At this point, it’s really not a matter of if but whenBladejoins the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While Wesley Snipes has repeatedly expressed his desire to return to the role, there’s a more than decent chance a new actor will be cast. Why not Mahershala Ali? Not that there’s any indication he’s being looked at for aBladereboot, but some new fan art gives us an idea of what he could look like as the vampire hunter.
This comes to us fromBossLogic, who has become associated with mocking up fan castings, rumored castings or recently announced castings for major franchise movies. In this case, he decided to imagine theTrue DetectiveandAlita: Battle Angelstar asBlade. Not that it should come as a surprise to anyone familiar withMahershala Ali, but it works quite well as presented. The actor is portrayed with a wide smile, fang showing, sunglasses on and ready to get bloody. If not Wesley Snipes, this would be a solid and likely popular alternative.
Mahershala Ali has asserted himself as one of the top talents in Hollywood right now. Last year, he starred inGreen Book, which is up for Best Picture at the Oscars and also earned Ali a nomination for his work. He also voiced Aaron inSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Some of his other credits includeLuke Cage,House of CardsandMoonlight, which earned him aBest Supporting Actor Oscar. Needless to say, he’s more than qualified to take on a major comic book franchise, be it on the big or small screen. Though, there could be a slight conflict, given that he played Cottonmouth onLuke Cage, which does technically exist in the MCU, despite its cancellation.
Setting that aside, Mahershala Ali is exactly the type of talent that Marvel Studios is able to attract these days. Not only do theMCU movies tend to do huge business at the box office, but movies likeBlack Panther, now the first superhero movie to ever be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, have proved that they can transcend the genre to become truly great, impactful movies in their own right. So Ali probably wouldn’t have any reservations in signing on for a major franchise like this, assuming it felt right.
Last year, Wesley Snipes revealed that they havetwo different Blade projects in development with Marvel, though he didn’t disclose any details about them. Whether or not those projects ever actually see the light of day remains to be seen. If they do, we’d expect that Snipes would return to the role. But would that be in a passing of the torch sort of manner? If so, we’ve got at least one very good candidate for the job. Be sure to check out the image from theBossLogic Twitteraccount below.
