After Mahershala Ali was cast in Marvel‘s Blade reboot, Wesley Snipes, the original Blade, congratulated the actor on social media. “Congratulations and Salaam to Mahershala Ali, a beautiful and talented artist whose expressions I look forward to experiencing for many years to come. Inshallah, we will someday work together,” he wrote. That must have been a thrill for the Emmy and two-time Academy Award winner, who’s felt a connection with Snipes since he was in high school.
Ali was recently on host Cornel West and Tricia Rose’s The Tight Rope podcast, where he was asked about his history with Blade. “Since [Marvel was] were conversations about bringing it back into being, I just wanted to be considered for it because I had definitely a connection, at least in my mind, to Wesley Snipes going back to high school,” he replied. “People used to joke and say that we looked alike and all this stuff. I just brought it up as someone who really wanted to take on that [Blade] role and tackle that.”
The Ramy star and sleep-whisperer also revealed that the tone of Blade will be darker than your average Marvel Cinematic Universe movie. “I love that [Blade is] darker. That’s all in terms of tone. He’s a little bit darker than some of the other ones and so that element was attractive to me,” he said. You can listen to the podcast episode below.
(Via The Tight Rope)
