In 2019, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige wrapped up the studio's Hall H panel by announcing that Mahershala Ali would lead a new Blade movie. The project went through multiple writers and directors and, even in a Saga defined by quantity over quality, it somehow never happened.
During a recent interview, Feige seemed to make light of Blade's struggles when he said that he feels like a "gigantic loser and failure that we didn't get off the ground with Mahershala." Ali, however, doesn't appear to see the funny side.
In an interview with GQ, the Oscar-winner confirmed that he's exited Blade and placed the blame squarely on Marvel Studios for not wanting to move forward with the reboot. Ali also made it clear that he's done answering questions about the unmade movie.
Asked if Blade is any closer to becoming a reality, the actor replied, "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. No offense to them. I've been doing this professionally for pushing 30 years now, and one thing I've learned is that what is for you is for you and what is not is not. 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. Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother feels very much in alignment with the type of work I want to be known for," Ali continued. "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."
In case it wasn't clear, he went on to say that Blade isn't moving forward. Still, Ali seems happy to have put the skills he learned to play the vampire hunter to good use in Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, a movie helmed by one-time Blade director Bassam Tariq.
"So, I'm good. [Laughs.] 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 reiterated. "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."
"I was able to use those skills that I had been working on for over a year training for Blade. In that way, I feel creatively redeemed on some level, just in my own journey between me, myself, and I," Ali added before stating that he's done talking about his unmade MCU movie. "But I feel ready to move on from the Blade questions. Those questions are for them. They didn't want to do it, so they should answer that question."
The closest we came to seeing Blade in the MCU was ultimately Ali's voice cameo in Eternals' post-credits scene. Wesley Snipes reprised the role in Deadpool & Wolverine, and Marvel Zombies' Blade Knight—clearly based on Ali's appearance—was voiced by Todd Williams.
It is, without a doubt, Marvel Studios' greatest failure that Blade didn't become a reality. While there have been rumours about Ali playing the Daywalker in a Midnight Sons movie before taking centre stage in a solo outing, it's obvious now that it's not happening (not with Ali, at least).
This weekend, Spider-Man: Brand New Day will break box office records, a useful distraction when, in the last 24 hours, Wonder Man has been cancelled, and Blade is now officially dead.