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'Blade' Reboot Finds A New Daywalker In Mahershala Ali [Comic-Con 2019]

blade reboot
By Chris Evangelista/

Before the Marvel San Diego Comic-Con panel ended, we got one last treat to sink our fangs into. A Blade reboot is coming into the MCU, and he's going to be played by Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali. Marvel announced Ali taking over the role of the Daywalker in a new feature film adaptation of the comic. And that sounds good to us.

While fans have long hoped Wesley Snipes might return to play Blade, the half-human/half-vampire, it seemed less and less likely. It would've been great to see Snipes come back, but Marvel dropped some new, exciting Blade news instead: Mahershala Ali is taking on the role. We don't know when, and we don't even know just what the story will be. All we know is that Blade is back, baby.

Created by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, Blade first debuted in the comic book The Tomb of Dracula #10 in July 1973 as a supporting character. He eventually got a comic of his own. Wesley Snipes played the character on the big screen in  Blade (1998), Blade II (2002) and Blade: Trinity (2004). Sticky Fingaz later played the character in the mostly forgotten 2006 television series Blade. Here's the Blade bio from Marvel:

The vampire Deacon Frost bit Eric Brooks' mother while she was pregnant with him, resulting in the birth of a human with all of the strengths of a vampire and none of their weaknesses save one: a never-ending thirst for human blood!

The big question now is just how Marvel will approach the character in the MCU. Will this be a full-blown reboot? Is Wesley Snipes going to have a cameo? We'll have to wait for answers, but this is all pretty damn exciting. This won't be Ali's first dance with Marvel – he played the villain Cottonmouth on the first season of Luke Cage.

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