Mahershala Ali Steps Down from MCU Blade Film
Seven years after the announcement, Ali's departure leaves the Blade film without its star and with no confirmed path forward.
Reporting from 1 source: Cinema Today.
Mahershala Ali has left the lead role in Marvel's Blade film, he confirmed to American GQ. The project was announced at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2019 and was originally set for a November 3, 2023 release, but lost its director before filming began and has faced delays since. Ali, who voiced Blade in the 2021 film Eternals, said the studio was not serious about the project. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige expressed regret over the stalled production.
Seven years after the announcement, filming has still not begun. Ali told GQ the studio had no intention of moving the project forward: "If they had been serious about it, we would have made it." He added that the project "wasn't meant for me" and that Marvel, with billions at its disposal, would have made the film if it wanted to.
Feige, speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, called the failure to get the project started with Ali "a huge mistake." Whether the Blade film itself is shelved remains unclear.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- Cinema Today MCU版『ブレイド』主演マハーシャラ・アリが降板