Mahershala Ali
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Anadolu / Ruth E. Carter
We continue to learn more about Marvel Studios’ Blade reboot, currently stuck in limbo, from those who were initially attached to the project.
Two-time Academy Award-winning costume designer, Ruth E. Carter, is spilling the beans on Mahershala Ali’s Blade reboot that can’t seem to get off the ground.
Speaking on the Designing Hollywood podcast, Carter discussed her experience preparing for Marvel Studios’ Blade movie, revealing that the iteration of the film she was attached to at the time was going to be a period piece.
“I was prepping Blade for Marvel, and it was a 1920s Blade story, and it got shut down because of the writers’ strike and the actors’ strike, so I was just in limbo,” Carter revealed. “Having done a lot of research for this period piece about a vampire—Blade is a vampire story—[Coogler]’s wife, Zinzi, who also was a producer on [Sinners], she gave me a call and said, ‘I’m not gonna tell you the story, but Ryan has a story he’s going to tell you about … It is a period piece about vampires.’ And I thought, ‘Okay, I have already been living in that space for quite a long time prepping Blade, and Blade‘s not going to happen, so let me hear it.’”
Marvel Studios’ Blade’s Troubled Development
Since its announcement in 2019, the Blade reboot has had several different iterations. According to The Hollywood Reporter, one version of the film was supposed to take place on a “massive train.”
The version Ruth was attached to, the period piece, also starred Mia Goth as a vampire villain named Lillith who had a thirst for Blade’s daughter.
Goth is still attached to the project, but it sounds like we will never see that version of the film. Thankfully, for Carter, she was able to take that mindset from Blade to Sinners, helping her long-time collaborator deliver another box office win.
This latest development comes on the heels of Delroy Lindo speaking about his character in the Blade reboot and revealing that production “went off the rails,” leading to his departure from the project. He subsequently joined Coogler’s Sinners, where he is currently receiving praise for his performance in the film.
At this point, we hope this Blade movie starring Ali still happens.
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Anadolu / Delroy Lindo
Marvel Studios’ take on Blade starring Mahershala Ali has become a running joke in Hollywood, and Delroy Lindo is providing some insight on why the film can’t seem to get out of limbo.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Lindo, who is currently promoting Ryan Coogler’s epic vampire flick, Sinners, opened up about the troubled Marvel Studios project, touching on issues like creative differences that have hampered production for the film, which was announced in 2019.
Lindo was announced to be joining the Blade reboot in 2021, subsequently exiting the project, revealing to the publication that it “went off the rails.”
“When Marvel came to me, they seemed to be really interested in my input,” the Da 5 Bloods actor said. “And in the various conversations I had with producers, the writer, the director at the time, it was all leading into being very inclusive. It was really exciting conceptually, but it was also exciting in terms of the character that was going to form. And then, for whatever reason, it just went off the rails.”
Lindo revealed that his character in the Blade reboot was supposed to have a “Marcus Garvey-esque” persona.
“I’m not saying that it would’ve been an out-and-out Garvey-ite. Not that, but just in terms of how this man’s philosophy, his ethos, and what was driving him. He was a character who had, very similar to Sinners, created a community, a Black community. He was a character who was the head of this community,” Lindo added.
It sounds like we missed out on something epic.
Welp.
Ali’s Blade Movie Is Currently A Joke
Since Ali’s Blade has failed to enter the MCU, the Academy Award-winning actor has appeared in other films, as well as the forthcoming entry in the Jurassic Park film franchise, and in other movies that were announced around the same time as the reboot, which has become a constant gag.
Wesley Snipes, who successfully brought the Daywalker to the big screen in three feature-length films, and recently reprised the role in Deadpool & Wolverine, has even taken shots at Ali’s Blade movie.
Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige insists that Ali is still very much involved with the Blade project and that it’s coming. We will continue to put faith in the man that is finally giving us the X-Men we have wanted to see for years, and delivered some of the greatest comic book movies of all-time.
He deserves that much grace.
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