Albert Hughes Passed On BLADE; Doesn’t “Understand Why A Real Filmmaker” Would Work For Marvel Studios

Albert Hughes, who co-directed the likes of Menace II Society, From Hell and The Book of Eli with his brother Allen and helmed episodes of current John Wick spin-off series The Continental, has revealed that he was in talks to direct a movie for Marvel Studios, but ultimately decided that he wasn’t the right man for the job.

Hughes mentioned that he was speaking to Marvel about boarding recent Disney+ Secret Invasion series in a previous interview, but while chatting to the Happy Sad Confused podcast, he confirmed that he was also in the mix for the Blade Reboot.

“I’ve been in talks with the obvious studio about superhero movies a couple of times, but I always felt uncomfortable because I knew it was a system,” Hughes began. “And they’re very nice, and I went through a long process. In fact, I broke down all their movies and put them in a spreadsheet and broke down the box office, watching the title scores, where the VFX ranks, I had to do a deep dive on them.”

However, Hughes quickly came to the realization that he simply wouldn’t be able to work within the “controlled” Marvel Studios system, and says he doesn’t understand why any established filmmaker would even want to try.

“And I got, halfway, not very close, halfway through the process, and I go, ‘No, I would implode from the kind of controlled nature of that world and not being able to do what I do.’ And I don’t understand why a real filmmaker would want to be in that system. I understand why up-and-comers would, which they do a good job of. finding people at the right time. But I think I would implode.”

This seems to be a concern for quite a few directors, and a valid one at that. While some filmmakers have managed to add their own stylistic flourishes to the MCU projects they bring to the screen, it is a rarity.

“So if you’re getting hired for you, and what you do and what you bring, I’ve been in a situation more recently where I’m getting poked and prodded, and it’s like, ‘Oh, you don’t really want what I do,’” he continued. “That was checking a box for them, and this is not going to work out. And it didn’t work out; I had to quit that job. I smelled it pretty early, and I said, ‘No, I’m not here for this.’”

Hughes is probably counting his blessings that he didn’t sign on to helm Blade given the seemingly endless stream of problems the upcoming reboot has encountered.