SDCC: Mahershala Ali To Play Blade In The MCU

After the conclusion of the Marvel Studios presentation at the San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said that the list of Phase 4 films was complete, but there was “more.” With that, Mahershala Ali walked on stage and they officially announced that he would be playing Blade in a future film. Blade will not be part of Phase 4.

Marvel then confirmed the news on Twitter with the film’s official logo.

Just announced in Hall H at #SDCC, Marvel Studios’ BLADE with Mahershala Ali. pic.twitter.com/mtrDBy5OV0

— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) July 21, 2019

Ali previously played Cornell ‘Cottonmouth’ Stokes in Marvel’s Luke Cage on Netflix. With the creation of Disney+ and the cancellation of those shows, it would seem that this casting renders the Netflix Marvel shows as non-canon. Or at the very least, Luke and Blade are going to have a very awkward conversation if they cross paths.

The character of Blade was previously brought to the big screen by Wesley Snipes in three films for New Line Cinema between 1998 and 2004. Snipes had expressed interest in reprising the role in the past.