Ali’s Years of Training for Marvel’s Blade Found New Life in Bassam Tariq’s Upcoming Houston-Set Action Drama
Seven years ago, Mahershala Ali was featured in a Comic Con panel where he revealed that he would star as the MCU’s Blade superhero, an announcement that was met with ecstatic applause from audience members and excitement from fans around the world. He spent the following years preparing for the role, only for the film to see delay after delay. Now, Ali has officially stepped away from Marvel’s “Blade” reboot, but he says his years training for the role won’t go to waste.
Ali Says It’s Time to Move On
In a recent interview just days ago with GQ magazine, Ali was asked about the “Blade” movie, since fans everywhere are eager to hear about the film that has been in production for nearly a decade. Ali put it simply, “for whatever reason, that project is not for me. If they wanted to do it, we would’ve done it… I feel ready to move on from the Blade questions. Those questions are for them. [Marvel] didn’t want to do it, so they should answer that question.”
Ali is known for his dramatic acting (which has earned him two Oscars), and “Blade” would’ve been his first time starring in an action movie. He even admitted that he’s spent the last year doing intensive sword training to prepare for the role, which seemed like a wasted effort – until a call came from Bassam Tariq (the director formerly attached to “Blade”) asking him if he’d like to star in his upcoming movie, “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother,” an action-centered film set in Houston.
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A New Role Puts His Training to Use
Bassam Tariq was hired to direct the “Blade” reboot back when the project was first announced, but he stepped away in 2022 just before a tragedy in his personal life shattered his world – and inspired him to write the film “Your Mother…” After their missed opportunity with “Blade,” Tariq always secretly hoped to reunite with Ali, and when he showed the actor his script for “Your Mother…” he signed on immediately.
The film follows a man named Latif, a devout, sword-wielding Muslim working as a hitman in Houston, whose beliefs are rattled when his wife suddenly dies, leaving him to care for their newborn and two other children. Tariq wrote the role of Latif specifically with Ali in mind, and the film incorporates intense action sequences (with Ali’s sword prowess on full display), as well as a clear through line of drama, in what Ali says may be one of the most rewarding roles of his career – which is saying a lot coming from the two-time Academy Award winner.
Perhaps it’s for the best that Ali’s “Blade” will never see the light of day, because if not for that movie’s failure, then “Your Mother…” (set to hit theaters this fall) may have never been made.
