The new Blade actor recently revealed some details about his upcoming Marvel character via Empire. Mahershala Ali spoke about his future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise and confirmed that the film is preparing for production. “We’re getting there, we’re getting close,” stated Ali.
Rumors about the Blade reboot have circled around the possible storyline that would center around Blade’s daughter “Ruby,” who would be based on the Marvel Comics character Fallon Grey. Plans for Fallon was to make a female iteration of the Blade character trained by her father Eric Books aka Blade. An entire comic series was planned for Fallon Grey after Marvel’s “Secret Wars” event and universe reboot in the mid-2010s, but the comic run never made it to shelves.
Marvel Studios Phase 4 has a theme of training a new generation of superheroes where the some of the heroes from the first 3 phases are taking on mentor roles for younger upcoming heroes such as this month’s Hawkeye series on Disney+. The Blade reboot may be taking the same route.
The new Blade actor did confirm one crossover that would eventually happen in the MCU. In Marvel’s Eternals, fans got a tease when Blade was introduced, sort of, offscreen. It has been confirmed by Eternals director Chloé Zhao that the mystery voice that spoke to Kit Harington’s Dane Whitman in the Eternals post-credit scene was definitely Mahershala Ali’s voice.
Eternals Post-Credit Scene with Dane Whitman
In the Eternals post-credit scene, Dane Whitman was considering taking up Black Knight’s Ebony Blade, the sword that belonged to his ancestors which carried a horrific blood-thirsty curse. Offscreen, there was a voice asking Dane if he was ready for what comes after if he decides to become the Black Knight.
As Mahershali Ali told Empire, it was a little intimidating having his MCU debut as Blade resting on nothing but the sound of the new Blade actor’s voice.
“It was really cool, getting to do that,” Ali says, but added, “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.”
The new Blade actor, who is also a two-time Oscar-winner, is eager to get his Marvel phase 4 character into gear. “I’m excited to get going and do more.”
The Blade reboot will be directed by Mogul Mowgli’s Bassam Tariq and penned by HBO’s Watchmen TV series writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour.
Marvel’s Blade is expected to be released in 2023.
