Marvel’s ‘Blade’ to be written by ‘Watchmen’ writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour
Marvel spent six months meeting with prospective writers before hiring Osei-Kuffour
Marvel Studios’ Blade, the Vampire Slayer starring Oscar award-winning actor Mahershala Ali has found its new writer: Stacy Osei-Kuffour.
Osei-Kuffour, a playwright who served as the story editor and writer on HBO’s acclaimed limited series Watchmen, will become the first Black woman to write for a Marvel movie.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio spent six months meeting with various writers during a search which THR called, “meticulous.” More Black writers were reportedly considered because the studio wanted to focus on diversity and representation when telling the stories of characters of colors.
David Goyer previously wrote for the three original Blade movies which starred Wesley Snipes. Created by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, Blade became a cult favorite after his 1973 appearance in Tomb of Dracula No. 10.
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Blade, a half-human and half-vampire whose real name is Eric Brooks, seeks to rid the world of evil and those who’d prey on humanity, especially vampires like the one who killed his mother during his birth, according to Marvel. In 2019, Ali was announced to portray the legendary horror hero during the 2019 San Diego Comic Con.
Osei-Kuffour earned an Emmy nomination for outstanding writing in a comedy series for her work on Hulu’s cringe comedy Pen15. But it was her contributions to HBO’s Watchmen, starring Oscar award winning actress Regina King and based on the Alan Moore-Dave Gibbons comic, where she received attention.
Osei-Kuffour previously worked on Hunters, an Amazon limited series, and the HBO crime-thriller Run with Domhnall Gleeson.
The Chicago native struggled to find work as an actress and spent years writing plays and poetry. She received a Master’s degree from the Hunter College in New York.
“Three days after graduating from Hunter College, I decided to move to LA. I had been in NYC for 9 years, almost a decade, and nothing was happening for me. Playwright wise or acting wise. I was so depressed and poor and just really low,” she said in a 2019 interview with Awards Watch.
When asked about refining her art and how she wants to express it as a Black woman, Osei-Kuffour said, “It just makes me want to continue to create in-depth stories for people of color. Stories that are expansive, unique, fun, creepy, cool and most importantly, not stereotypical. I love creating worlds for people of color that I haven’t seen before.”
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People took to Twitter to share their excitement for Osei-Kuffour’s milestone such as fellow Watchmen writer Claire Kiechele who tweeted, “AHHH MY WATCHMEN WIFE @stacyamma IS WRITING BLADE!!! 1ay time I read Stacy’s work I was obsessed with her, it was the most hilarious, f—– up & daring play I had ever read. There’s NO ONE who could write Blade better than Stacy Osei-Kuffour, world is not ready but I can’t wait!”
Writer/Editor Constance Vigilance reminisced about their time together as writers, tweeting, “I’m gonna cry because @stacyamma is my friend and we used to write in her apartment and eat cookies and now she’s an Emmy winning Marvel writer and I just…!”
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