David Leitch interested in directing Mahershala Ali in 'Blade'

Hobbs & Shaw director David Leitch has declared his interest in overseeing the upcoming reboot of Blade, which will star Mahershala Ali in the leading role and see the comic-book hero join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Leitch, who is one of the most sought after action directors in Hollywood thanks to his work on John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2 and now the Fast And Furious spin-off, threw his hat into the ring for the coveted gig during a recent discussion with Screen Rant.

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But while Leitch would want to direct Blade for a number of obvious reasons, the filmmaker, who started his career as a stunt-man and stunt coordinator before becoming a director, actually has a personal connection to the original 1998 version of Blade.

“I love Blade. And it's actually one of the first stunt jobs that I was in, the original Wesley Snipes one. I was a stunt performer in that movie. I was in the blood club. You remember that scene? Yes, dancing around in the recycled special effects blood. It was great.”

Screen Rant also reported that Leitch said “he’d be willing to collaborate with Marvel for a new project.”

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We’re still not exactly sure Blade will be released. All Kevin Feige announced at Comic-Con was that Mahershala Ali had been cast as Blade, but there isn’t any space for it in MCU’s Phase 4, which will unfold in 2020 and 2021, so it will likely only arrive in 2022 for its fifth phase.

You can check out Leitch’s latest work as a director now, as the Fast & Furious spin-off Hobbs & Shaw, which pits Jason Statham against Dwayne Johnson, has just been released into cinemas.