While Mahershala Ali might be all aboard the MCU train these days, there was a time when he wasn't quite as excited to be taking on the role of Blade. In fact, when he really started thinking about being a member of the MCU, it got a bit scary for him.
Ali has officially been the man who would take on the mantle as Blade, the day-walking vampire hybrid, since July of 2019. However, it's only been the last few months that things have started to get real and he's really started getting initiated into what the MCU is all about. His first official entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe was as a voice that spoke to Dane Whitman in Marvel Studios' Eternals. He'll appear on screen for the first time as the cinematic character, who Wesley Snipes made famous over a decade ago, in a later phase of the MCU.
Ali recently spoke to Empire about what it was like to officially join the MCU and what it was like to finally give voice to his iteration of Blade. His first apparent emotion when he stepped into the sound booth to speak those words in Eternals was that he thought it was "really cool." At the same time, there were some mixed emotions that came with it because he said he was really starting to shape who his Blade character would be in the MCU.
Ali added that the first introduction to this version of The Daywalker being nothing more than a voiceover was something that caused him some concern. He added that one of the reasons for that is because he's quite particular about the choices he makes when it comes to the roles he takes on and then how he portrays them. In particular, making the choices about how he was going to play the part of Blade, knowing that would extend to other Marvel movies, was tough.
The actor said that making those choices and finally officially lending a voice to the character brought some "real anxieties." He added that it made the job "real" because he understood that it was really happening. He is going to be Blade in a future movie and now he's actually introduced the character, at least in one way. While he had anxieties about that, he also said it was quite exciting.
Interestingly enough, when Blade does debut, it will actually be one of two vampire movies to be at least MCU adjacent releasing in the coming years. Jared Leto's Morbius is also scheduled to hit the big screen soon.
Blade is expected to begin production in 2022.
Source: Empire