Bassam Tariq best known for directing the Riz Ahmed film Mogul Mowgli, the new adaptation of the popular comic with Mahershala Ali is set to play the iconic vampire hunter and Stacy Osei-Kuffour is on board to pen the script with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige producing. Bassam Tariq marks the sixth person of color to direct a movie for Marvel, joining Ryan Coogler, Chloé Zhao, Destin Cretton, Taika Waititi and Nia DaCosta, the latter of whom was recently named director of the Captain Marvel sequel.

Feige has made it his mission in recent years to diversify not only the cast appearing in front of the camera but those behind it as well, and recent hires have proven that. Plans for a new incarnation of the Blade character, played by Wesley Snipes in a string of movies in the early 2000s, were revealed during Marvel’s senses-shattering presentation at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019. Created as a supporting character by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, Blade first appeared in Tomb of Dracula No. 10 in 1973, becoming a cult favorite. He is a human-vampire hybrid thanks to his mother being bitten and killed by a blood-sucker during childbirth. The character became a star in the ’90s when New Line adapted the comic with Snipes on board to star, with two sequels following the hit movie.

Having played the vampire hunter in a film trilogy, Wesley Snipes truly defined the character for a generation. And while many are excited to see what the Moonlight star will bring to the table, there are others who believe he’s going to have a hard time topping Snipes. The 59-year-old actor himself feels optimistic about his successor’s chances, though. He said as much in a recent Twitter post, in which he retweeted a fan’s comment.