Director of Marvel Studio’s ‘Blade’ reboot praises writer, Stacy Osei-Kuffour

Bassam Tariq, director of the upcoming Marvel Studios superhero film, “Blade,” has praised the talent of Stacy Osei-Kuffour.

In a conversation with The Playlist podcast, Tariq said:“I didn’t think [‘Blade’] was going to happen, just to be very honest,” Tariq said. “I’m honored and it’s a privilege, but I’m here in service of Stacy Osei-Kuffour, who is the incredible writer that is writing the film…She’s just a phenomenal presence and a juggernaut in her own right. And for Mahershala [Ali]. For me, it’s really just working in their service.”

Tariq is directing the film that will introduce the character, played by Mahershala Ali, into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This also makes Stacy Osei-Kuffour the first Black woman to write a Marvel film.

According to reports, Marvel Studio  has spent months meeting with writers in what was described as a meticulous search, with Ali directly involved. Only Black writers were seriously considered, a reflection of Marvel’s focus on diversity and making representation a key factor — especially when tackling nonwhite characters.

Blade first made its debut in 1998 and was played by Wesley Snipes who originally portrayed the half-vampire, half-mortal superhero, and slayer of evil vampires.

Stacy Amma Osei-Kuffour is a Ghanaian-born American playwright, actress, and writer known for her work on Watchmen and PEN15. She was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2019 for PEN15 and received a Writers Guild Award for her work on Watchmen.

She was born in Chicago, Illinois to Ghanaian business owner and CEO of Acirfa Corporation, Godwin Osei-Kuffour. The family also own African Creations, a wholesale company that provides African handicrafts, African artifacts, handmade African products, and much more.

Her culturally mixed heritage often figures in her work.

After attending at Homewood-Flossmoor High School in Flossmoor, Illinois, Osei-Kuffour studied at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she majored in drama at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. At NYU she met future collaborators Anna Konkle and Maya Erskine, both of whom she would later work with on PEN15. She also studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

After graduating from NYU, she earned a Master’s degree in playwriting from Hunter College. Her one-act play One Course won the Irv Zarkower Award at Hunter in 2014