Key Takeaways
- Mahershala Ali says Marvel’s shelved Blade reboot funded more than a year of sword and martial arts training that he later used in Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother.
- Ali thanked Marvel for effectively contributing to the smaller film’s action scenes, but said he is “done” with Blade after years of delays.
- Directed by former Blade filmmaker Bassam Tariq, the Sept. 25 release stars Ali as a Muslim hitman fleeing with his children after his wife’s death.
Mahershala Ali isn't getting his Blade movie, but the years he spent preparing for the Marvel project ended up paying off elsewhere.
During a Toronto International Film Festival roundtable for his new movie Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, Ali reflected on the extensive training he underwent while preparing to play Marvel's vampire hunter and how those skills ultimately carried over to his latest role.
Asked whether he trained for more than a year for Blade, Ali confirmed that he did.
"Oh, absolutely. For a year. Yeah, for a year. I think it was more than a year," Ali said.
Although Blade never made it to production with Ali, the two-time Oscar winner said the experience wasn't wasted because it gave him training his new film otherwise couldn't have afforded.
"I'm not gonna get my Blade movie, but I'm getting it now," Ali said. "And you know, I'm actually, I'm really grateful. Like they helped pay for our movie. So, thank you."
Ali added that the smaller production benefited significantly from the time and resources Marvel had already invested in preparing him.
"We couldn't have afforded to—there's no way we could have did this film, and I got to go train for a year, you know?" he said. "So, at this point, I'm so grateful that they made a wonderful contribution to our film."
Ali began training for Blade in 2022, spending more than a year working on sword fighting and martial arts before a knee injury and subsequent surgery interrupted his preparation. The Marvel project continued to face delays, leaving Ali away from the weapon for more than a year.
Those skills eventually became useful for Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, directed by Bassam Tariq, who was himself previously attached to helm Blade before leaving the project in 2022.
Ali plays Latif, a devout Muslim hitman who goes on the run with his teenage daughter, young son and newborn following his wife's death. John Cho, Giancarlo Esposito and Abubakr Ali also appear in the film.
Tariq previously acknowledged that the production didn't have the resources of a major franchise like Blade or James Bond, making Ali's existing action training even more valuable.
As for whether there's still a chance Ali could eventually return to the role he's been attached to for years, he sounded ready to close that chapter.
"I'm done," Ali said when asked about Blade. "I'm doing this and anything else moving forward. So, like, yeah, I'm over that. So, I'm done with that."
Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is scheduled to hit theaters Sept. 25.
