Last year, Marvel Studios announced plans to reboot the Blade franchise with Mahershala Ali replacing Wesley Snipes as the new vampire hunter. But as it turns out, the studio had much different plans for the character before Ali came aboard.
While appearing on The Tight Rope Podcast (via Heroic Hollywood) Ali revealed that Marvel initially wanted Blade to headline his own TV series. He also confessed that his quest to play the character dates back to his work on Luke Cage, where he played Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes in the show’s first season.
“The day [Luke Cage] premiered I had turned to my agent and I had said, ‘What are they doing with Blade?’” recalled Ali. “Because I kept hearing that they were trying to find a way to remake it and put it back together. And it was exciting for me to get to be in that Marvel space in TV. But for me, my goal had always been film. So, there was this long process of them speaking about, at least in the television division, really wanted to make it a TV show again, but not necessarily, trying to acquire the rights still, and some thing’s kinda going on, so it took a couple of years.”
RELATED: Marvel Studios Is Looking for Screenwriters to Tackle Blade
“I just wanted to be considered for it. Because I had definitely a connection, at least in my mind, to Wesley Snipes going way back to high school when people used to joke and say we looked alike, and all this stuff.”
This wouldn’t have been the Daywalker’s first trip to the small screen. Back in 2006, Blade trilogy screenwriter David S. Goyer developed a TV series for Spike that lasted only one season consisting of 12 episodes. The show starred Kirk Jones as Blade and was meant to pick up where Blade: Trinity left off in 2004.
In the meantime, Marvel is reportedly on the lookout for screenwriters to pen their Blade reboot. Additionally, a few filmmakers have expressed interest in directing the movie. John Wick helmer Chad Stahelski and Locke & Key and Gotham veteran Mark Tonderai are among those who have thrown their hats in the ring.
Do you think Marvel made the right choice with their plans for Blade? Let us know in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: Blade by Marc Guggenheim: The Complete Collection
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