[Editor’s note: The below article contains spoilers for Eternals.]Sitting down withEmpire,Mahershala Alihas opened up about his experience playing the iconic half-vampire hunter Blade for the first time in the MCU and what being a part of it means to him. At San Diego Comic-Con 2019, producerKevin Feigeannounced that two-time Oscar winner Ali would be joining the Marvel Studios machine to star in the upcomingBlademovie — and the daywalker has finally made his MCU debut.
It’s been confirmed byEternalsdirectorChloé ZhaothatAli was the mystery voicetalking toKit Harington’s Dane Whitman in the Marvel movie’s post-credits scene. Meanwhile, Ali had this to say about finally getting to portray Blade:
“It was really cool, getting to do that. It was scary. Because, you know, you’re talking before you’re filming it. I’m pretty particular about my choices, like most actors, and so having to make some choices – even with a line, vocally – this early on, it brought up some very real anxieties. And it made the job real. It’s like, ‘Okay, this is happening now,’ you know, and that’s exciting.”
Related:‘Eternals’: Who The Heck Was That Voice and What Does It Mean for the MCU?
Ali then went on to speak about what it was like for him to finally join the MCU: “That Marvel world is obviously the biggest in film, and just to get my little introduction to that – starting with the Comic-Con a couple years ago, and now the very early stages of stepping into the shoes of that character – it felt special and really cool, I’m excited to get going and do more.” But Ali definitely hasn’t gotten around to putting the full Blade costume on just yet, as he revealed to Empire: “We’re getting there. We’re getting close.”
Though it doesn’t yet have a release date, Ali’sBladefilm has been coming together in recent months with hires that include writerStacy Osei-Kuffour(Watchmen) and directorBassam Tariq(Mogul Mowgli). Stay tuned to Collider for more on the upcoming movie, including additional casting and our first look at Ali donning the shades and coat.
