The story of Marvel Studios’ attempt to reboot Blade is truly one for the history books. After a much hyped announcement at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, the Mahershala Ali-starring project ran into roadblock after roadblock. While Kevin Feige’s recent remarks saw the Marvel Cinematic Universe mastermind basically confirming the project was off the table, Mr. Ali’s take on the subject appears to contradict those sentiments.
Mahershala Ali Is Officially, Without A Doubt, Done With Blade
During the press rounds for Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, Mahershala Ali’s interview with GQ approached the subject of Blade head on. While the vampire action/adventure picture hasn’t been outright put on ice, the vague statements surrounding it appear to have done that job. Anyone doubting that status will know that is certain, courtesy of these remarks from Ali:
Not with me. The best way I can answer this question is, when I look at what is for me, is it was either this or that—and I’ll take this. … For whatever reason, [Blade] is not for me. If they wanted to do it, we would’ve done it. So I have to move on, and I have moved on.
Doubling down on those feelings, the Jurassic World Rebirth star also went on the record as saying that he feels “ready to move on from the Blade questions.” In his eyes, the Marvel Studios brass have the real answers people are seeking, seeing as he feels “they didn’t want to do it.”
That viewpoint seems to clash with Kevin Feige’s feelings on the matter. At least, that’s what one could infer, as the Marvel Studios’ president’s limited comments to Happy Sad Confused merely saw Mr. Feige labeling himself as a “loser” for failing to pull the trigger on Blade. Meanwhile, Mahershala Ali’s further on the subject show that his latest project, Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, took advantage of his budding action star chops. So it’s not like his time preparing to play a Daywalker was a total waste.
Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother Is The Silver Lining To Blade’s Failure
In true “door closing/window opening” fashion, the two time Academy Award winner did credit his prep for Blade with lining him up for writer/director Bassam Tariq’s Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother. Further framing the move as a net positive, Mahershala Ali made this observation:
I don’t really want to be known for remakes. I’d love to do original work that resonates with people and impacts them in unique ways. … When I look at this and Blade, I couldn’t have done both, and the reason this even exists is because that project fell apart and Bassam had the time, space, energy, and focus to go and write this and then re-approach me.
Looking over the entire situation, it’s definitely for the best that this version of Blade is behind us all. Not only does Mahershala Ali have a fresh new action movie to speak for, but some of the prep for his long suffering MCU entry did benefit Ryan Coogler’s Sinners; via the usage of costume designer Ruth E. Carter’s unused assets seeing the light of day.
If Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan’s creation ever returns, it’ll probably be with a fresh incarnation. Unless, of course, Wesley Snipes and Kevin Feige cook up a banger “Old Man Blade” project. Then again, considering the time and energy that went into the now defunct reboot, no one would fault Marvel Studios for not touching this particular project for a while. If you want to see Mahershala Ali in action, you can do just that when Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother hits theaters on September 25th. As for all things MCU, keep your eyes on THS Marvel News for any future updates!
Reviews