MARVEL's Blade starring Mahershala Ali

Disney Irish

Premium Member
If it is indeed cancelled so be it. But just as the rumor also states doesn't mean they won't use the character or Ali in the role in other projects, such as a Midnight Sons project that has been rumored for a few years now.
 

erasure fan1

Well-Known Member
Rumor is it may be cut or not. Or, delayed or not.

True inside information, there!
Blade is going to get a movie and will show up in other projects. So the character isn't cancelled in my opinion. Cancelling whatever this version was supposed to be would make sense. So from a standpoint of this particular film, it would be smart to cancel it and just start fresh at a later date.
 

MarvelCharacterNerd

Well-Known Member
Age is absolutely a factor. Just have Ali play Jamal Afari and be done with it.

Ironically, Michael B. Jordan would be a fantastic Blade if they're gonna just start re-casting everyone in alternate roles - but he's also almost aging out of the role if they're going to hold this movie for several more years.

So I'll look forward to whoever the next hot - as in popular - young actor is who will eventually take on this role.
 

Disney Irish

Premium Member
Age is absolutely a factor. Just have Ali play Jamal Afari and be done with it.

Ironically, Michael B. Jordan would be a fantastic Blade if they're gonna just start re-casting everyone in alternate roles - but he's also almost aging out of the role if they're going to hold this movie for several more years.

So I'll look forward to whoever the next hot - as in popular - young actor is who will eventually take on this role.
Age is only a number. If Tom Cruise is still doing action movies at 62, then Ali can certainly still play Blade at 51.
 

MarvelCharacterNerd

Well-Known Member
Age is only a number. If Tom Cruise is still doing action movies at 62, then Ali can certainly still play Blade at 51.
To anyone in their 20's, Tom Cruise looks - and is - old. Everyone in their 50's and 60's playing their former roles in the Deadpool movie looks old. Blade is not supposed to age quickly. They need an actor in his 30's who can play into his 40's without looking significantly different. Ali is 51 NOW. If they don't film this for another four years, he'll be 55. By the time a sequel comes around he'll be 60. And they'll need to reboot. With a younger actor. It's pointless casting at this stage if they want to start a franchise.

I mean, James Marsters was a fantastic vampire, but people want a Spike who looks like this:
1743562143704.png


Not this:
1743561317324.png


Both are great looking for their age. One is ready for action. One is ready to collect Social Security.

Ali would be great in the mentor role. And if he shows up onscreen at all, it's not going to be as a young daywalker.
 

Disney Irish

Premium Member
To anyone in their 20's, Tom Cruise looks - and is - old. Everyone in their 50's and 60's playing their former roles in the Deadpool movie looks old. Blade is not supposed to age quickly. They need an actor in his 30's who can play into his 40's without looking significantly different. Ali is 51 NOW. If they don't film this for another four years, he'll be 55. By the time a sequel comes around he'll be 60. And they'll need to reboot. With a younger actor. It's pointless casting at this stage if they want to start a franchise.

I mean, James Marsters was a fantastic vampire, but people want a Spike who looks like this:
View attachment 851177

Not this:
View attachment 851172

Both are great looking for their age. One is ready for action. One is ready to collect Social Security.

Ali would be great in the mentor role. And if he shows up onscreen at all, it's not going to be as a young daywalker.
The way deaging technology has progressed and continues to be improved has allowed them to have any actor of any age play a younger version of the character if needed. So again I say age is only a number.

Also there are ways story wise to change it where Blade looks older when he is introduced. For example since we are still in the multiverse phase they can have him come from a different universe where he has already been alive for several hundred years but only looks in his mid to late 40s. Again allowing Ali to be able to play the character. In fact this is may end up being how they do it anyways no matter who they get to play Blade of any age since vampires aren’t part of the 616 at this point anyways.

So anyways there are ways to do it so Ali can still be the role.
 

MickeyMouse10

Well-Known Member
Hopefully they'll go with a good Blade story and not one of their dumb ideas, that no one wants to see. He's not supposed to be the 3rd of 4th wheel in his own movie. He should be the MAIN CHARACTER. It's not supposed to be Blade's daughter, her girlfriend and some random body positive girl.
 

MarvelCharacterNerd

Well-Known Member
The way deaging technology has progressed and continues to be improved has allowed them to have any actor of any age play a younger version of the character if needed. So again I say age is only a number.
Why on earth would a company spend money to de-age a middle-aged actor when they could simply cast a younger one? That's just burning money.
Also there are ways story wise to change it where Blade looks older when he is introduced. For example since we are still in the multiverse phase they can have him come from a different universe where he has already been alive for several hundred years but only looks in his mid to late 40s. Again allowing Ali to be able to play the character. In fact this is may end up being how they do it anyways no matter who they get to play Blade of any age since vampires aren’t part of the 616 at this point anyways.

So anyways there are ways to do it so Ali can still be the role.
Again, why would a company start an action franchise with a 55 year old - by the time this eventually gets started - when they could cast a 35 or 38 year old?

I'm not saying it's impossible. I'm saying it would be a poor financial choice. Then again, the way Disney and Marvel are burning money these days on failing films... :p

But they're still not going to start a new Blade franchise with a dude in his 50's. Unless that dude is the mentor, not the daywalker. ;)
 

Disney Irish

Premium Member
Why on earth would a company spend money to de-age a middle-aged actor when they could simply cast a younger one? That's just burning money.
I'm not saying they would, I'm just saying that its possible now with tech to hire an older actor of any age and have them play younger.

Again, why would a company start an action franchise with a 55 year old - by the time this eventually gets started - when they could cast a 35 or 38 year old?

I'm not saying it's impossible. I'm saying it would be a poor financial choice. Then again, the way Disney and Marvel are burning money these days on failing films... :p
Its not like Ali was young when they announced his casting, he was already 45 but still looked to be in his 30s and in many ways still does while in his 50s. So it was always going to get to a point where they would have had to accept he was getting and looking older and adjust the story accordingly. So he was already going to be in his 50s by the time the first movie released and any sequel was planned, based on when it was announced in 2019.

And so for the why they would continue with Ali? Because they've been hyping up this casting for years now.

But they're still not going to start a new Blade franchise with a dude in his 50's. Unless that dude is the mentor, not the daywalker. ;)
Unless you've heard a rumor (in which case I'd like to see its source), Ali is still cast in the role. So until otherwise announced we shouldn't just assume they aren't sticking with him for now.

Who knows they may use him in the role for a couple movies and then reboot the character with a new actor in the future.
 

MarvelCharacterNerd

Well-Known Member
Who knows they may use him in the role for a couple movies and then reboot the character with a new actor in the future.
And as I previously noted, that's IMO not gonna happen. It's just not practical business. I think they'll throw him a bone and give him the mentor role. Or he'll just bow out gracefully in a year or two when this series *with him* is clearly not happening and they'll give him producer credit as a thank you as they make the next Blade film with an actor who hasn't even broken out yet.
 

Disney Irish

Premium Member
And as I previously noted, that's IMO not gonna happen. It's just not practical business. I think they'll throw him a bone and give him the mentor role. Or he'll just bow out gracefully in a year or two when this series *with him* is clearly not happening and they'll give him producer credit as a thank you as they make the next Blade film with an actor who hasn't even broken out yet.
Ok possible.

But you kept saying they could just recast with someone younger instead of using him, I mean if that was the case they could have done that originally before casting him. They could have just cast someone in their 20s or 30s originally. So they clearly were aware of how old he was when they cast him and were ok with it and accepted that he was going to be in his 50s by the time the movie was going to release. So age is clearly not a factor for Disney/Marvel in this case. My suspicions was they were always going with a slightly older version of Blade anyways for the MCU, which is why they cast him in the first place.
 

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