A concept art, shared by Marvel artist Justin Kim on Instagram, features the best look at one version of Mahershala Ali’s Blade in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Although the two-time Academy Award winner was cast as the MCU’s Blade in 2019, he has since only made an off-screen voice cameo appearance as the vampire hunter in a post-credits scene of 2021’s Eternals. An alternate iteration of Ali’s Blade, depicted as Moon Knight, appears in the closing montage of the series finale Disney+ animated series What If…?. Kim’s art provides a detailed look at that character.
Alternate look at Mahershala Ali’s Blade from What If…? Season 3 revealed
Justin Kim took to Instagram last week to share images of the Daywalker as the Moon Knight, a character he designed for the What If…? series. “For my final What if…? post, I had the privilege of designing Blade as Moon Knight,” Kim wrote in the caption. “My goal was to utilize the wrappings of Moon Knight to create sharp shapes and make it seem like he could pull a blade from anywhere on his body. I also figured both characters alluded to being a sort of ninja, so I pushed that archetype,” he added.
As mentioned above, this is the best look the fans have gotten at Ali’s Blade since the acclaimed actor joined the MCU. The Blade / Moon Knight amalgamation briefly appeared in the montage alongside other combinations that didn’t appear in the main narratives of any of the What If…? episodes, including Wolverine/Thanos, Doctor Strange/Hulk, Silver Surfer/Jubilee, and Black Panther/Storm.
Notably, after Ali boarded the MCU, a solo Blade movie went into development. However, the project underwent several changes, with multiple filmmakers reportedly boarding and leaving it over the years. Earlier, Marvel Studios removed it from its release schedule in October 2025, and in March 2025, rumors circulated that the project might have been canceled.
Meanwhile, Wesley Snipes, who portrayed Eric Cross Brooks / Blade in New Line Cinema’s Blade Trilogy (1998-2004), reprised the role in the MCU feature Deadpool & Wolverine (2024).
