Marvel Quietly Recasts MCU Blade Amid Movie's Development Struggles

It seems that Mahershala Ali has been officially recast in the MCU, sparking concerns that the upcoming Blade film may be in a bit more trouble than we previously assumed.

Remember back in 2019, when Kevin Feige announced that a new Blade film starring Mahershala Ali would be dropping in November 2025? Good times.

In case you’ve missed the news of the numerous development issues and delays that have hit the Marvel Cinematic Universe film over the past few years, I have some bad news for you; it’s definitely not coming out in November.

Back in October last year, Disney removed the film from its upcoming release schedule, and we’ve not had any definitive answer on its progress since then.

It would seem it is permanently on hold for now, but, last we heard, Mahershala Ali is still attached as the film’s star… although that may no longer be the case.

As revealed in an article by Comic Book’s Evan Valentine, the role of Blade has been recast in the upcoming Marvel Zombies Disney+ series. Instead of Ali, we’ll be getting Todd Williams.

Funnily enough, Williams also took over from Ali in the animated series Invincible (as Williams voiced the character Titan in the third season).

If you're curious as to why Ali being recast in the animated series is such a big deal, and a bad sign for Blade's production, that's because basically every other actor from the MCU is coming back to reprise their roles.

That includes some big hitters, such as Elizabeth Olsen, Simu Liu, Florence Pugh, Paul Rudd, and Hailee Steinfeld. It would seem that it’s definitely not a case of Disney not wanting to spend extra money on getting some expensive names to reprise their roles.

Admittedly, it’s not a certainty that Ali won’t still take on the role in live action, but it’s certainly not looking good.