Mahershala Ali Pitched the Idea of 'Blade' Movie to Marvel!

Mahershala Ali proudly wears his Blade hat while on stage at the Marvel panel during 2019 Comic-Con on Saturday (July 20) in San Diego, Calif.

It was just announced that the 45-year-old two-time Oscar-winning actor will be playing the title character in an upcoming Blade movie within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige explained the casting choice in an interview with Rotten Tomatoes.

“We have, for years, wanted to find a new way into Blade, we love that character. We love that world. Now with Dr. Strange and the supernatural elements coming into the MCU, it felt like we could definitely start exploring that,” Kevin said.

He added, “Mahershala wanted to come in and meet with us. And when Mahershala Ali wants to meet, you take the meeting. And I think he had just come off his second Academy Award. And we were talking very polite, and he was talking about what a fan he is, and then he just cut right to it, and was like, ‘Blade.’ And we were like, ‘yes.’”