Nia Da Costa
DaCosta made Marvel history by becoming the first black woman and youngest filmmaker to land a directing job at the studio. She’s finishing this project now, Wonders, the film being scheduled for next July. While this film will certainly feature a more cosmic aesthetic than something like BladeDaCosta has also proven herself in horror: she directed the underrated 2021 candy man sequel, and its combination of an urban setting, folklore, and shadowy nighttime stalkers may be just right for Blade — if she’s willing to stay in the MCU a little longer.
Guillermo del Toro
Landing the grand maestro of modern dark fantasy cinema would be a major blow for Kevin Feige and Marvel – in the sense of nabbing Sam Raimi to direct Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – but it would also bring GDT back to one of its early triumphs. Del Toro, of course, realized Blade II (2002), the second and widely considered the best entry in the original trilogy starring Wesley Snipes as Daywalker. While he has moved on to other thematic concerns with his more recent films like alley of nightmares, Del Toro might just love the chance to leave his mark on the MCU with a character he can rebuild any way he wants. Plus, it could reignite excitement around an already troubled film.
JD Dillard
We still have fond memories of JD Dillard’s directorial debut in 2016. Sleight of hand, in which an excellent Jacob Latimore plays a young street magician who also turns into a homemade superhero. Dillard followed that up with Lover, a horror tale in which Kiersey Clemons finds herself stranded on an island with a humanoid sea creature. His next film, Dedicationis a war drama, but other recent work like directing episodes of the stranger and The twilight zone indicate that he has a soft spot for the supernatural – which might make him a good fit for Blade.
Gareth Evans
This Welsh filmmaker is best known for his two superb Indonesian action thrillers, Lowering (2011) and The Raid 2 (2014), but he also directed the extremely dark – if not entirely coherent – folk horror film Apostle for Netflix in 2018. He is back with the streaming platform for his next film, Ravaged, another dark thriller starring Tom Hardy. Evans is second to none with action and fight sequences, and his films are dripping with enough ambience and atmosphere. He also might not be averse to starring in a comic book universe; he was one of many filmmakers (along with GDT and others) who went into development Justice League Dark for DC Films.
Michael Giacchino
After his stellar work recreating the look and feel of old Universal and Hammer horror films for Marvel’s Halloween special, night werewolfthe famed composer-turned-director could easily move on to a bigger, more ambitious, yet still horrifying property like Blade. He’s already in the family, he introduced Marvel monsters like Werewolf by Night and Man-Thing to the MCU, and we’re sure he can’t wait to prove himself as a director.
Natalie Erika James
Japanese-Australian writer-director Natalie Erika James made a stunning feature debut with the 2020s Relic, an utterly bizarre horror-drama about three generations of women dealing with aging, death, and memory loss through a terrifying supernatural lens. While she was developing another original horror release called drum waveit is also currently in production on Apartment 7Aa top secret movie that would be a prequel (*sigh*) to Rosemary’s baby. James’ emphasis on character, tone and atmosphere is said to be his greatest strength in the bar Bladeespecially if it leans more towards horror than direct superhero action.
