Mahershala Ali has confirmed that Marvel Studios’ long-delayed Blade reboot will not proceed with him in the lead role. His comments effectively end a project announced in 2019, highlighting the extent of Marvel’s difficulty in developing a viable new version of the vampire-hunter franchise.

Ali said he had moved on to original work, including his new film Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, and suggested Marvel would have made Blade if it had been ready to do so. The film reportedly went through three or four script versions, including period-set ideas; director Bassam Tariq left in 2022, while Mia Goth completed a chemistry test and fittings before the project unravelled.