The director of Blade has credited Wesley Snipes for “creat[ing] the superhero world that we’re in”.

Bassam Tariq has praised the actor, who played the titular character Blade – also known as Eric Brooks – in the 1998 movie.

Tariq is set to direct a new adaptation of the film as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Mahershala Ali taking on Snipes’ role.

Speaking to IndieWire, the director said: “What’s exciting about the film that we’re making is [there] hasn’t been a canon for Blade, as we’re reading through the comics and everything. Him being a daywalker is the one thing that’s been established, and you know we can’t deny what Wesley Snipes did, which was he basically got this whole ball rolling.

“A Black man created the superhero world that we’re in, that’s just the truth. For me to now be working with somebody as talented and a juggernaut as Mahershala Ali, and the writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour, I’m just so – I’m so honoured to be working with real Black juggernauts and Black talent.”

He added: “For me to just be with them in this room and listen and learn as I build this out, it’s really an honour.”

A release date for the new Blade movie has yet to be announced.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Snipes is making a “Blade-killer” movie to rival the Marvel reboot. “It’s what we call our Blade-killer, our Blade on steroids,” the actor said.

“And we set our character in the world of shape-shifters and a little bit of time travel. But the action is going to be… Well, we did white belt action in Blade. Now we’re going to do black belt action.”