You may not know Chad Stahelski right now, and outside of the John Wick franchise, it’d be hard to blame you. The director of the trilogy, set to return to the franchise with the 4th and 5th installments shot back-to-back, was mostly known in the industry for his stunt choreography in films like Captain America: Winter Soldier, The Matrix, and The Hunger Games, but now he’s becoming a hot director among action films, with an upcoming take on Highlander in the near-future.
Stahelski was recently speaking with Comicbook.com when he was asked it he’d ever take on a Marvel film of his own, and he said:
“If the opportunity ever came, the one that really jumps out to me would be like ‘Blade.’ If they were going to redo ‘Blade’ or something like that, just because I feel that one, for some reason, the vampire martial art action vibe. That would be a cool one to stretch and try and reinvent.”
For this film fan, I find that Stahelski is doing impressive work with Keanu Reeves in the John Wick franchise, and given the choice of him continuing on that path of leaving to do a Blade film, I’d rather see him do more Wick. Purely selfish, but I like when he has an edge and Marvel won’t give him that. Even as far as Highlander goes, that’s a tough egg to crack, and I think he’s capable, but much like Justin Lin’s work on the Fast & Furious franchise, Stahelski seems to only get better with each film.
All that being said, if Marvel approached him for Blade and he said Yes, I could only be excited. His stunt coordinating on Winter Soldier and its follow-up, Civil War, were both so kinetic and raw and they excited the realm of superhero films and became hard action films. What Stahelski could bring to a vampire martial arts action film could only be good, and I’m all for it as long as he keeps turning out good work (the most frequent John Wick film is the best one yet, fight me).
So what do you think? Would you like to see Chad Stahelski keep on directing John Wick films or should he broaden out by trying to nab a Blade film? Is there another property you’d like to see him tackle? Let me know/Drop a comment below!
John Wick: Chapter 4 is scheduled for release on May 27, 2022.
-Kyle A. Goethe
GOAT Film Reviews 