John Wick Director Chad Stahelski Says He's Had Talks About Directing A Marvel Movie

Back in 2020, Chad Stahelski said the one Marvel movie he wanted to make was the "Blade" reboot. The film, starring Mahershala Ali as the Daywalker, was announced in 2019, with Marvel hiring Bassam Tariq in summer 2021 to direct. Stahelski didn't get his shot at the time, but then Tariq left the project in fall 2022 — which would roughly coincide with post-production on "John Wick: Chapter 4."

Could Marvel have approached Stahelski about "Blade" again? Or would the studio offer him something even more expansive, like "Avengers: Secret Wars"? Based on the epic scale and multi-character storyline of "John Wick: Chapter 4," we wouldn't say that was unreasonable either. (Yann Demange is now the director on "Blade," which is due out in September 2024.)

Whatever the case, now that he's built a universe of his own with the "John Wick" movies, Stahelski says it might be difficult for him to fit into an already existing franchise. "If any studio called and said, 'Hey, we want to develop a character from scratch,' that's me," he explains. "I'm your guy. To somehow take something that's already so baked in the fans' minds, I don't know. I don't think I'm very good at adaptations. I'm much better at building from the ground up."

Still, if Marvel ever came calling again, Stahelski would never say never to the possibility of leaving his mark on the MCU. "If that were to happen, it's not out of the range," he says, citing his strong relationship with Kevin Feige. "It's always a pleasure to work for people that love what they do. I'm not going to say yes, I'm not going to say no. It's really an individual thing."

"John Wick: Chapter 4" is in theaters now.