The ‘Blade’ reboot, which has been plagued by numerous problems for Marvel Studios, has hit another low, and this time the confirmation came directly from the actor at the center of it all.
After years of delays, creative reshuffles, and endless speculation, Mahershala Ali has officially confirmed that he is no longer attached to the project, making it clear he believes the decision ultimately rests with Marvel.
Mahershala Ali On Why Marvel’s ‘Blade’ Never Happened
The two-time Academy Award winner spoke candidly about the fate of the long-awaited reboot in an interview with GQ, which was initially announced at San Diego Comic Con in 2019. Instead of being frustrated, Ali said that he has seen during his career that some things just don’t happen.
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However, he also made it clear who he thinks is to blame. “You had me under contract; they have billions of dollars. If they wanted to do the movie, we would’ve done the movie… I feel ready to move on from the Blade questions. Those questions are for them,” he shared.
Now that the chapter is closed, the actor made it clear that he’s done with answering questions about the project. He feels those answers should be coming from Marvel. His remarks come after Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige acknowledged that he was a “failure” for not getting the film into production.
Mahershala Ali Trained With Swords For Years For ‘Blade’
Ali’s ‘Blade’ failed to get off to a good start. Both Bassam Tariq and later Yann Demange were removed as directors, and the script was said to have gone through many changes. Ali did voice Blade in a post-credits scene of Eternals. However, the entire reboot never went beyond development.
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There is one thing about the interview that was a bit surprising: Ali’s preparation for becoming the legendary vampire hunter. Director Bassam Tariq revealed that the actor had been training for a year with swords and wanted to perform many of his own action scenes.
“As a former athlete, I’ve dreamed of doing my own stunts,” Ali added. “I was very excited to do stunts in Blade and trained for a long time for that“. But that commitment did not make it to the big screen. Thankfully, the effort was not in vain.
The skills he honed for ‘Blade’ are now being applied in his next Amazon MGM action movie, ‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother,’ which reunites him with Tariq, Ali explained.
He said that it was a redeeming experience creatively after the failure of the Marvel project. “And 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.” It seems the actor has finally left one of Marvel’s most troubled productions firmly behind him.
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