Mahershala Ali Opens Up About Blade's MCU Debut & Future

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Eternals.

Blade star Mahershala Ali has opened up about his first introduction into the MCU in the end-credits stinger of Eternals. Blade is an upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe film that will follow the half-vampire vampire hunter, who first appeared onscreen played by Wesley Snipes in the trilogy of movies that began in 1998. That trilogy was also followed by a short-lived television series starring rapper Sticky Fingaz. The new project will be a complete overhaul of that continuity, with two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali stepping into the title role.

In the end credits of Eternals, it was teased that Kit Harington's character Dane Whitman, the Eternal Sersi's human love interest, would be embracing his comic book mantle of Black Knight. The scene shows him trying to pluck up the courage to handle the cursed sword, the Ebony Blade, that is his family's legacy. However, Whitman does this only to be interrupted by a voice in the room behind him. It was quickly confirmed by director Chloé Zhao that the voice belonged to Mahershala Ali's Blade, a character who is frequently connected to Black Knight in the comics.

Speaking with Empire, Ali opened up about his experience performing the character for the first time in a recording booth rather than in front of the camera. "It was scary," he said, explaining that it "brought up some very real anxieties" due to the fact that the Blade film hasn't begun production and so he's very early in the process of developing the character. Nevertheless, he described the process as "really cool," saying that he did enjoy his "little introduction" to the massive world of Marvel and he's "excited to get going and do more." Read the full quote below:

"It was really cool, getting to do that. It was scary. Because, you know, you're talking before you're filming it. I'm pretty particular about my choices, like most actors, and so having to make some choices – even with a line, vocally – this early on, it brought up some very real anxieties. And it made the job real. It's like, “Okay, this is happening now,” you know, and that's exciting.

That Marvel world is obviously the biggest in film, and just to get my little introduction to that – starting with the Comic Con a couple years ago, and now the very early stages of stepping into the shoes of that character – it felt special and really cool. I’m excited to get going and do more."

Blade is set to be directed by Bassam Tariq, who previously helmed the Riz Ahmed film Mogul Mowgli. He'll be working from a script by playwright Stacy Osei-Kuffour, who has previously written for HBO's Watchmen, another project foregrounding Black superheroes. The project, which is slated for a future phase of the MCU, likely in Phase 5, is expected to begin production in Georgia in July 2022.

Ali has proven himself time and again as a versatile and talented actor, so it will certainly be interesting to see what he does with Blade. It is the rare MCU project that has to compete with a previous live-action portrayal of the character by another iconic actor. So far, only Tom Holland's Spider-Man films have faced the same issue. However, if anyone can honor the legacy of Wesley Snipes while carving out his own version of the character, it's certainly a talent like Ali.

Next: How Moon Knight Can Introduce Mahershala Ali's Blade For MCU Phase 5

Source: Empire