One of the most exciting pieces of news in regards to last year’s announcement of the fourth and fifth phases of Marvel Studios’ MCU plans is the introduction of Oscar-winning actor Mahershala Ali in a reboot of the “Blade” franchise.
Ali isn’t a stranger to Marvel, having starred as the villain Cottonmouth in Netflix’s “Luke Cage,” and his casting has excited everyone. Recently Ali appeared on The Tight Rope (via The Playlist) podcast and was asked how he came aboard the film to which he explained that it actually took some time for the stars to align.
He also says that “Luke Cage” is, in part, responsible for the new “Blade” which follows in the wake of the well-regarded first two films, the more mixed third one (all starring Wesley Snipes), and the outright panned and short-lived TV incarnation starring Sticky Fingaz:
“I did this Marvel show for Netflix called ‘Luke Cage,’ right?. 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 that they were trying to find a way to remake it and put it back together, and it was exciting for me to get to be in that Marvel space in TV, but for me, my goal had always been film.
So, there was this long process of them speaking about, at least in the television division, really wanted to make it a TV show again, but not necessarily, trying to acquire the rights still, and some thing’s kinda going on, so it took a couple of years.”
Ali adds that his attraction to the role was in respect to Snipes who was a major inspiration to him over his career, and that Blade is a quite different, darker character than traditional Marvel heroes:
“For me, I just felt like since they were having conversations about bringing it back into being, I just wanted to be considered for it because I had definitely a connection, at least in my mind, to Wesley Snipes going way back to high school when people used to joke and say we looked alike, and all this stuff.
So, I just brought it up as someone who wanted to, I really wanted to take on that role, and tackle that. Also…I love that 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.”
Due to the various delays in the MCU’s rollout, it’s not clear when Ali’s “Blade” will hit the screen though it’s unlikely to arrive until 2023 at the earliest at this point as writers are still being sought.
