Mahershala Ali’s Blade Is Already Very Different Than Wesley Snipes’ Version

Mahershala Ali’s Blade is sure to be different from previous movies featuring Wesley Snipes’ version of the title character. Blade last appeared on the big screen in Blade Trinity, the final installment of New Line Cinema’s Wesley Snipes-led trilogy, back in 2004. Nearly two decades later, a new incarnation starring Ali as the Dhampir vampire hunter will be the focus of a standalone movie from Marvel Studios. A release date has yet to be announced, but many anticipate that it will fill an empty slot available in the studio’s schedule at the end of 2023.

Ali’s Blade has already made his MCU debut at the end of Chloe Zhao’s 2021 movie Eternals. The character’s voice can be heard warning Kit Harrington’s Dane Whitman (a.k.a. Black Knight) of the dangerous powers of the sword known as the Ebony Blade. However, this provided scant evidence as to what audiences can expect from the first full appearance of the new film version of Blade. Now that Disney owns the property, the company is likely to alter the comic book source material to make the horror-superhero character mesh with the overall tone of the MCU franchise.

Although the MCU has had its fair share of violence, each movie made for the franchise so far has maintained a PG-13 rating. In contrst, the Wesley Snipes Blade trilogy is dark and gruesome, with all three installments earning an R-rating for blood and violence (among other things). That blood-soaked aesthetic would be rather jarring when juxtaposed against the rest of the MCU, and its grotesque and terrifying creatures may be too much for younger audiences of the Marvel Studios movies. This makes it likely that Ali’s Blade will be tamer, by comparison, to ensure that the movie remains relatively family-friendly. Yet while these differing production approaches will certainly impact the new Blade movie, perhaps the most significant difference will be in Ali’s interpretation of the Blade character compared to Snipes. The two actors cast in the role tout vastly different backgrounds and skill-sets, as well as markedly dissimilar reputations for behavior exhibited while working on film and television productions.

While Snipes began his movie career with some theatrical training, attending the famed High School of Performing Arts in New York City, much of his focus since adolescence has been on various forms of martial arts. Snipes holds a fifth-degree black belt in Shotokan Karate and a second-degree black belt in Hapkido. He also studied Capoeira, kung fu, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and kickboxing. Snipes brought physicality and brutality to Blade’s role which will be nearly impossible to replicate in the same manner. Unfortunately, Snipes’s Blade movie franchise was ultimately brought down by the actor’s alleged offscreen antics, with accusations of arguments with the production team reportedly derailing the production. Snipes apparently refused to open his eyes for a scene in Blade Trinity, forcing the filmmakers to superimpose animated eyes onto his face in what has become an infamously ridiculous piece of cinema trivia.

In contrast, what Ali’s Blade might lack in physical intensity could be more than made up for by using his own acting prowess. Ali is an Oscar-winning actor with Shakespearean training and a degree from NYU’s Tisch School of the Performing Arts – as exemplifed by his critically acclaimed performance as Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes in Luke Cage season 1 (among other things). Whether or not his movie ultimately bears any resemblance to Wesley Snipes’ trilogy, Mahershala Ali’s performance in the MCU Blade movie is likely to be more character-driven than his predecessor’s, using the actor’s considerable talents in what will hopefully be a less controversial production overall.