Mahershala Ali calls out Marvel for not making Blade
Mahershala Ali calls out Marvel for shelving his long-promised Blade movie, saying the studio had him under contract and the money to make it. The Oscar winner told GQ he has moved on to Amazon MGM's Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother with Blade director Bassam Tariq after the MCU project stalled.
Key Takeaways
- Ali was announced as Blade at Comic-Con in 2019 but never appeared in live-action as the vampire hunter.
- He told GQ Marvel had him under contract and billions of dollars, so the film would have happened if the studio wanted it.
- Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige recently said he feels like a "gigantic loser and failure" that Blade never got made with Ali.
- Ali and former Blade director Bassam Tariq are reuniting this fall on Amazon MGM's Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother.
- Fans tracking MCU delays can follow more streaming and TV alerts as projects shift.
What did Mahershala Ali say about Marvel's Blade?
In a Variety report citing his GQ interview, Ali was blunt about why Blade never happened. He said the outcome was not a mystery about resources or availability.
"Again, you had me under contract, they have billions of dollars, if they wanted to do the movie, we would've done the movie. So we're not doing the movie," Ali said. He added that after nearly 30 years in the business, he has learned "what is for you is for you and what is not is not."
Ali also said he is at peace choosing his new film over the MCU role. "When I look at what is for me, is it was either this or that — and I'll take this. No offense to them," he told GQ, per Variety. "For whatever reason, that project 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."
Why does the stalled Blade movie matter now?
Marvel announced Ali as Blade in a surprise Comic-Con reveal in 2019. The two-time Oscar winner never shot the role onscreen, even after Marvel Studios hired Bassam Tariq and later Yann Demange to direct.
Production stalled, and the failed collaboration still shapes Ali's next move. He and Tariq have teamed up on Amazon MGM's action film Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, due this fall. Ali said the new movie exists because Blade fell apart and Tariq had time to write it and re-approach him.
"And I was able to use those skills that I had been working on for over a year training for 'Blade,'" Ali said. "In that way, I feel creatively redeemed on some level, just in my own journey between me, myself, and I."
What has Kevin Feige said about Blade not getting made?
Feige, who unveiled Ali's casting seven years ago, recently discussed his disappointment on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. "I am feeling like a gigantic loser and failure that we didn't get off the ground with Mahershala," he said.
He explained Marvel did not want to "simply just put a leather outfit on him and have him start killing vampires." The project landed in a period when the studio was insisting on scripts that felt "insanely great," and Feige said they lacked confidence they could elevate Blade in production without shortchanging Ali or the brand.
Last week at San Diego Comic-Con, Feige announced other MCU plans, including a Ghost Rider movie starring Ryan Gosling and Black Panther 3 with David Jonsson as the new hero — more signs Marvel is moving forward even as Ali's Blade remains undone.