Mahershala Ali has “moved on” from Marvel’s previously announced Blade reboot.
In a new interview with GQ published Friday, July 31, the Oscar-winning actor called out Marvel Studios for leaving the film in limbo since 2019.
When asked if “Blade” is any closer to filming, Ali responded, “Not with me.”
“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,” he said.
The actor added, “If they wanted to do it, we would’ve done it. So I have to move on, and I have moved on.”
The Blade films are based on the Marvel Comics character and follow a half-vampire, half-mortal man who protects humanity while hunting evil vampires.
Wesley Snipes starred in the original Blade film trilogy, which launched in 1998 and included sequels in 2002 and 2004. The franchise earned $416.9 million globally, according to The-Numbers.com.
Marvel Studios announced a reboot was in the works in July 2019 during its Marvel Cinematic Universe presentation at Comic-Con San Diego. Ali was booked to play the legendary vampire slayer, but the film never came to fruition after a string of hirings and firings behind the scenes.
“I didn’t feel great about the fact that things finished the way that they did [with Blade], I like seeing things through,” Ali told GQ.
The reboot has faced countless setbacks. In 2023, Variety reported the film had “gone through at least five writers, two directors, and one shutdown six weeks before production.”
Then in June 2024, an article published by TheWrap said veteran Marvel screenwriter Eric Pearson (The Fantastic Four and Black Widow) was brought in to try and save the project. The outlet said Ali, who won Academy Awards for Moonlight and Green Book, was still attached at the time.
But judging from the actor’s latest comments, his vampire slaying days are over.
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