Mahershala Ali continues to sidestep questions about Marvel’s troubled Blade reboot, which still doesn’t have a release date.
While promoting Jurassic World: Rebirth, now in theaters, the two-time Oscar winner recently appeared alongside Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey in Vogue’s Off the Cuff interview via YouTube. During a lighthearted round of rapid-fire questions, Bailey asked how many MCU movies each actor had appeared in.
Ali laughed off the question and replied, “Leave me out of it. That’s a Scarlett question.”
What’s going on with Blade?
Ali was first announced as Blade during Comic-Con 2019, but the film has been stuck in development ever since.
Reports say Marvel originally planned for the movie to be a period piece focusing on Blade’s daughter replacing him in the MCU, but Ali allegedly wasn’t on board with that storyline. Production has been delayed multiple times, and despite new writers and directors coming and going, there’s still no clear start date.
Recently, it was also confirmed that Ryan Coolger used the Blade costumes for his Sinners movie, so it seems that period-piece iteration of Blade will not be happening.
David S. Goyer, the original writer of the Wesley Snipes movies, also revealed Marvel turned down his requests to help them.
Is Ali still playing Blade?
While promoting Jurassic World, Ali recently also told the press, “Call Marvel. I’m ready. Let them know I’m ready.” But Marvel hasn’t confirmed anything new, and the reboot remains one of the studio’s most delayed projects. There is also no release date.
