Mahershala Ali on Marvel’s collapsed Blade reboot: ‘If they wanted to do it, we would’ve done it’

Two-time Oscar winner was to take on role of vampire-hunting antihero but said project is no longer happening

The two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali has confirmed that his Blade reboot is no longer going forward.

The star of Moonlight and Green Book had been attached to play Marvel’s vampire-hunting antihero in 2019. The role had originally been played by Wesley Snipes in three films between 1998 and 2004.

The reboot was then trapped in development hell with various directors and screenwriters attached.

“If they wanted to do it, we would’ve done it,” Ali said in a new GQ interview.

He later added: “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.”

His comments come after the Marvel head, Kevin Feige, said he felt like a “gigantic loser” for not getting the project off the ground.

The film was at one stage set to be directed by the Mogul Mowgli film-maker Bassam Tariq. Ali and Tariq have since worked together on the revenge thriller Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, which is premiering at this year’s Toronto film festival.

Ali said he “didn’t feel great about the fact that things finished the way that they did” with the Blade reboot. He had provided his voice for the character in a post-credits sequence in 2021’s underperforming Marvel adventure Eternals.

Ali also added on the Blade collapse: “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 offence 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.”

Since winning two best supporting actor Oscars in 2017 and 2019, Ali’s movie roles have included Jurassic World Rebirth and Leave the World Behind as well as providing his voice in the Spider-Verse series. When asked about his lack of other big screen roles since, he said that “some of how quiet I’ve been is not really of my own choosing”.

Ali’s voice will soon be heard in much-anticipated stop-motion animated adventure Wildwood alongside Carey Mulligan and Angela Bassett as well as in the delayed third Spider-Verse adventure.