Mahershala Ali might be sharpening his stakes, but don’t ask him about Blade. Not anymore.
While promoting Jurassic World: Rebirth on Vogue’s Off the Cuff with co-stars Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey, Ali jokingly dodged a Marvel question when Bailey asked how many Marvel films they’d each starred in. “Leave me out of it,” Ali laughed. “That’s a Scarlett question.”
Bailey quipped back, “Well, there’s one that we’re very excited about,” teasing Ali’s long-awaited role as Marvel’s iconic vampire hunter. But the exchange only highlighted what fans already know: Blade has been stuck in limbo for six years.
First announced at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, the film has gone through multiple directors, rewrites, and delays. Still, Ali isn’t backing down. At the New York premiere of “Jurassic World: Rebirth”, he made his position clear: “Call Marvel. I’m ready. Let them know I’m ready.”
Marvel, for its part, is still in. At D23 Brazil 2024, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige reaffirmed their commitment: “We love the character. We love Mahershala’s take on him,” he said. “Rest assured: whenever we change direction with a project… we let the audience know. But I can tell you that the character will indeed make it to the MCU.”
Meanwhile, behind-the-scenes hiccups have continued to trickle out. Some of Blade’s unused costume designs, originally created by Oscar-winner Ruth E. Carter, were recently repurposed for Ryan Coogler’s new film “Sinners”. According to producer Sev Ohanian, Carter “happened to have a warehouse full of period-appropriate clothes” left over when “Blade” hit yet another roadblock. Marvel let the Sinners team buy the unused designs—one more sign of how far “Blade” has stalled.
Despite the silence and shifting creative teams, the demand hasn’t faded. Fans still want to see Ali step into the trench coat and sunglasses. And while the wait’s been long, if Ali’s still in, so are we.
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