No matter the project, Mahershala Ali can’t seem to escape questions about Blade. While out promoting Jurassic World Rebirth—yep, that’s in theatres now—the two-time Oscar winner got hit with the inevitable Marvel question.
Is Mahershala Ali not doing Marvel’s Blade?
During a quick-fire round in Vogue’s ‘Off the Cuff,’ co-star Jonathan Bailey tossed out, “How many MCU movies have you both done?” Ali didn’t bite. He just laughed and shot back, “Leave me out of it. That’s a Scarlett question,” nodding toward Scarlett Johansson.
Now, Johansson, of course, has played Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow in ten MCU films since Iron Man 2 dropped back in 2010. Bailey didn’t let it go, though, and grinned, “Well there’s one [Blade] that we’re very excited about.”
Here’s the thing: Ali did technically show up as Blade’s voice in a post-credits scene for 2021’s Eternals, but fans are still waiting to see him in the role.
To me; marvel studios never had any intentions of making a blade film but when Mahershala Ali approached marvel after winning his second Oscar; he used that as leverage and he basically was self inserting himself as the blade character meanwhile marvel studios never had any clear… https://t.co/zOZju6MZB7
— donovan (#AIArtisThief,#CreateDontScrape ) (@donovanmartin5) July 6, 2025
Mahershala Ali on when ‘BLADE’ will start filming:
“Call Marvel, let them know I’m ready.”
(Source: @Variety)
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) June 23, 2025
When Marvel made the big announcement
Marvel made a big deal announcing the Blade reboot with Ali back in 2019, but it’s been plagued by delays ever since. Directors have come and gone, that Hollywood writers’ strike in 2023 didn’t help, and the film got yanked from Marvel’s 2025 release calendar last year.
Still, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige has been pretty clear they’re not dropping the project. “We love the character, we love Mahershala’s version of him,” Feige said in November. He also promised that whenever something changes, fans will hear about it. So, for now? Blade’s still coming to the MCU—it’s just a matter of when.
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