on Mogul Mowgli, starred by Riz Ahmedas  an up-and-coming rapper on the cusp of a major break in the film. Marvel has recruited Stacy Osei-Kuffour, the writer of Watchmen and Hunters, to write the Blade script. Kevin Feige will produce, as usual.

According to a story from earlier this year, Blade may go into production next summer, giving Tariq and the rest of the crew plenty of time to get everything in place. The next big question will be how Marvel Studios intends to handle the franchise.

Many fans are still hopeful that Blade will be the MCU’s first R-rated film, following in the footsteps of Wesley Snipes’ original Blade trilogy. But knowing Marvel as the family friendly movie franchise and has been backed by disney since the beginning, it is best to expect that we will have a PG-13 rating for Blade. Marvel has yet to indicate that it will be headed in that route for any future films, with Kevin Feige even claiming that all ideas on the table are PG-13.