Blade Star Mahershala Ali Agrees With Kevin Feige’s Brutal ‘Gigantic Loser’ Admission
Mahershala Ali agrees with Kevin Feige’s harsh assessment of Marvel’s failed Blade reboot. The actor says he understands why the Marvel Studios chief feels responsible for the project never reaching theaters.
While promoting Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother in a recent interview with GQ’s Zach Baron’s One More Question podcast, Ali opened up about the abandoned MCU movie. He was supposed to play the vampire hunter since Marvel announced the project in 2019. The movie ultimately went through several creative changes before Ali confirmed that he had moved on.
Ali shared, “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 mean anything personal to you, but 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.”
He added, “I agree with him one hundred percent. He should feel that way. I agree.”
Mahershala Ali’s comments come after years of setbacks for Marvel’s Blade
The Blade reboot was first announced at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019. Bassam Tariq initially signed on to direct before leaving the project in 2022. Yann Demange later took over but departed in 2024.
The project also went through multiple screenplay changes during development. Marvel removed Blade from its release calendar in 2024 after another round of delays. The studio had previously said it wanted a script that could deliver a distinct take on the character.
Feige later addressed the situation on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. He said, “I am feeling like a gigantic loser and failure that we didn’t get off the ground with Mahershala.”
Ali has since reunited with Tariq for Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother. The film also allowed the actor to use skills he developed while preparing for the abandoned superhero role.
The Blade project is no longer moving forward with Ali. The actor has shifted his attention toward new films outside the MCU as of now.
Originally reported on SuperHeroHype.com.
Source: Comingsoon.net