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Wesley Snipes Fully On Board With Mahershala Ali As The New Blade

It’s a new generation of movie magic, and naturally there’ll be a new host of films — more specifically, a new host of reboots and revivals — that will take the world by storm. The most recent of this is, of course, Blade, by Marvel Studios.

The new iteration of Marvel Comics’ resident vampire hunter will be played by former Luke Cage and True Detective star Mahershala Ali. Ali’s announcement came as a final surprise by Kevin Feige at Marvel Studios’ panel at Hall H at SDCC 2019, which will no doubt have sparked both some excited gasps and exasperated groans.

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The latter reaction can be attributed to the fact that Eric Brooks/Blade has already been portrayed on the big screen by Wesley Snipes back in 1998. The Stephen Norrington-directed film was a commercial success back then, but served as a standalone title rather than as part of a larger film universe, unlike this iteration of Blade.

Wesley Snipes as Blade in 1998.

In an interesting turn of events, Snipes came to the defence of the two-time Oscar winner via ComicBook.com, reassuring Blade purists of his and Marvel Studios’ ability to take the superhero to greater heights.

“To all the DAYWALKERS losing their minds right now, chillaaxx. Although the news comes as a surprise, it’s ALL GOOD. Such is the ‘business’ of ‘entertainment!’ Much peace to the MCU crew – always a fan,” Snipes says. “Honor and respect to the grandmaster Stan. Congratulations and Salaam to Mahershala Ali, a beautiful and talented artist whose expressions I look forward to experiencing for many years to come. Inshallah, we will someday work together. Most importantly to my loyal fans, the incredible outpouring of love is overwhelming. I am grateful for the never-ending support. So, ‘nah fret nah worry, it’s not de end of de story.’ Welcome to the Daywalker Klique.”

Wesley Snipes on the flak directed towards Mahershala Ali’s casting on Blade.

This is yet another interesting twist, as this completely undermines Snipes’ previous declaration on social media in 2017 that he was the only one that can pull the Blade persona on screen.

Of course, this goes to show that things really do change. Or it could just be a wounded animal running away with its tail behind its legs. Who knows.

Regardless, Blade is set to take the world by storm when it eventually releases. After Marvel Phase 4, of course.