Mahershala Ali‘s future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe looks pretty much clouded at the moment. In a recent statement, the Academy Award winner has provided a disappointing update on Blade.
For a long time now, Marvel fans have been questioning the delays on the Daywalker character. With Ali cast as the titular lead, things looked rosy for a potential Blade reboot. Unfortunately, the latest statement from the actor has confirmed that he is no longer a part of the MCU.
In a recent interview with GQ’s Derek Lawrence, the 52-year-old stated, “For whatever reason, that project isn’t for me. If they wanted to do it, we would’ve done it. So I have to move on; I have moved on. [Marvel] didn’t want to do it; they should answer that question.”
Ali also updated that he will be working with Bassam Tariq for a film titled Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother. Interestingly, Tariq was also part of Marvel’s initial plans for Blade, as he was tasked with directing the now-canceled project.
Why has Marvel’s Blade struggled to move forward
Marvel surprised its fans when they announced the casting of Mahershala Ali as Blade back in 2019. However, even after seven years of the announcement, the project never really took off. First up, Basam Tariq, hired as the director, left the project. Yann Demange then joined in to take it forward, but things never really took off.
Reflecting on why Blade failed, Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige recently told the Happy Sad Confused podcast, “I am feeling like a gigantic loser and failure that we didn’t get off the ground with Mahershala. We didn’t want to simply just put a leather outfit on him and have him start killing vampires.” Feige further elaborated how the studio only wanted to focus on great scripts, which did not align with Blade.
