Mahershala Ali “trained so hard” for ‘Blade’ reboot that he injured himself – and then Marvel cancelled the film

Mahershala Ali has opened up about his cancelled Blade project, describing his routine while waiting a year through Marvel’s delays. The two-time Oscar winner, known for films such as Moonlight and Green Book, was cast as the popular comic book character in 2019, but faced numerous delays until the project was officially cancelled last month. In a new interview with GQ’s One More Question, he opened up about the ill-fated project, insisting he was ready to begin but was subject to Marvel’s delays. Looking at his output since Green Book, he reflected: “Blade didn’t happen, which I felt definitely impacted how things unfold in your trajectory”. When asked if he was “saving time” for the role, he said “I wasn’t saving. Once it was happening, I was working on it! I was doing what I needed to do to prepare myself, and it just didn’t happen.” When asked why, he replied: “That’s a [Marvel chief] Kevin Feige question”, adding “to this day, I don’t know why it didn’t happen. Kevin, he said it was the biggest failure of his career, and I agree.” He continued: “I spent a year training, I trained so hard I blew my knee out. I was waiting for them – pushing it back, pushing it back – I’m still ...