ThheQuartering [11/2/2023]
According to BoundingIntoComics:
The troubled Blade film starring Mahershala Ali from Marvel Studios reportedly “morphed into a narrative led by women and filled with life lessons.” Not only did one script turn into this, but Mahershala Ali reportedly was ready to leave the project entirely due to “script issues.”
This recent report comes from Variety’s Tatiana Siegel who claimed, “One person familiar with the script permutations says the story at one point morphed into a narrative led by women and filled with life lessons.”
She added, “Blade was relegated to the fourth lead, a bizarre idea considering that the studio had two-time Oscar winner Ali on board.”
Later in her report, Siegel detailed that “Ali was ready to exit over script issues.”
The Blade movie was initially announced by Kevin Feige back in 2019 when he brought Mahershala Ali on to the Hall H stage at San Diego Comic-Con.
Feige said, “I want to leave you today with one more thing that I don’t think has been rumored about. Ladies and gentlemen, two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali.”
After Ali walked onto the stage, he put on a hat that read, “Blade.”
Speaking with Variety, Feige would explain why Ali was perfect for Blade, “He’s the perfect Blade because he’s one of the greatest actors working today. And because he’s a huge fan of our universe and a fan of that character. And he’s going to destroy the part.”
He added, “It’s a dream. It’s the kind of dream casting that you almost don’t dare to dream that you can actually do it. But we had a couple of meetings with him and sort of very quickly decided let’s do this.”
Ali would later appear on The Tight Rope YouTube show and shared why he was attracted to Blade, “I love that’s it’s darker. That’s all in terms of tone. He’s a little bit darker than some of the other ones and so that element was attractive to me.”
Ironically, Ali would also state on the podcast, “All money ain’t good money. So, you can take money and opportunity today that will bleed you dry later on because you’ve been branded with something that is not sustainable. For me my choices have to be able to sustain what I hope to be a many more decades career, God willing. So I try to choose wisely, that’s all. And sometimes I don’t get it right, but I do the best that I can.”