If you're a Blade fan, it's fair to say the past seven-plus years haven't been the easiest. Mahershala Ali was announced as the MCU's Daywalker at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, only for the pandemic to come along the following year and delay Marvel Studios' plans for the movie.
Since then, the Blade reboot has gone through what feels like a seemingly endless list of writers and directors (and even the odd actor, with Lanterns star Aaron Pierre among the most noteworthy). The plug was eventually pulled on the movie, with Ali confirming his MCU exit earlier this year.
Now, the actor has talked more about parting ways with Marvel Studios, crediting them for helping him and original Blade director Bassam Tariq make Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother.
"Oh, absolutely," the actor replied when asked if he'd trained for Blade. "For a year, yeah. A little more than a year. I'm actually really grateful. They helped pay for our movie, so thank you. I got to go train for a year, so at this point, I'm so grateful that they made a wonderful contribution to our film."
The actor is referring to Marvel Studios paying for his training, which we know is key for his role in the action-packed Amazon MGM Studios thriller.
Asked if he's really done with Blade, Ali replied, "I'm done. I'm doing this and anything moving forward. I'm over that. I'm done with that."
In 2022, Feige told fans at Comic-Con that the Blade reboot would hit theaters on November 3, 2023. It then moved to September 6, 2024, and later slid further down the calendar to February 14, 2025. Before being scrapped, it had a November 7, 2025, release date that quickly came and went.
It is, without a doubt, Marvel Studios' greatest failure that Blade didn't become a reality. While there have been rumours about Ali playing the Daywalker in a Midnight Sons movie or Avengers: Secret Wars before taking centre stage in a solo outing, it's obvious now that it won't happen (not with Ali, at least).
The closest we came to seeing Blade in the MCU was ultimately Ali's voice cameo in Eternals' post-credits scene. Wesley Snipes reprised the role in Deadpool & Wolverine, and Marvel Zombies' Blade Knight—clearly based on Ali's appearance—was voiced by Todd Williams.
You can hear more from Ali in the player below.