Mahershala Ali says canceled Blade training helped fund new film

Mahershala Ali has confirmed he is permanently finished with Marvel's canceled Blade reboot, but expressed gratitude that the studio's funding for his year-long physical training for the role indirectly helped finance his new film, "Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother." The two-time Oscar winner made the comments during an interview at the Toronto International Film Festival, where he was promoting the upcoming action thriller. Ali stated that he trained for over a year to prepare for the role of the vampire hunter Blade, a project announced by Marvel Studios at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019. The production cycled through multiple writers and directors before being scrapped. "I'm done. I'm doing this and anything else moving forward. I'm over that, I'm done with that," Ali said, definitively closing the door on any future involvement with the Marvel character. Despite the project's failure, Ali highlighted a silver lining. He explained that the physical preparation he underwent for Blade was directly applicable to his role as Latif, a devoutly religious hitman in "Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother." "I'm really grateful. They helped pay for our movie, so thank you," Ali said.