John Wick Director Chad Stahelski Says He Threw His Hat in the Ring to Direct Marvel's BLADE
Chad Stahelski has had a long career in Hollywood that began in the 9’0s as a stuntman on films like The Crow and Escape From L.A.. He went on to work on films as Keanu Reeves’ stunt double in many of his blockbuster hits, solidifying his friendship with the actor, whom he went on to direct in the John Wick film franchise. Stahelski now has plenty of projects on his plate, but one film he wished he could have directed was the upcoming Marvel movie Blade.
After working on the previous Marvel films – Iron Man 2 as a stuntman and Captain America: Civil War as Second Unit Director – Stahelski told ComicBook that he became close with MCU President Kevin Feige, and they had a discussion about a possible future film collaboration.
"Marvel was very influential in my career. I owe them a great deal. Kevin [Feige] is an awesome guy and I've worked for him many times on second unit. After John Wick 3, he was nice enough to carve out a big chunk of time and have nice talk. He's been a...in a way...a very strong mentor, even though it was a short period of time. I've only talked to him a few times, but he has been very influential in mindset and how to do it.
And he actually asked me, 'What could we ever do?' I was like, 'Look, I'm not going to lie to you. I don't know if I fit that kind of studio mold, but Blade would be the one interesting thing I'd like to do.'"
Marvel Studios has since hired Bassam Tariq to direct the movie, and Stahelski is a good sport about the way it turned out. He went on to say:
"I don't know if I would've been the best choice for that in the direction they wanted to go. If you want to do the edgy rated R version, yeah, give me a call. If you want to be non-apologetic, yeah. That's me. But I think they're protecting their brand, they're doing their thing. The individual they selected, I think is a very good director, and I think will do a great job in the direction that I think they want to take the property."
It’s too bad that Stahelski didn’t get the one project he was really interested in. Maybe Marvel will have another project he will be better suited for one day. What would you like to see him take on?
Blade is set for release in theaters on November 3, 2023.