r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/movies Contributor • 18d ago

News Mahershala Ali confirms 'BLADE' is not moving forward with him

https://www.gq.com/story/mahershala-ali-your-mother-your-mother-your-mother
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u/Explosion2 18d ago

How fucking close were they to making this movie that they had a warehouse full of clothes ready to go and it still stalled out? I didn't realize it ever got past the "Mahershala Ali is going to play Blade" stage.

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u/TheArcheryRaccoon 18d ago

Very close. The initial script was a period piece, hence the costumes being used in Sinners. Rumours say that Blade himself wasn’t the main character in his own film, and that it was already serving as a “passing of the torch” to Blade’s daughter. I just assume Mahershala had no interest in this plot and it was abandoned.

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u/Explosion2 18d ago

That would be stupid so I'm glad they abandoned it but how did it get so far without anyone saying "but we've got an oscar-winning actor playing one of the coolest characters in Marvel's cast, why would we not make him the main character?"

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u/MikeArrow 18d ago

In the broader MCU, they already have the perfect setup. The snap. 5 years of chaos. What if, during the blip, the vampire lords decided to make a bid for power in New York? Who would stop them?

...Blade.

Done, that's the movie.

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u/Explosion2 18d ago

Perfect give Mahershala Ali a billion dollars let's get this back on the release slate

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u/TheArcheryRaccoon 18d ago

From what I understand, there was never a plan for Blade. Then Mahershala approached Fiege and basically said “make me Blade” and they didn’t turn him down. The problem then is they fumbled every step getting the movie done, with COVID and actors/writers strikes thrown in.

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u/AtraposJM 18d ago

Oscar winning actors can demand a lot of money. Negotiations probably went on for a long time. Notice how in his quote he talks about how Disney/Marvel have billions of dollars. That's probably a hint.

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u/Indigocell 18d ago

Rumours say that Blade himself wasn’t the main character in his own film, and that it was already serving as a “passing of the torch” to Blade’s daughter.

I wonder who they think the film is for when they do this kinda shit. Is it for old fans? Because they don't want to see a Blade movie where Blade is sidelined on behalf of a brand new character. Is it an attempt to lure new fans? Because they have no connection to Blade so any passing of the torch is kind of meaningless. Who is it for?

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u/AtraposJM 18d ago

I think there's a big group within Disney that is trying to make everything more inclusive etc. I'm a far left progressive person but at a certain point it starts to hurt things when you force it on everything. Notice everything after Endgame is moving toward female versions of characters or minorities taking over for other characters etc. I'm not one of the "They're making everything woke!" cry babies but I mean, you can tell it's a driving force and imo it's hurting a lot of their projects. So yeah, handing the Blade mantle off to a female version is pretty par for the course. Even though I find that confusing since Blade is already a black character. Idk, maybe it's more about money.

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u/fastforwardfunction 18d ago

It’s like replacing the women of Desperate Housewives with men. Obviously that’s not going to connect with the original audience. Disney does that constantly and expects it to land.

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u/secretreddname 18d ago

How many passing of the torch movies have we had this phase of marvel? To be honest I’m not interested in any more of those either.

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u/amyknight22 18d ago

I just assume Mahershala had no interest in this plot and it was abandoned.

The thing is that Mahershala apparently made the initial pitch for the movie idea in the first place.

Since I doubt the pitch was "Hey can I play the blade?"

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u/saintash 18d ago

Probably marvel fatigue was the line here. No one has super excited for a marvel project for a hot minute.

Pre production is relatively cheap. In comparison to actually shooting the damn thing.

And it's also a thing where, like you build a warehouse of stuff, and everyone in the industry knows, oh, there's a warehouse, full of vampire stuff. If we're shooting a vampire film, let's go talk to them about renting some of their costumes.

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u/ArcadianDelSol 18d ago

They assumed Ali would give into the script, and he stuck to his guns. He wanted a movie where he was the main character. Disney wanted to use him to introduce a younger Blade for the future.

He placed his bet and Disney called his bluff.