Los Angeles, Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali says he still does not know why Marvel Studios' long-gestating "Blade" reboot never materialised despite spending a year training for the project and putting other opportunities on hold.
Ali, who won two Oscars for his performances in "Moonlight" and "The Green Book", was announced as the new Blade in July 2019, when Marvel Studios unveiled the project at San Diego Comic-Con.
In a new profile with GQ, Ali said the fate of the film was a question for Feige, who had previously described the failure to get the project off the ground as one of the biggest disappointments of his career.
"That's a Kevin Feige question. They had, as you said, a two-time Oscar-winning actor under contract and you got billions of dollars. That's a question for them... I don't know why it didn't. To this day, I don't know why it didn't happen. I just know that it was Kevin, he said it was the biggest failure of his career and I agree," Ali said.
Ali was referring to comments Feige made during his recent appearance on the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast.
{{/usCountry}}Ali was referring to comments Feige made during his recent appearance on the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast.
{{/usCountry}}The Marvel Studios chief said he was pleased to bring original "Blade" star Wesley Snipes into 2024's "Deadpool & Wolverine" but felt like a "gigantic loser and failure" that the reboot with Ali had not materialised.
"I agree with him. I agree with him one hundred percent. One hundred percent. He should feel that way. I agree," he said.
The project went through several directors and writers during its development. Bassam Tariq, who directed "Mogul Mowgli", became the first director attached to the film in 2021, but left the project in 2022. Yann Demange subsequently took over as director, before also exiting in 2024.
Ali said the prolonged development had a direct impact on his career and that he had devoted considerable time to preparing for the role.
"That should have been six or seven. 'Blade' didn't happen, which I felt like definitely impacted how things unfold in your trajectory," he said.
The actor said he spent a year training for the film, including sword work and martial arts, while Marvel repeatedly postponed production.
"I trained so hard I blew my knee out. I was just waiting for them. I'm still training. I'm training. I'm learning sword work. Name the martial art, I'm training in it. And I literally moved, uprooted my family, moved to Atlanta. We are there waiting to go. And they just keep pushing it back, pushing it back, pushing it. It doesn't happen. And then it's a strike," Ali said.
Ali said he first met Marvel about the project in 2019 and had been reluctant to make announcements before the film was completed.
"I don't believe in the announcements. They just do the work and then it's like you announce the work is done, right?" he said.
"So we did all that and had a story green lit and then we don't have any deliverables. And I can't deliver until they deliver, right? So that's not a secret, otherwise, we'd have a movie. And then I'm saying no to things in that time because they own my schedule basically," Ali added.
The "Blade" reboot was intended to introduce Ali as Eric Brooks, the half-human, half-vampire superhero previously played by Snipes in a trilogy released between 1998 and 2004.
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