Mahershala Ali and Bassam Tariq Realise Their Collaboration Through Crime Drama ‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother’ After Shelved Marvel ‘Blade’ Project
Developed over time first seen 1 day ago
Mahershala Ali and director Bassam Tariq have brought their long-planned collaboration to the screen not through Marvel's abandoned "Blade" reboot, but via the independent hitman drama "Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother", which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Critics who caught the film at TIFF judged it a far more compelling showcase for the pair than the shelved superhero project would have been, praising it as a character-driven study rather than a conventional action spectacle. The film is scheduled for cinema release in October.
Ali plays Latif, a devout Muslim and devoted father who moonlights as a hitman bound by a strict moral code — he only targets wrongdoers and never uses a gun. His faith and principles are tested when his wife dies suddenly, leaving him to raise three children alone, including a newborn, just as violence from his past resurfaces to threaten his family. Reviewers singled out Ali's performance as the morally conflicted killer and praised John Cho as an unhinged cult-like church leader who serves as the film's antagonist, noting the story balances its solemn tone with unexpectedly comic moments.
- Ali and Tariq's shelved "Blade" reboot led to "Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother" instead
- The hitman drama premiered at TIFF to strong reviews, out in October
- Ali plays a devout hitman-father tested by loss and his violent past
New here? Start with this
Mahershala Ali is a well-known American actor, and Bassam Tariq a filmmaker, and the pair had been expected to work together on a big-screen "Blade" film for Marvel before that project was shelved. Instead, their collaboration has resurfaced in a different form: an independent crime drama called "Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother," which has just had its first public screenings at the Toronto International Film Festival, a major launchpad for new films ahead of wider release.
The film centres on Latif, a hitman with strict religious convictions, played by Ali, whose life is thrown into disarray after his wife dies suddenly, leaving him to care for their children alone. It is co-produced by Amazon MGM Studios and is notable for exploring Muslim identity and faith in detail, which is relatively unusual for a studio-backed release. Tariq has said the story draws on his own personal experience of caring for a newborn during a family medical crisis.
The film matters partly because it marks Ali's next major screen project since the Marvel deal fell through, and partly because early festival reviews are shaping expectations ahead of its cinema release, scheduled for 25 September 2026.
Full account
Mahershala Ali and director Bassam Tariq have finally brought their long-planned collaboration to the screen, though not in the form either originally envisaged. ‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother’ had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival at the weekend, ahead of a theatrical release on 25 September, and stands as an unexpected successor to the Marvel ‘Blade’ reboot that once paired the two men before quietly falling apart.
The film casts Ali as Latif, a devout Muslim contract killer and former Quran teacher who relies on a blade rather than a gun to dispatch his targets. When his wife dies suddenly, he is left to raise their children alone: a rebellious teenage daughter (played by newcomer Adia), a younger son (Jahleel Kamara) and a newborn baby who will not take formula. Latif's search for breast milk to feed the infant pulls him through mosques, strip clubs and confrontations with figures including a gun-toting Christian cult leader played by John Cho, all set against a heightened vision of rural America. The repeated title is drawn from an Islamic hadith about the primacy of mothers, a thread that recurs through voiceover across the story.
Tariq had been attached to direct ‘Blade’ for Marvel from 2021, with Ali cast in the lead, but stepped away from directing duties the following year amid production delays, remaining involved as an executive producer; Ali later confirmed in mid-2026 that the superhero film would not proceed. The sword-fighting training Ali undertook in preparation for that role fed directly into the physical demands of Latif, whose fight sequences were choreographed by stunt coordinator Adam Hart. Speaking after the Toronto premiere, Ali described the shoot as emotionally overwhelming, particularly working alongside child actors playing his character's children, while Adia praised him for creating space on set that allowed her to reach difficult emotional territory. Tariq has said the project was shaped by his own experience of caring for a newborn while his wife was in intensive care, lending the story a personal foundation beneath its violence and satire.
Coverage of the film diverges according to purpose: reporting from the premiere concentrates on the human story behind the production — the abandoned Marvel deal, the Q&A with cast and crew, and warm tributes to Ali and his young co-star — while a review from the festival takes a more critical, analytical view, dwelling on the screenplay's satirical treatment of American religious and cultural tensions and on Latif's moral code, including his willingness to kill both white supremacists and Islamic extremists. The review also supplies character names not mentioned in premiere coverage, identifying Ali's on-screen wife as Khadija, his daughter as Fatiha and his son as Qadir, and frames the film as a sprawling, sometimes uneven but emotionally authentic drama rather than a straightforward action vehicle.
Where outlets differ
The premiere/interview report centres on the Blade backstory, the Toronto Q&A and personal quotes from Ali and Adia, whereas the review focuses on critical analysis of the film's themes, satire and screenplay.
The review supplies specific character names (Khadija, Fatiha, Qadir) and thematic detail about the hadith and Latif's moral code that the premiere report does not mention.
The premiere report highlights John Cho's cult-leader antagonist by name, while the review characterises Latif's targets more broadly as white supremacists and Islamic terrorists without singling out Cho's role.
Only the premiere report details the timeline of Marvel's shelved 'Blade' project (2021 hiring, 2022 departure, 2026 confirmation it was dead).
Coverage