In a recent report, Variety confirmed that Marvel Studios has hired Nic Pizzolatto to join the writing team for Blade. Who is he? Oh, he’s just the guy who created the HBO crime series True Detective. Horror fans should rejoice at this news considering how the show, particularly the first season, was steeped in the genre. It just so happens that Mahershala Ali starred in the critically acclaimed third season.
Since the Blade reboot was announced, the film has undergone its share of turmoil. After losing its director, reports began streaming across the internet that Ali was so unhappy with the screenplay’s first draft that massive rewrites were underway. That has apparently led us to Pizzolatto’s hiring.
On the surface, this may not seem like such a major announcement. Most MCU fans likely won’t recognize Pizzolatto’s name. However, his addition to Blade signals that Feige and the Disney brass could be shifting their approach to the world of superheroes.
Phase Four was marked by underwhelming action comedies, and Phase Five kicked off with the disappointing silly shenanigans of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Hiring Pizzolatto to oversee the script suggests that Marvel/Disney is ready to add some maturity to the MCU and its vast array of characters.
THE JAMES GUNN EFFECT?
Despite the much-deserved criticism for the soon-to-be-deceased DCEU, Warner Bros. Discovery appears to be learning from Feige’s mistakes with the MCU. When James Gunn announced the first slate of projects for the DCU Chapter One, one of the main attention grabbers was Swamp Thing. Gunn had said that the all-new DCU would feature a variety of content and ratings. While the goal would be to keep most of the films and television series PG-13, he assured fans that it would be on a case-by-case basis with some R-rated projects.
Gunn confirmed that Swamp Thing will be full-on horror, but the bigger news is that James Mangold will be in the writer and director’s chair.
Although Marvel Studios deserves credit for igniting Gunn and Taika Waititi’s careers, at least in the mainstream spotlight, there has been a noticeable lack of established writers and directors under the MCU banner. Why is that? The indication is that Marvel/Disney does not allow them the same creative freedom as it does for the A-list actors.
Immediately hiring Mangold to helm Swamp Thing proves that under Gunn’s watch, DC Studios is willing to give directors plenty of creative space, something that should win over naysayers once Chapter One is fully underway.
A NEW DIRECTION?
It’s no secret that WBD wants its own version of the MCU. Before naming Gunn and Peter Safran as the co-chairs of DC Studios, the word on the internet was that the mega-corporation wanted its own Kevin Feige. In fact, the company reportedly tried to woo him away from Marvel altogether.
Gunn has said that the first person he texted when he got the job was Feige. Now it would appear the teacher is taking a page from the master. Obviously, Ali’s influence on Blade is what ultimately led to Pizzolato coming aboard, but the fact that Feige gave it his blessing hints that Marvel Studios may be loosening the reins on its writers and directors and branching away from the formulaic action-comedies. That will be a boon for comic fans everywhere.
