Bassam Tariq Reveals What His Abandoned ‘Blade’ Movie Could Have Been

Marvel’s Blade has taken a long and complicated path to the big screen, and new comments from former director Bassam Tariq give fans a better idea of what one version of the movie could have looked like. Tariq was attached to the project before leaving in 2022, but he had already spent around a year and a half developing his take on the vampire story. Now, years later, he has revealed some details about the movie that never happened.

Tariq discussed his time on Blade while promoting his new movie Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother. According to TheWrap, the director confirmed that his version of the Marvel film was at least partly set in the 1920s. That detail had been rumored by fans for years, but Tariq’s comments now give the idea much more weight. A period setting could have given Mahershala Ali’s version of Blade a very different look and feel from previous versions of the character.

The production had also reached a serious stage before Tariq left. He spent months working on the movie and eventually moved his family to Atlanta as pre-production continued. That shows how much time and effort had already gone into the project before Marvel decided to move in another direction. For Tariq, Blade was not simply a short job that came and went. It was a major part of his life for a long period.

One of the most surprising details involves Ruth Carter, the Oscar-winning costume designer who worked on Tariq’s Blade. Some of the costumes created for the scrapped movie did not simply disappear when the project changed. Tariq explained that Carter later took some of the unused Blade costumes with her when she worked on Ryan Coogler’s Sinners. That creates an unusual connection between two very different projects and gives fans a small idea of what the canceled Blade may have looked like.

Tariq also opened up about his working relationship with Mahershala Ali. Even though Ali was attached to star as Blade, Tariq said they did not become especially close while they were working on the Marvel project. Their relationship apparently became stronger after Tariq had already left the movie. He also revealed that he never told Ali about the script for Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother while they were still working together on Blade.

Looking back at the Marvel experience, Tariq seemed to understand that a filmmaker working on a major franchise is only one part of a much larger system. He described the experience by saying, “The system was cool, and we were a part of it.” His comment suggests that he knew there were many people and decisions involved in shaping the final movie, even if he had his own ideas for the character and story.

Marvel announced Tariq’s departure in September 2022, with the studio pointing to changes in the production schedule rather than a specific creative clash. At that point, the movie had already gone through a difficult development process, and Tariq’s exit became another major change for a project that had been announced back in 2019.

After Tariq left, Yann Demange took over as director, while the screenplay continued to change as Marvel searched for the right direction. The constant changes have made Blade one of the studio’s most closely watched productions, especially because Ali has been attached to the title role for years. Fans have spent a long time wondering what the movie will eventually become and how different it might be from the versions that came before it.

Tariq’s new comments are interesting because they offer something fans rarely get from abandoned superhero projects: actual details about what was being planned. The 1920s setting, the costumes from Ruth Carter, and the time spent developing the story all suggest that his Blade had a clear identity before the project changed course. It may never have been filmed, but parts of that creative work still exist in unexpected places.

For fans, the biggest mystery is now what Tariq’s Blade would have looked like if it had reached production. A period setting combined with Ali as the vampire hunter could have given Marvel a darker and more unusual take on the character. While that version is gone, Tariq’s comments provide a fascinating look at one of the paths Blade could have taken before Marvel’s long-running reboot entered another chapter.

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