Mahershala Ali Reveals Marvel Was Developing BLADE as a TV Show Before He Was Cast

When it was announced that Mahershala Ali was set to star in Marvel’s Blade movie, fans were super stoked! This is a great casting choice as Ali is an incredibly talented actor and this is a character that he is sure to have a blast playing.

According to Ali, before he was cast in the role, Marvel was actually planning to develop Blade as a TV series, which is something a lot of fans were speculating would happen.

While a guest on The Tight Rope podcast, Ali explained that it was while he was playing Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes in Luke Cage that he approached the studio about playing Blade:

“So, in doing that show [Luke Cage], the day it premiered I turned to my agent and I said, ‘What are they doing with Blade?’ Because I kept hearing that they were trying to find a way to remake it and put it back together, and it was exciting for me to get to be in that Marvel space in TV, but for me, my goal had always been film.”

It’s great to know that everything worked out for him with Blade. The character was created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan, and he made his first appearance in the comic book The Tomb of Dracula #10 in July of 1973. Wesley Snipes played the character in the previous films that were made. I enjoyed Snipes in those movies, but I’m excited to see what Ali brings to the character.