Mahershala Ali was first announced to be headlining the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Blade reboot last summer, but ever since the big reveal, there’s been nothing but radio silence from the project. The two-time Academy Award winner remains the only talent officially attached, and the Daywalker doesn’t seem likely to be returning to our screens for a long time yet. And that’s probably because the studio are struggling to figure out a way to fit him into their plans.
After all, the original trilogy saw Wesley Snipes slice and dice his way through three R-rated adventures, but so far, the MCU has refused to pull the trigger on creating content for a more mature audience. A character like Blade doesn’t exactly lend himself to PG-13 territory, either, given his penchant for wielding a sword and of course, the whole bloodthirsty vampire element of the mythology.
In any case, Ali hasn’t spoken at any great length about the reboot since he was first cast, but in a recent interview, the former Luke Cage star finally revealed a few tidbits about what he’s got in store for his hotly anticipated debut in the world’s biggest franchise.
“So I did this Marvel show for Netflix called Luke Cage. So in doing that show, the day it premiered I had turned to my agent and I had said, ‘What are they doing with Blade?’. Because I kept hearing they were trying to find a way to remake and put it back together. And it was exciting for me to get to be in that Marvel space and TV, but for me my goal had always been film. But also being able to participate in television in a very specific way that had real meaning, but my larger goal was to be able to really navigate between film and television.”
The Green Book actor then acknowledged that Wesley Snipes had a huge impact on him when he was growing up, and the connection that he could inherit the role of Blade from someone he looked up to seemed too obvious to ignore.
“Wesley was someone who I recognized and he had an impact on my confidence. And in just me sort of standing in my own truth and my own strength in a certain way. So, I’ve kind of always followed his choices and really was inspired by his work and so many others. But Wesley in particular. I just brought it up as someone who really wanted to take on that role and tackle that. I love that’s it’s darker. That’s all in terms of tone. He’s a little bit darker than some of the other ones and so that element was attractive to me.”
Now that Ali has finally started spilling the beans, all we’re waiting on is for Blade to find a director, hire a writer or two, cast every other role in the ensemble, officially enter pre-production, be given a release date and then it’s finally off to the races for what could very well be one of the most unique upcoming entries in the long running superhero franchise.
