Bassam Tariq, the first director attached to Marvel’s scrapped Blade reboot, says he does not blame studio chief Kevin Feige for the project’s collapse. Tariq spoke to Vulture and said he felt like a “failure” after leaving the Mahershala Ali vehicle. He called Feige a “good dude” who carries too much responsibility, and said he resents the online chorus that pins the failure on one executive. Marvel officially canceled the film in July.
Tariq described a production that spent heavily before it had a workable screenplay. Marvel built extensive 1920s sets, and planned a speakeasy sequence and a horse chase, but had no finished script. “We just never really had a script,” he said. He said the loss hurts most for the crew whose work never reached an audience. He also pointed to the weight of precedent. The reboot had to compete with Wesley Snipes’s 1998 original, which he called an “impossible task.”
Tariq accepted that final authority sat with Feige. His only previous feature, Mogul Mowgli, ran on a $1.2 million budget, and the Blade set alone matched ten such productions, so he understood why Marvel trusted its chief over a first-time studio director.
Ali has been less forgiving. He told GQ that Feige “should feel that way” after the executive reportedly called the unmade film the biggest failure of his career. Ali, announced as the MCU’s Blade at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, said the stalled project “definitely impacted” his career trajectory, and told interviewers the question of why it never happened belongs to Feige. Ali also said he was actively preparing for the role rather than simply holding his schedule open.
The project’s history stretches back years. Tariq entered talks to direct in 2021, with Watchmen writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour attached to the script and Feige producing. Tariq was the first of two directors officially tied to the film.
The cancellation has also drawn wider commentary. CNN reported that fans are questioning why Marvel’s cutbacks appear to fall on Black heroes.
Tariq and Ali have since worked together. Ali stars in Tariq’s hitman thriller Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, now in theaters. Asked whether Feige has seen it, Tariq said he did not know but hoped so, and would welcome a conversation if he does.
